Iwobi, Lacazette lead Arsenal to win at Huddersfield
Zaha earns Palace a point at home to West Ham
LONDON: Arsenal returned to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over bottom side Huddersfield Town yesterday, but remain the only side without an away clean sheet in the Premier League this season.
Arsenal had suffered four defeats in their last nine league games, including a 3-1 loss at Manchester City last week, but Alex Iwobi put them ahead in the 16th minute with a deflected shot. Huddersfield pressed and harried but rarely troubled the Arsenal goal in the first half, with the difference in quality showing as the visitors doubled their advantage through Alexandre Lacazette’s 10th league goal of the season a minute before halftime.
Adama Diakhaby had two good chances to get Huddersfield-who had drawn once and lost 11 of their previous 12 league games-back into the match, but failed to really test Bernd Leno in the Arsenal goal. Sead Kolasinac put through his own net in stoppage time to give Huddersfield late hope, scoring Huddersfield’s first goal in over nine hours of football in all competitions, but the visitors held on for the win.
Victory moved Arsenal level on points with fifthplaced Chelsea, who play Manchester City on Sunday, while Huddersfield stayed bottom, 13 points from safety.
In another game Wilfried Zaha’s deflected goal earned Crystal Palace a 1-1 draw at home to fellow Londoners West Ham United in the Premier League yesterday. It had looked as though Mark Noble’s 27th-minute penalty and Palace’s profligacy in front of goal would condemn Palace to a damaging loss in their bid to climb away from relegation trouble.
But Zaha eventually beat West Ham’s keeper Lucasz Fabianski with a shot that looped up off the boot of Issa Diop. West Ham had been the better side before the break with Noble calmly putting them ahead from the spot after Palace keeper Vincente Guita hauled down Michail Antonio.
Palace, who began the day four points and four places above the bottom three, were much improved in the second half and created numerous chances to equalise. Substitute Michy Batshuayi should have scored before James McArthur struck the post with only Fabianski to beat.
The draw left Palace with 27 points from 26 games, three points above the relegation zone while West Ham, in 10th place, have now gone five games without a win all competitions. — Reuters