Liverpool fight back for Arsenal draw; Man Utd, Spurs lose; Chelsea win | OneFootball

There were four Premier League fixtures on Sunday as the ninth game week of the season closed out.

Liverpool fight back twice against depleted Gunners

Scorers: Saka 9′, Merino 43′; van Dijk 18′, Salah 80′

Liverpool twice came from behind to draw 2-2 with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

Just nine minutes into his return from a hamstring injury, Bukayo Saka gave Arsenal the lead with a brilliant goal. Ben White’s ball forward put Andy Robertson in trouble, and the winger cut inside the left-back before smashing past Caoimhín Kelleher from close range.

The Gunners’ lead lasted less than 10 minutes as Liverpool equalised through Virgil van Dijk. Trent Alexander-Arnold whipped a corner in, and Luis Díaz got to the ball first at the near post, nodding it on for his captain to stoop and head past David Raya.

Arsenal had a penalty shout turned down by VAR just after the half hour, in the same piece of play that saw Kai Havertz blaze over from 12 yards out.

They did retake the lead, though, two minutes before the break through Mikel Merino. The midfielder got his first goal for the club with a bullet header from a fantastic inswinging Declan Rice free-kick. There was another VAR check but van Dijk’s foot kept the Spaniard just onside.

In a huge blow to Mikel Arteta, both Gabriel and Jurrien Timber hobbled off with injury in the second half, to be replaced by Jakub Kiwior and Myles Lewis-Skelly in an extremely makeshift Arsenal defence. Liverpool took control of the game in this period, as they pushed for a second equaliser.

They struggled to make any chances of real note though, but the Gunners were almost fully reliant on the counter as the game moved into the final 20 minutes.

Liverpool got the goal their dominance suggested was coming in the 80th minute. Trent Alexander-Arnold played a brilliant ball down the byline to Darwin Núñez, who slipped the ball across for Mohamed Salah to finish in typically cool fashion.

Substitute Gabriel Jesus had a goal ruled out in the final minute of normal time for a foul from Kiwior on Dominik Szoboszlai in the build up, and in the end, a draw felt fair.

The result keeps Arne Slot’s side four points clear of Arsenal, but with the familar sight of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table.

West Ham pile pressure onto Man Utd

Scorers: Summerville 74′, Bowen (PEN) 90+2′; Casemiro 81′

Manchester United were made to rue a slew of missed chances, including a miss of the season contender, as a controversial injury-time penalty fired West Ham to a 2-1 win at the London Stadium.

Their first big sight of goal came after just two minutes but after the returning Bruno Fernandes picked out Alejandro Garnacho, the Argentine’s effort rattled the crossbar.

Garnacho and Fernandes then missed further big chances inside the first 15 minutes, with Erik ten Hag rueing the fact that his side could have been three in front only for Diogo Dalot to take the cake for missed chances when he somehow volleyed over the bar from 12 yards out when faced with an empty net after rounding Lukasz Fabiański.

The woodwork was then hit again before a fantastic Fabiański save somehow kept things level at the break, with United failing to score for the eighth time in nine games in the first half and typically, they were made to pay for all of those misses in the closing stages when Crysencio Summerville pounced for the opening goal.

The substitute was perfectly placed to steer home from close range after the ball broke his way with the aid of a kind deflection but the lead didn’t last long before United finally got the goal that should have came sooner when Casemiro diverted a Joshua Zirkzee header home.

But there was to be one last twist when a lengthy VAR check awarded the Hammers a very contentious last minute penalty and from the spot, Jarrod Bowen converted for the winner which sees his side move above United, who drop to 14th after nine games.

Palmer the hero again

Scorers: Jackson 18′, Palmer 47′; Isak 32′

Cole Palmer was at the centre of things once more as he inspired Chelsea to a 2-1 win over Newcastle.

Chelsea almost took the lead with just four minutes played when Nicolas Jackson pulled off a brilliant turn in midfield to lose his marker and then played in Cole Palmer who calmly found the net via the upright, only for a VAR check to determine he was in an offside position.

But it didn’t take long for Newcastle’s high line to be exposed again and this time there was no intervention to save them as Pedro Neto was sent scampering clear following a delicious Palmer pass and he squared for Jackson to net his 20th Premier League goal.

The Magpies responded well to the setback and soon drew level when ex-Chelsea man Lewis Hall crossed for Alexander Isak to convert from close range.

It took Chelsea just two minutes after the half-time break to retake the lead when Isak gave the ball away, allowing Palmer to drive forward into the area and squeeze the ball in at the near post.

A header from Pedro Neto then hit the post as the Blues went within a whisker of a third which failed to arrive as they saw things through to move into the top four, while Newcastle remain 12th.

Palace beat Spurs for first win

Scorers: Mateta 31′

Crystal Palace finally picked up their first won of the season at the ninth time of asking as they defeated an insipid Tottenham 1-0 at Selhurst Park.

After a quiet opening half hour, Crystal Palace struck for the opener through Jean-Philippe Mateta at the back post after Spurs, and Micky van de Ven in particular, made a mess of things in their own area, although the Dutchman did close to making instant amends – only to be denied by the post.

That was as close as they came to an equaliser as Spurs remain eighth, while Palace move out of the drop zone after collecting their first three points of the campaign.

Saturday’s results