Wenger says Sanchez gamble failed
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
Arsene Wenger admitted he was wrong to start Alexis Sanchez on the bench. Goals from Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane gave Liverpool a comfortable half-time lead before the Chilean made his introduction immediately after the interval.
He laid on the assist for Danny Welbeck, who was making his first Premier League start of the season, to halve the deficit and inject some muchneeded pace into a lethargic Arsenal side before Georginio Wijnaldum sealed all three points in stoppage time.
Victory for the Reds took them above the Gunners into third place as they recovered from their 3-1 defeat to defending champions Leicester on Monday night.
On his decision not to start with Sanchez, Wenger said: “Yes (it did backfire), but I felt that in the first half that the strikers suffered because we didn’t dominant in the midfield and in the second half half you could see that it was easier because Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud were much better. So it’s always debatable.
“It took us a while to get into the game. We were not completely at the races in the first half and we conceded cheap goals and direct goals from their goalkeeper. We had opportunities to come back in the second half and responded well but it’s true, we didn’t perform to our level (in the first half).”
Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Bournemouth in an incident-packed Premier League encounter which could result in Zlatan Ibrahimovic facing a ban.
United, who could have moved into the top four with victory in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off, took the lead after 23 minutes through Marcos Rojo’s first goal in the top flight. However, Joshua King equalised from the penalty spot in the 40th minute.
There was then chaos at the end of the first half when Cherries midfielder Andrew Surman was belatedly sent off after pushing over Ibrahimovic, who had caught Tyrone Mings with an elbow.
That followed moments on from Bournemouth defender Mings standing on Ibrahimovic’s head, with referee Kevin Friend taking no action for either.
Ibrahimovic’s penalty was saved in the 72nd minute – and the Swedish forward could yet face a retrospective disciplinary charge from the FA, along with Mings. Last season’s champions Leicester came from behind to beat relegation battlers Hull 3-1 for a second win of the week at home.
The Foxes, whose manager Claudio Ranieri was sacked following a poor run of form, returned to winning ways against Liverpool on Monday night.
Against Hull they went behind after 14 minutes when Sam Clucas bundled in, but Christian Fuchs equalised in the 28th minute with a well-taken finish.
After Hull winger Kamil Grosicki hit the woodwork, it was Leicester who got themselves in front through a fine individual goal from Riyad Mahrez after 59 minutes. An own goal from Tom Huddlestone in the final minute completed Hull’s disappointing afternoon as caretaker boss Craig Shakespeare made it two wins out of two games in charge.
Crystal Palace moved out of the bottom three with a 2-0 win at West Brom. Wilfried Zaha broke the deadlock to put the Eagles ahead 10 minutes into the second half, with a late individual effort from winger Andros Townsend securing much-needed points for Sam Allardyce’s relegation battlers.
Fernando Llorente headed a dramatic last-minute winner as Swansea fought back to beat Burnley 3-2 at the Liberty Stadium.
Spanish forward Llorente nodded the Swans into the lead after 13 minutes, but Burnley were level through a 20th-minute penalty from Andre Gray following a disputed handball. Gray then fired in a second just after the hour, but Sweden defender Martin Olsson levelled with 20 minutes left before Llorente secured all three points.