Gunners shoot clear
Saints make a gift of three points for the log leaders
A CALAMITOUS mistake by Southampton goalkeeper Artur Boruc set Arsenal en route to a 2-0 victory that sent the Premier League leaders four points clear yesterday.
Arsenal had already hit the woodwork through Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey at the Emirates Stadium when Boruc tried to outwit Olivier Giroud with fancy footwork inside his area in the 22nd minute.
The Poland international attempted one drag-back too many, enabling Giroud to stab home the opening goal.
Giroud made sure of victory with four minutes left, registering his 10th goal of the season from a penalty after Jose Fonte had been penalised for pulling Per Mertesacker’s shirt.
Chelsea beat a lacklustre West Ham 3-0 at Upton Park in the late game to push Southampton out of the top four.
Earlier Daniel Sturridge came off the bench to earn Liverpool a 3-3 draw against Everton with an 89th-minute equaliser in a frenetic, entertaining Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.
A brace from Romelu Lukaku had put Everton on the brink of a first win
It’s really disappointing that we didn’t get the three points
over their rivals in seven matches, but Sturridge’s header gave Liverpool a share of the spoils.
“It was a terrific game. I’ve been involved in a few and they are real heart-stoppers,” said Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.
“We again showed our resilience and ability to fight back. This is a difficult place to come and they haven’t lost at Goodison Park this year.” Philippe Coutinho’s fifth-minute opener for Liverpool was swiftly cancelled out by Kevin Mirallas, before Luis Suarez restored the visitors’ lead in the 19th minute by bending a 25m free-kick into the bottom-right corner.
Mirallas was fortunate to avoid a red card for a knee-high foul on Suarez before half time, but he teed up Lukaku for both the equaliser and the 82nd-minute header that put Everton in front.
Everton manager Roberto Martinez said: “It’s really disappointing we didn’t get three points. To concede late on from a dead-ball situation doesn’t reward my team for how they played in the second half.”
Newly appointed Crystal Palace manager Tony Pulis watched as his new side survived the dismissal of Yannick Bolasie to win 1-0 at Hull City.
Bolasie was sent off for a clumsy challenge on Jake Livermore in the 78th minute, but Barry Bannan scored from a Cameron Jerome cut-back three minutes later to give Palace a first away win of the campaign. Sunderland went down 2-0 at Stoke. Charlie Adam and Steven Nzonzi scored in either half for Stoke, and Wes Brown was sent off for a challenge on Adam in the 36th minute, provoking a furious reaction from Sunderland manager Gustavo Poyet.
Fulham remain in the bottom three after losing 2-1 at home to Swansea City, for whom Jonjo Shelvey claimed an 80th-minute winner after Scott Parker had cancelled out an own goal by Fulham centre-back Aaron Hughes.
France forward Loic Remy found the net for the eighth time in eight league games as Newcastle United won 2-1 at home to Norwich City. Yoan Gouffran also scored for Newcastle, with Leroy Fer replying for Norwich. —