Arsenal fail to breach Palace
London, Jan. 15: Arsenal’s three-match winning streak in the Premier League ended with a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace as the Gunners missed a chance to keep their momentum going and climb up the table.
Arsenal remained rooted in 11th place with 24 points, while Palace stayed in 13th with 23 points.
We’ll take it, Palace winger Eberechi Eze said on Thursday.
It’s a good point to take. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was under severe pressure before Christmas after the team’s worst start to a season since 1974. But wins over the festive period against Chelsea, Brighton and West Bromwich Albion moved his team back into midtable and in sight of the European positions.
But Thursday’s game saw his team revert back to its old form, lacking creativity in midfield and cutting edge up front.
Arteta partly blamed fatigue, saying his players lacked some freshness and some quality in the final third.
We lacked the last pass or the last shot. We had to generate more to win that game,” he said.
BILBAO KNOCK OUT MADRID IN SUPER CUP
Malaga: Athletic Bilbao knocked out defending champion Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup with a 2-1 win, setting up a final against Barcelona.
Ral Garca scored two first-half goals to put Athletic in Sunday’s final in Seville against the Catalan club, which beat Real Sociedad in a penalty shootout in the other semifinal on Wednesday.
Athletic is looking to win its third Spanish Super Cup title, and first since beating Barcelona in the 2015 final. The Basque Country club also won the competition in 1984.
Garc a opened the scoring for Athletic in the 18th minute with a shot past Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in a oneon-one situation inside the area. He added to the lead by converting a penalty kick in the 38th after a foul by Lucas Vazquez.
Madrid reduced the deficit in the 73rd minute when Karim Benzema scored his first goal in four matches. The French striker appeared to have scored an equaliser in the 82nd but the goal was disallowed for offside.
SPAL SET UP LAST 8 MATCH VS JUVENTUS
Milan: Second-division team Spal will face Italian league champions Juventus in the Italian Cup quarterfinals after winning 2-0 at 10-man Sassuolo.
Spal is the only Serie ‘B’ side left in the competition.
Sassuolo was the better side in the first half but the match turned immediately after the restart when midfielder Filip uricic was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Spal defender Leonardo Sernicola.
Spal took the lead two minutes later when Demba Seck ran into the area and pulled the ball back for Simone Missiroli to sidefoot into the bottom right corner. The visitors doubled their advantage in the 58th minute. Marco D’Alessandro put in a cross from the left to the back post where Lorenzo Dickmann volleyed in from close range. Sassuolo hit the post twice in the match on Thursday. —