London, Feb 19: In a title race that keeps producing twists, the pendulum swung back Arsenal’s way again after a frustrating day for Manchester City in the English Premier League.
Arsenal came from behind twice before scoring two goals in injury time to beat Aston Villa 4-2 in the early kickoff on Saturday and halt a three-game winless streak in the league.
City then conceded a second-half equalizer and was held at Nottingham Forest to a surprising 1-1 after wasting chances to put the game away. The normally prolific Erling Haaland was guilty of a glaring double miss when he first hit the crossbar and then fired the rebound over the net from close range in the second half.
That all put Arsenal back atop the league standings, two points above City and with a game in hand after Pep Guardiola’s side went ahead on goal difference on Wednesday following a 3-1 win over the Gunners.
“We had amazing chances but it’s football. We have to score,” Guardiola said. “It is one of the best games we have played but we drop two points.”
Also, Chelsea’s struggles reached a new low after losing at home against last-placed Southampton 1-0, which should ramp up the pressure on manager Graham Potter.
The match also had some worrying scenes as Chelsea defender Cesar Azpilicueta sustained a head injury after taking a kick in the face. He was carried off on a stretcher and taken to hospital.
Liverpool boosted its push for a top-four finish with a 2-0 win at 10-man Newcastle that ended the host’s 17-game unbeaten streak in the league.
Chelsea’s struggles
None of Chelsea’s expensive January signings seem able to produce much of anything at the moment. Instead, set-piece specialist James Ward-Prowse scored the only goal at Stamford Bridge with a free kick just before the halftime break.
The result comes on the heels of three straight league draws and a 1-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League for Potter’s side. To make matters worse was Azpilicueta lengthy treatment after being hit in the face by an attempted overhead kick by Sékou Mara in the 74th minute.
Azpilicueta was taken off on a stretcher wearing a neck brace and breathing from an oxygen mask after a 10-minute stoppage of play.
“Thankfully he’s conscious,” Potter said. “He’s in hospital. He spoke to his wife, I believe. So we’re just obviously monitoring and very concerned for him. . . . It was not a nice thing to see.”
Bottom teams win
On a low-scoring afternoon, three of the other six mid-afternoon kickoffs also finished 1-0.
Fulham beat Brighton away, Everton earned a crucial victory over fellow relegation struggler Leeds, and Bournemouth won at Wolves. A last-gasp equaliser earned Brentford a 1-1 draw at home against Crystal Palace.
Substitute Manor Solomon scored the 88th-minute winner for Fulham to put the London club three points above Brighton in sixth place as the newcomer surprisingly challenges for a European spot.
It was an important day at the bottom of the standings as the three teams who started the day in the relegation zone all won.
Everton climbed out of the relegation zone thanks to Seamus Coleman’s second-half goal, moving two points above 19th-place Leeds.
Bournemouth also moved above West Ham into 17th place after Marcus Tavernier marked his return from injury with the winner against Wolverhampton – although the south-coast club could be back in the relegation zone if West Ham earns at least a draw against Tottenham on Sunday.
Southampton remained in last place, three points from safety.
Liverpool surging
After a hugely disappointing first half to the season, Liverpool could yet pull off a top-four finish.
Liverpool followed up its morale-boosting win over rival Everton with a comfortable victory at St. James’ Park in a game that was essentially over halfway through the first half.
Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo scored before Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope was sent off in the 22nd minute for handling the ball outside the area – ruling him out of the team’s League Cup final next weekend against Manchester United.
The win puts Liverpool six points behind fourth-placed Newcastle, having played a game less.
Liverpool center back Virgil van Dijk made his return after sitting out for nearly six weeks with a hamstring injury and said he hoped this week could be a turning point for the team.
“We’ve had results in the season where we have felt like this is the time to kick on. But this feels a little bit different,” Van Dijk said.
“Coming away from the big win against Everton, it was important to keep going and find a way to win.”
Rashford scores again
In this kind of form Marcus Rashford might just fire Manchester United to the Premier League title and more.
The striker scored twice to set up a 3-0 win against Leicester on Sunday as Erik ten Hag’s team closed in on second-place Manchester City and kept the pressure on table-topping Arsenal.
That’s 16 goals in 17 games for Rashford since returning from the World Cup in a run that has prompted fans to label him the best player in the world right now.
Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe – and a certain Cristiano Ronaldo – might have something to say about that, but United’s four-pronged trophy pursuit has been energized by Rashford’s outstanding form.
The England international fired his team in front on 25 minutes at Old Trafford after United withstood an early onslaught from Leicester.
He scored a second in the 56th and substitute Jadon Sancho added a third five minutes later.
Rashford has scored in seven straight Premier League games at home, which is the longest run for a United player since Wayne Rooney’s eight-game streak in the 2009-10 campaign. Ronaldo had a sequence of 10 straight games in 2008.
Rashford has now has a career-best 24 goals this season and is showing no signs of slowing down. (AP)
