Monday October 28, 2019
Mohamed Salah, right, celebrates with fellow Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson after scoring the game-winning penalty against Tottenham on Sunday.JON SUPER/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Arsenal and Tottenham scored early before all it started to unravel for the north London clubs in the Premier League on Sunday.
Arsenal established a two-goal lead over Crystal Palace before capitulating, conceding twice and seeing its captain appearing to storm off in anger in a 2-2 draw.
Tottenham took a shock lead at Anfield, but there would be no first away win since January as unbeaten Liverpool fought back to win 2-1 and restore its six-point lead over champion Manchester City at the top.
But Manchester United did win on the road for the first time in the league since February, overcoming Norwich 3-1.
The decision by Arsenal manager Unai Emery to withdraw captain Granit Xhaka in the second half was initially greeted by large cheers.
They turned to jeers as Xhaka took his time to leave the field despite the score being level.
Xhaka reacted by waving his arms, cupping his ears and seemingly mouthing a profanity twice as he pushed away a handshake from Emery. Xhaka took off his shirt and headed straight down the tunnel.
“He’s wrong, but we are going to speak inside about that situation,” Emery told the BBC. “I want to be calm but, really, he was wrong in this action.”
It had started so well, with goals in the opening nine minutes.
Arsenal defensive duo Sokratis Papastathopoulos and David Luiz scored inside 106 seconds.
But it started to go wrong in the 32nd minute when Luka Milivojevic netted a penalty that was awarded after a VAR review. Palace winger Wilfried Zaha had initially been booked for diving.
“I didn’t understand the referee and VAR reaction,” Emery said. “For me, there is no confusion. It is not a good decision.”
Jordan Ayew’s fourth goal in eight games brought Palace level before further VAR drama as Sokratis was denied a late winner when the review spotted a foul by Calum Chambers moments earlier.
NEWCASTLE DENIED WIN
Wolverhampton, playing its 20th game of the season because of Europa League commitments, trailed to Jamaal Lascelles’s first-half header for Newcastle.
But the visitors dominated the second half and got their reward when Jonny levelled from close range in the 73rd minute after goalkeeper Martin Dubravka palmed Matt Doherty’s cross into his path.
Newcastle had Sean Longstaff sent off in the 82nd for a challenge on Ruben Neves.
LIVERPOOL RECOVERY
Liverpool’s breakthrough on its way to a sixth European Cup by beating Tottenham in June came when Moussa Sissoko handled after 22 seconds to concede a penalty. Redemption came after 148 days for the French midfielder and almost as quickly.
Sissoko launched a counterattack that was completed by Son Heung-min hitting the bar and Tottenham striker Harry Kane heading in the rebound after 47 seconds.
But Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson volleyed in the equalizer seven minutes into the second half.
And Mohamed Salah, who netted the early penalty in the Champions League final, was on target again for the spot after Serge Aurier fouled Sadio Mané.
Tottenham was left with only 12 points from 10 points in Pochettino’s worst start since taking charge in 2014.
Liverpool, which was held by Manchester United last weekend, has 28 points from a possible 30 as it chases a first title since 1990. Juergen Klopp’s side is six points ahead of Manchester City ahead of the second-place champions’ visit to Anfield in two weeks.
UNITED DOUBLE
For the first time since the opening weekend victory over Chelsea, United scored more than once in a league game.
United broke the deadlock through Scott McTominay’s low drive and in the process became the first club to score 2,000 Premier League goals.
The visitors were then awarded a penalty after a VAR review in the 28th minute, only for Tim Krul to save Marcus Rashford’s effort, but the forward made up for it moments later to get his 50th United goal.
United missed its second penalty before halftime when Anthony Martial was denied as Krul again guessed correctly to keep his side in the game.
It was 3-0 in the 73rd as Martial made up for his penalty miss before Norwich pulled one back in the 88th through halftime substitute Onel Hernandez, who became the first Cuban goal scorer in Premier League history.
SATURDAY’S GAMES
Christian Pulisic seemed to surprise himself with his hat trick for Chelsea.
As he left the field after the 4-2 defeat of Burnley on Saturday, the young American needed reminding by his teammates that scoring three goals means you get to keep the ball.
“I didn’t realize that was the tradition,” he said. “My teammates helped me out.”
Pulisic hadn’t scored for Chelsea before but seized his chance on his first English Premier League start since August, extending Chelsea’s unbeaten run to seven games in all competitions.
Manchester City took back second place with rather less flair.
Just closing to within three points of leader Liverpool, which plays on Sunday, wasn’t good enough for manager Pep Guardiola, though, who accused his team of playing “just 45” minutes in its 3-0 win over Aston Villa.
Brighton beat Everton 3-2 in stoppage time, while Bournemouth lost more of its early momentum in a draw with Watford.
THE PULISIC SHOW
There have been U.S. stars in the Premier League before, but none quite like Pulisic.
The 21-year-old attacking midfielder arrived in the summer with his star status already confirmed with dazzling performances for Germany’s Borussia Dortmund.
Still, it took him months to make his mark in the Premier League. There were some slightly hesitant substitute appearances and intense competition for places with other young players such as Callum Hudson-Odoi and Mason Mount.
On Saturday, none of that seemed to matter. Pulisic showed off his versatility with his first goal in the 21st minute, stealing the ball from defender Matt Lowton, sprinting forward, beating the experienced James Tarkowski, and shooting precisely inside the far post.
The second goal saw Pulisic beat Tarkowski again before hitting a deflected shot, and the third was a fine header off Mount’s cross, again showcasing Pulisic’s versatility.
Scoring a Premier League hat trick was something only one American had done before, Clint Dempsey in 2012.
Even with Pulisic’s standout play in attack, Chelsea looked fragile. Burnley had good chances to score in the first half, and briefly looked capable of a shock comeback following goals in the 86th and 89th minutes.
PART-TIME MAN CITY
Guardiola was left unimpressed with his team despite their three-goal winning margin.
Villa put up stern resistance in the first half, but City seized control of the game when Raheem Sterling scored on a rapid, direct move 20 seconds into the second half.
“The second (half) we play in the way we normally are but we have to try and play 90 minutes,” Guardiola said. “We played just 45.”
Guardiola was full of praise for Sterling, who scored his fourth goal this week after a hat trick against Atalanta on Tuesday.
“Normally the next game you play a bit like, ‘How good I am,’ and he was completely opposite,” he said.
Sterling’s role in City’s second goal was more controversial. Officially, the goal was direct from a cross-shot by Kevin de Bruyne, but Villa manager Dean Smith said he believed David Silva touched the ball when Sterling was obstructing the goalkeeper.
Ilkay Gundogan added City’s third off a corner.
OWN GOAL DRAMA
Brighton staged the comeback of the day, winning 3-2 thanks to a stoppage-time own goal from Everton’s Lucas Digne.
Everton had been leading 2-1 before a hotly disputed penalty call against Michael Keane, who trod on the foot of Brighton’s Aaron Connolly. The spot kick was awarded after a video assistant referee check and converted by Neal Maupay.
Four minutes into added time, Digne knocked a cross into his own net to hand Brighton the three points.
ELSEWHERE
Lys Mousset was the key man again for Sheffield United. On Monday, the Frenchman scored the winning goal against Arsenal, and on Saturday he scored to salvage a 1-1 draw against rival West Ham.
It was the first time the teams met in the league since the 2006-07 season left bad blood between them.
That year, West Ham signed Argentine stars Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano on third-party ownership deals which broke Premier League rules. Tevez’s goals helped West Ham avoid relegation while Sheffield went down.
Bournemouth and Watford played out a 0-0 draw which disappointed both teams. Bournemouth had been seeking to cement its place in the top half, while Watford was desperate to end its winless start to the season.