Leadnaija
At Goodison Park on Saturday, Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw by Everton, putting an end to any dreams of catching up to Liverpool in the Premier League title chase. The loss kept Mikel Arteta’s team 11 points behind Liverpool, who will take on Fulham on Sunday, even though they were in the lead for the whole of the encounter.
After a 2-1 win over Fulham during the international break, the Gunners returned to the field hoping to continue their winning streak. With a strong start, Arsenal went ahead in the 28th minute. Arsenal took the lead thanks to a pinpoint pass from Raheem Sterling that found Leandro Trossard, who calmly finished off the opportunity by beating Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
The second half, though, was much tougher for Arsenal. After a review determined that Myles Lewis-Skelly fouled Jack Harrison within the penalty area in the 52nd minute, Everton were granted a penalty. To make the score 1-1, Iliman Ndiaye calmly took the penalty kick and beat Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya.
There were several opportunities for either team to go ahead as the match went on, but they were unable to do so. While Everton’s defense resisted Arsenal’s best efforts, the Gunners failed to score despite dominating possession and creating more scoring chances.
Thanks to the draw, Arsenal are now in second place with 62 points, while Liverpool are 11 points ahead of them with 7 games left to play. In order to make a run at the Premier League crown, Arteta’s squad will have to step up their game in their upcoming matches.
With the title race heating up, Arsenal will be looking to get back on track in their upcoming match against Liverpool. Every point matters for both clubs as the season winds down to its final weeks.
Meanwhile, in the M23 derby at Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 in a thrilling match that ended in a dramatic fashion due to three red cards and some intense last moments. In the fifth minute, the hosts took the lead thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta, demonstrating their superiority in no time.
Mateta met an accurate pass from Eberechi Eze and sent a soaring left-footed shot into the far top corner, evading Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen. Shortly after, Palace almost increased their lead when Verbruggen saved an effort from Eze after a rapid counterattack started by a long pass from Dean Henderson.
The response from Brighton was fierce, and goalkeeper Henderson made a string of vital stops for Palace. The first one sprung into action to block a close-range strike by Carlos Baleba and then again to block an effort by Danny Welbeck. Welbeck, though, finally broke the deadlock in the 27th minute when he received a cross from Yankuba Minteh and guided the ball past Henderson to score an equalizer.
There were less obvious opportunities in the start of the second half, but the game was revived in the 63rd minute when Daniel Muñoz scored a deflected effort. The ball was perfectly set up by Eze for Muñoz to score, and although a defender diverted his low effort, it wrong-footed Verbruggen, restoring Palace’s lead.
Despite a valiant comeback, Brighton were unable to find an equalizer due to a series of fouls and defensive mistakes.
In the dying moments, Palace’s defensive woes intensified as Jan Paul van Hecke was taken down by replacement Eddie Nketiah’s second yellow card for a high kick, bringing the home team down to ten men. Palace captain Marc GuĂ©hi picked up a second yellow card, reducing the home team to nine players—making an already hectic game even more so. In the final twelve minutes of regulation time, Brighton applied constant pressure, but their efforts were in vain when Van Hecke received a second yellow card and was also sent off.
Despite being down to 10 men, Palace maintained their composure to secure a vital victory and achieve a first-ever double over Brighton in the Premier League. Peruse the comprehensive outcomes down below:
Take a look at the most recent English Premier League standings down below:
