Mahrez misses late penalty in stalemate
Chelsea stay unbeaten with emphatic win at Southampton, Arsenal run riot at Fulham
MANCHESTER CITY winger Riyad Mahrez missed an 86th-minute penalty as the Premier League champions were held to a 0-0 draw at Liverpool in a top of the table clash yesterday.
Substitute Leroy Sane was brought down in the area by the lunging Virgil van Dijk but Algerian Mahrez blasted the spot kick high over the bar at Anfield.
The result leaves the pair level with Chelsea on 20 points although City stay top on goal difference.
Liverpool, who remain unbeaten in their last 18 home games against City, came out roaring and dominated the opening 10 minutes but Pep Guardiola’s visiting side weathered that early storm and were the more dangerous after the break. Mahrez twice forced good saves out of Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker, but then failed to find the target from the penalty spot when it mattered most.
At Southampton Ross Barkley scored his first goal for Maurizio Sarri’s unbeaten Chelsea as they won 3-0.
Willian had a shot deflected on to the crossbar and Danny Ings missed a golden opportunity from close range at the other end, before Barkley created the opener for Eden Hazard.
The English midfielder pressed high to win back the ball and set up Hazard, the division’s top scorer, who netted his seventh of the league season after 30 minutes at St. Mary’s.
Barkley, who signed for Chelsea in January from Everton, bundled in the second with his knee from Olivier Giroud’s acrobatic cross although TV replays suggested David Luiz had committed a foul in the build-up.
Two goals from Frenchman Alexandre Lacazette, a wonderful backheeled strike from Aaron Ramsey and two more from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave Arsenal a 5-1 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage in the league yesterday Fulham pressed forward in the opening minutes as they looked for their first win over Arsenal since January 2012, and Argentine midfielder Luciano Vietto very nearly beat Gunners keeper Bernd Leno in the second minute.
Fulham’s powerful Serbian forward Aleksandar Mitrovic also had a number of half-chances but was unable to get any clear shots in on goal, with perhaps his best attempt a thumped volley over the bar from outside the area. Against the run of play, Lacazette opened the scoring in the 29th minute for Arsenal, collecting a pass from Nacho Monreal, spinning round past defender Tim Ream and rifling the ball low into the corner of the net from close range.
Fulham’s Andre Schurrle levelled the score just before the break, chipping calmly over Leno for his third league goal since joining the Cottagers in the close season on loan from Borussia Dortmund. But the visitors ran rampant in the second half, with three unanswered goals.
Lacazette scored his fourth league goal of the season before substitute Ramsey back-heeled in an exquisite third for the Gunners after a pass across the area from Aubameyang.
The Gabonese striker then took the game away from the home side with two more goals that left Fulham with the worst defensive record in the league by a distance, having let in four more goals than any other team.