Arsenal fight back to dent 10- man Spurs’ EPL top- four hopes
Brighton beat Southampton as Newcastle slip in battle against relegation
ARSENAL sealed their first north London derby win since December 2018 after fighting back from a goal down to beat 10- man Tottenham 2- 1 yesterday, reports Skysports.
The Gunners, who were without captain PierreEmerick Aubameyang after he was left out of the starting line- up due to a disciplinary breach, dominated much of the first half as Emile Smith Rowe and Cedric Soares both saw strikes hit the woodwork. However, they were behind in the 33rd minute when Erik Lamela, who replaced the injured Heung- Min Son after 19 minutes, produced a spectacular drilled Rabona ( 33) to beat Bernd Leno and find the bottom corner.
The hosts did finally get some reward just before the half- time interval when Martin Odegaard ( 44) swept home Kieran Tierney’s cutback and they turned the game around midway through the second half when Alexandre Lacazette scored from the spot ( 64) after being scythed down by Davinson Sanchez.
Lamela’s afternoon turned sour 15 minutes from time when he threw out a stray arm to catch Tierney to pick up his second yellow card in eight minutes, while Harry Kane, who had a late header disallowed for offside, struck the post with a free- kick before Gabriel Magalhaes’ brilliant block to deny Sanchez scoring from the rebound secured Arsenal all three points.
Newcastle United have fallen to 17th in the Premier League table after Brighton and Hove Albion beat Southampton 2- 1 at St Mary’s yesterday.
The win lifted Graham Potter’s men up to 16th place, one point above the Magpies who could only draw with Aston Villa on Friday evening.
Luckily for Steve Bruce’s side, 18th placed Fulham were beaten 3- 0 by Manchester City on Saturday meaning Newcastle will end the weekend two points clear of the relegation zone, with 10 matches remaining. Brighton took the lead after a quarter of an hour through Lewis Dunk. Fraser Forster made a fine save to keep out Neal Maupay’s shot but he was beaten from the resulting corner by Dunk’s towering header.
Saints pulled themselves level when Dunk could only help Ryan Bertrand’s header into the path of Che Adams, who was lurking alone at the far post to volley home.
But in the 56th minute Brighton went back in front after Leandro Trossard converted Danny Welbeck’s layoff to secure a vital win for the Seagulls.
It compounds the importance of next Saturday’s clash between Brighton and Newcastle as the Magpies look to pull clear of the drop zone heading into March’s international break.
However, they could kick off against Brighton in the bottom three as Fulham take on Leeds United at Craven Cottage on Friday evening.
United make the long journey south to the AMEX Stadium with just two wins in their last 19 matches and without star players Callum Wilson and Allan SaintMaximin through injury.
However, Newcastle are hopeful Miguel Almiron will be fit for the trip to Sussex with the Paraguay international holding an outside chance of returning to action.