United battle to draw with Arsenal, Reds march on
MANCHESTER United remain distant spectators in a Premier League race in which Liverpool continue to chase Manchester City, but they twice equalised in a spirited 2-2 draw with Arsenal at Old Trafford last night.
Liverpool also fell behind, but stormed back to beat Burnley 3-1 and cut the gap on leaders Manchester City to two points.
Tottenham Hotspur climbed to third with a 3-1 win over Southampton while Chelsea hung on to fourth spot, above Arsenal on goal difference, despite a 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers, who ended a six-game losing streak.
Storm clouds have been gathering over Jose Mourinho’s misfiring United side and they looked well short of being contenders for the top four. It was the first United v Arsenal clash since 1986 not featuring Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger in the dugout. Wenger’s successor, Unai Emery, had to be satisfied as Arsenal stretched their unbeaten run to 20 matches, while Mourinho took comfort from a result that left United 18 points behind Manchester City.
Mourinho, who left Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku out of his starting lineup, said his side “scored all four goals”. He could not have expected keeper David de Gea to suffer the sort of panic that keeps undermining his side. De Gea should have comfortably held Shkodran Mustafi’s 26th-minute downward header, but merely juggled it over his head and over the line.
Anthony Martial levelled six minutes later, Ander Herrera pulling the ball back after Marcos Rojo’s free kick was saved by Bernd Leno. Arsenal led again in the 68th minute when Alexandre Lacazette got the final touch, but the advantage lasted less than a minute as their defence allowed Jesse Lingard to slide a shot under Leno.
De Gea made crucial late saves to deny Arsenal a first league win at Old Trafford since 2006.
Liverpool’s best start to a topflight season continued after they fell behind at Turf Moor. James Milner levelled for the Reds after Jack Cork’s surprise opener and substitute Roberto Firmino set Liverpool on course for a 12th win in 15 games before Xherdan Shaqiri rounded things off.
Tottenham shook off their defeat by Arsenal with Harry Kane, Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min on target against Southampton at Wembley.
| African News Agency (ANA)