Arsenal fights back to draw Spurs in derby
Liverpool posts club-record 13th league win, City hot in pursuit • VAR continues to confound clubs
LONDON (Reuters) – Arsenal strikers Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette inspired a stirring comeback against rival Tottenham Hotspur to salvage a 2-2 draw in a thrilling north London Premier League derby on Sunday.
Spurs were looking to bounce back from a shock 1-0 home loss to Newcastle United and went ahead through Christian Eriksen and a Harry Kane penalty before Lacazette struck before the break and Aubameyang got a 71st-minute equalizer.
Arsenal, beaten 3-1 at Liverpool last week, is in fifth place with seven points while Spurs are ninth on five after four games.
The visitors took a 10th minute lead when Eriksen nudged the ball into an empty net on the rebound after a superb piece of hold up play from Son Heung-min allowed Erik Lamela to fire at goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
Arsenal had most of the ball on a sunsoaked afternoon at the Emirates Stadium, but Tottenham was far more threatening on the break and Leno was forced to keep out stinging efforts from Kane and Eriksen in the first half.
Tottenham was then awarded a penalty for a clumsy foul by Granit Xhaka on Son and Kane converted in the 40th minute to put Spurs on track for a first league win on enemy territory in nine years.
However, Arsenal’s France striker Lacazette halved the deficit right before halftime with an emphatic strike after controlling an exquisite pass from the club’s record signing Nicolas Pepe.
Kane came close to sealing the points for Tottenham when he struck the post, but Arsenal became galvanized when Spanish midfielder Dani Ceballos came off the bench and hit a shot which ’keeper Hugo Lloris did well to tip over.
An equalizer looked ever likelier and duly arrived when Gabon striker Aubameyang prodded a lofted pass from Matteo Guendouzi into the net in the 71st minute, scoring a third goal in four Premier League games this season.
Meanwhile, in Sunday’s other match, Richarlison scored twice and Alex Iwobi netted his first league goal to hand Everton a 3-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in an electrifying encounter at Goodison Park.
In Saturday’s action, Liverpool’s perfect start to the season continued with a 3-0 win at Burnley, a club-record 13th successive Premier League victory that quickly displaced Manchester City, a 4-0 conqueror of Brighton & Hove Albion, at the top of the table.
After four games, last season’s top two have broken clear of the pack although this time it is Jurgen Klopp’s side two points ahead as it goes into the international break.
On a day of several VAR controversies as English soccer continues to grapple with the new technology, Leicester City emerged as the nearest pursuer after beating Bournemouth 3-1, but there was more frustration for Manchester United and Chelsea, which were held by Southampton and Sheffield United, respectively. West Ham United and Crystal Palace both won.
At Turf Moor, Liverpool took the lead on 33 minutes when Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross looped off Chris Wood’s head into the far corner of the net, with Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino also scoring in another impressive performance.
The club’s previous record run was set between April and October 1990, when the team was managed by Kenny Dalglish.
City’s win was even more emphatic and never in doubt from the moment Kevin de Bruyne put his side ahead in the second minute. With Sergio Aguero scoring twice to keep up his record of scoring in each of City’s four league games and substitute Bernardo Silva netting with his second touch, it was business as usual for City, which lost French defender Aymeric Laporte with what looked like a serious knee injury.
“It doesn’t look good,” said Pep Guardiola. United failed to take advantage of its numerical superiority at Southampton, where the home side played the final 17 minutes with 10 men after defender Kevin Danso was sent off for a second yellow card.
Although United took the lead through Daniel James, who registered his third league goal of the season with a fine strike, Danish center-back Jannik Vestergaard headed the equalizer on 58 minutes.
Southampton then held firm to frustrate the visitors under manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who said two points from the last three games represented “a dip in results but not form.”
The Norwegian also rejected suggestions Paul Pogba could leave the club before Monday’s European transfer deadline. “Paul Pogba will be playing for us,” he said. Third-place Leicester continued its excellent start to the season with a 3-1 win over Bournemouth, with Jamie Vardy involved in all the home team’s goals.
The striker scored twice and made a third for Youri Tielemans to complete a memorable week in which it was announced his wife is pregnant for the fifth time.
Bournemouth felt Tielemans should have been red-carded for a foul on Callum Wilson, a challenge that VAR considered but chose not to intervene on even though Wilson said he felt Tielemans almost “broke my ankle.”
There was more controversy at Selhurst Park where referee Kevin Friend disallowed a late equalizer for alleged simulation by Jack Grealish.
The decision enraged Villa manager Dean Smith, who questioned why VAR did not step in, and Norwich manager Daniel Farke was also unhappy about non-intervention after a challenge on his defender Christoph Zimmermann did not receive a red card in the 2-0 defeat at West Ham.
“This is a game where VAR didn’t work,” he said.
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard looked close to securing his first home win of the season after Tammy Abraham scored twice in the first half, but the promoted visitors showed plenty of fight to snatch a point with a strike from Callum Robinson and a late own-goal from Kurt Zouma.
Bottom side Watford, which had lost its first three games, eased some of the pressure on manager Javi Gracia by scraping a point in the 1-1 draw at Newcastle United.