Tag: Burnley

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Arsenal winning run ends in Sunderland draw; De Ligt rescues Man Utd

Arsenal’s 10-game winning run came to an end as Brian Brobbey’s last-gasp goal gave Sunderland a dramatic 2-2 draw against the Premier League leaders, while Manchester United rescued a 2-2 draw at Tottenham on Saturday.

Former Arsenal defender Dan Ballard fired Sunderland ahead with a powerful finish in the 36th minute at the Stadium of Light.

That ended the Gunners’ run of eight consecutive clean sheets in all competitions.

Bukayo Saka levelled with a composed finish in the 54th minute before, Leandro Trossard smashed Arsenal into the lead from the edge of the Sunderland area in the 76th minute.

Arsenal were within touching distance of an 11th successive victory in all competitions, but Brobbey stabbed home from Ballard’s header to earn a point in the fourth minute of stoppage time.

It was the first time they had failed to win in any competition since a 1-1 draw with Manchester City in the top flight on September 21.

“We conceded two similar goals, which is not good enough for ourselves,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said.

“But it’s true that we showed an incredible resilience and courage to come back. Even at the end after we conceded the goal we had a massive chance to win it.”

As they chase a first English title since 2004, Arsenal hold a seven-point lead at the top.

But second-placed City would close the gap on Arsenal to four points if they beat champions Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Liverpool can move within five points of Arsenal if they defeat City.

At the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Bryan Mbeumo fired United ahead in the 32nd minute amid mounting discontent among home fans.

Booed off at half-time, Tottenham hit back and looked to have secured a dramatic victory after Mathys Tel equalised in the 84th minute and Richarlison deflected in a shot from Wilson Odobert in the 91st minute.

But United defender Matthijs de Ligt powered in a 96th-minute header to extend his side’s unbeaten run to five games.

Tottenham’s failure to hold onto the lead was another blow to their dismal record in home league games in 2025, which includes only one win in six top-flight matches in north London this term.

Neither manager was satisfied with the outcome and United boss Ruben Amorim said: “We have so much to grow as a team because today was our day to win. If we have a little bit more bravery, we can kill this game.”

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank added: “A lot of things we could have done a bit better. The last goal is all about the urgency, maybe don’t give the cross away and defend better.”

Seventh-placed United have now failed to beat fourth-placed Tottenham in eight meetings, including a 1-0 defeat in the Europa League final in May.

West Ham boosted their bid to avoid relegation with a 3-2 win against fellow strugglers Burnley at the London Stadium.

Burnley took the lead in the 35th minute when Lesley Ugochukwu’s cross reached Zian Flemming and the Dutch forward headed home from close range.

Callum Wilson hauled West Ham level with a predatory finish from the rebound after Crysencio Summerville’s shot was saved in the 44th minute.

Tomas Soucek netted for West Ham in the 77th minute, the Czech midfielder bundling in from close range after Lucas Paqueta’s cross was parried into his path by Burnley keeper Martin Dubravka.

And, when Dubravka fumbled the ball towards Kyle Walker-Peters in the 87th minute, the defender’s clinical finish put the result beyond doubt.

Josh Cullen’s stoppage-time strike was no consolation for Burnley.

Third-bottom West Ham’s second successive win moved them level on points with fourth-bottom Burnley.

Everton ended a three-game winless run with a 2-0 victory over Fulham at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane were the scorers for David Moyes’ men.

Chelsea quelled criticism of Enzo Maresca’s rotation policy with a 3-0 win against Wolves featuring the first goal of Malo Gusto’s career on Saturday.

Former Manchester United star Wayne Rooney said Chelsea’s senior players should “question” Maresca’s selections after the Italian made seven changes for a 2-2 draw against Azerbaijani minnows Qarabag in the Champions League on Wednesday. (JapanToday)

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Arsenal wins again to extend lead in Premier League; Man United salvages late draw

The wins just keep on coming for Arsenal.

The Premier League leader extended its advantage at the top of the standings to seven points on Saturday after a 2-0 victory against Burnley.

That’s 13 wins from 15 games in all competitions for Mikel Arteta’s team after a flying start to the season that has only strengthened belief it will end its long-running title drought.

Not since 2004 has Arsenal been crowned English champion – but it has quickly established itself as the team to beat this season.

First half goals from Viktor Gyokeres and Declan Rice at Turf Moor made it nine wins in a row and put further distance between Arsenal and the chasing pack.

“Every weekend I know how important it is to win football matches,” Rice said. “I realize the position we’re in and what we can achieve as a club.”

Manchester United missed the chance to provisionally move up to second, but maintained its recent unbeaten run by scoring late to salvage a 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest.

Chelsea beat Tottenham 1-0 and bottom of the table Wolverhampton remains winless after yet another defeat – losing 3-0 to Fulham.

Crystal Palace beat Brentford 2-0 and Brighton won 3-0 against Leeds.

Another win and another clean sheet for an Arsenal team that has by far the meanest defense in the league.

Victory at Burnley was the seventh straight shutout for the London club, which has only conceded three goals all term. This was also the third time in the league this season that Arsenal denied its opponent any shots on target.

Crucially, the goals are flowing at the other end and summer signing Viktor Gyokeres scored his sixth of the season to put Arsenal in front with a 14th minute header from close range. Rice doubled the lead in the 35th with another header low into the corner.

“We knew it was going to be a tough test, but we had to stick to our principles,” Rice said. “In the end our quality shone through.”

Amad Diallo scored a stunning left-footed volley from the edge of the area to salvage a point for United and ensure coach Ruben Amorim’s unbeaten run was extended to four games.

United had led Forest at halftime at the City Ground after Casemiro’s header in the 34th.

But the visitors were stunned after the break when Morgan Gibbs-White and Nicolo Savona struck within five minutes of the restart to put new Forest coach Sean Dyche in sight of a first league win since taking charge.

“We lost control of the game for five minutes and we paid the price,” Amorim said.

Bruno Fernandes hit the post with a long range effort as United went in search of a leveler and in the 81st Diallo lashed a volley beyond Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels.

He might have scored a winner with another fierce strike that was cleared off the line.

“We managed to score, we had a big opportunity in the end. But we lost two points and that is the feeling, but we have the next week to work and to try and get these points in another stadium,” Amorim said.

Chelsea bounced back from last week’s defeat to Sunderland with victory against London rival Tottenham.

Joao Pedro’s finish in the 34th was enough to separate the teams at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but Enzo Maresca’s team had numerous chances to extend its lead.

Spurs’ league record at home is looking increasingly concerning for coach Thomas Frank, with the last win coming against Burnley on the opening day of the season.

An eighth league defeat from 10 games this season leaves Wolves rock bottom and in danger of being cut adrift.

The signs were ominous from the ninth minute when Ryan Sessegnon opened the scoring for Fulham at Craven Cottage and it got worse from there.

The visitors were down to 10 men when Emmanuel Agbadou was sent off in the 36th and in the second half Harry Wilson extended Fulham’s lead before Yerson Mosquera’s own goal made it 3-0.

The latest defeat will only heighten speculation over the future of Wolves coach Vitor Pereira, who only signed a new three-year contract in September.

At the age of 34, Danny Welbeck is still delivering in England’s top flight.

The Brighton striker’s 11th-minute goal at the Amex Stadium was his sixth in as many games and opened the scoring against Leeds.

At this rate, the former Man United and Arsenal player may be a contender for England’s World Cup squad.

“I just control what I can control – I am enjoying playing my football here at Brighton, my focus is always on Brighton and doing the best that I can,” Welbeck said.

Diego Gomez scored twice in the second half to complete the 3-0 win for Brighton.

Jean-Philippe Mateta was on target for Palace in its 2-0 win against Brentford. (JapanToday)

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Haaland scoring run over in Man City loss as Arsenal opens up 4-point lead in Premier League

Erling Haaland’s 12-game scoring streak ended Sunday in Manchester City’s first loss in nearly two months, allowing Arsenal to extend its lead to four points in the Premier League.

Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace — secured via a brilliant scissor kick by former Palace player Eberechi Eze — was made all the sweeter by City losing 1-0 at Aston Villa, with right back Matty Cash grabbing the winner from a fierce 19th-minute strike.

It was City’s first defeat since Aug. 31 and meant Haaland’s scoring run for club and country — stretching back even further, to Aug. 23 — is over. The Norway striker did bundle the ball into the net in the 90th minute, before crashing into the post, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

With beleaguered Liverpool losing 3-2 at Brentford on Saturday, it has been a bad weekend for Arsenal’s chief title rivals.

Somewhat surprisingly, Arsenal’s closest challenger now is Bournemouth, which won 2-0 at home to Nottingham Forest. Even more unlikely is the sight of promoted Sunderland a point back alongside third-placed Tottenham, which won 3-0 at Everton. City is one point further adrift in fifth — and already six points behind Arsenal.

“It’s very early, we’re still in October,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, whose team is seeking a first Premier League title since 2004. “The emotional state is really high but there are a lot of things to get better.”

City reeled in Arsenal to win the title in the 2023-24 season and is going to have to do it again.

City manager Pep Guardiola isn’t too concerned at this stage.

“I was worried before the international break (in September) when we were 14th in the table,” Guardiola said.

“If they win all their games and win the Premier League, congratulate them. That’s all we can do … but I don’t live in October and November thinking, ‘Oh what is going to happen if we don’t win the Premier League?'”

Eze barely celebrated after producing a wonderful finish from Gabriel Magalhaes’ nod-down to ultimately clinch a fourth straight league win for Arsenal.

“The technique is unbelievable,” Arteta said of the England playmaker, who started the season with Palace before completing a move to Arsenal, the team he supported as a kid, for a reported initial fee of 60 million pounds ($80 million) late in the summer transfer window.

This was a first league goal for his new club — and it came from a typical source, an Arsenal set piece.

It was also another clean sheet for Arteta’s team, which has conceded just three goals in nine games. It was achieved despite center back William Saliba being withdrawn because of injury at halftime and Declan Rice also going off midway through the second half with an undisclosed problem.

Haaland had previously scored in all but one of City’s games this season and, in his words, has been in the form of his life.

But he was unable to make it seven straight Premier League games on the scoresheet as Villa defended stoutly in the face of a late City onslaught to record a third straight home win over Guardiola’s team.

City has lost three of its nine league games.

Cash lashed home a left-footed shot after a corner reached him at the edge of the area.

During the summer transfer window, Bournemouth lost three of its back four and its goalkeeper from last season.

It hasn’t stopped the team making an unexpectedly good start — and a prolific new striker has been unearthed, too.

After Marcus Tavernier opened the scoring directly from a corner in the 25th minute, 19-year-old striker Eli Junior Kroupi doubled Bournemouth’s lead with a long-range strike into the corner — his fourth goal in his last three appearances.

The France under-21 striker is currently playing in place of the injured Evanilson.

It was Sean Dyche’s first Premier League match in charge of Forest.

Center back Micky van de Van scored two first-half goals at corners and Pape Sarr added a late third for Tottenham in its win at Everton.

Burnley scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time to win 3-2 at last-placed Wolverhampton, which has yet to win any of its first nine games of the campaign for the second straight season.

Wolves manager Vitor Pereira was involved in a heated exchange with his own fans after the game. (JapanToday)

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Fernandes lifts Man Utd gloom; Frank suffers first league loss with Spurs

Bruno Fernandes eased the pressure on Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim as his last-gasp penalty sealed a 3-2 win over Burnley, while Thomas Frank suffered his first Premier League defeat as Tottenham manager on Saturday.

Just days after a humiliating League Cup second-round loss at fourth-tier Grimsby, United were on the brink of another damaging result after promoted Burnley twice came from behind at Old Trafford.

Amorim had admitted after the Grimsby debacle that he sometimes thinks about quitting and often hates his players.

His mood would have been even darker before United captain Fernandes came to the rescue seven minutes into stoppage time.

United’s first win in three league games this season will give Amorim some much-needed respite heading into the international break, although questions will still be asked of the Portuguese coach after his side’s latest erratic display.

Luck was on United’s side when they took the lead in the 26th minute.

Casemiro’s header thumped off the crossbar and hit Burnley captain Josh Cullen on the back, ricocheting over the line before Martin Dubravka could claw it away.

Lyle Foster hauled Burnley level with a 55th-minute finish from Jacob Bruun Larsen’s cross.

Bryan Mbeumo put United back in the lead just 15 seconds later when he slammed in Diogo Dalot’s cutback for his first league goal since his summer move from Brentford.

United’s frailties were punished again as Jaidon Anthony equalised in the 66th minute.

It was a shambolic goal, with Altay Bayindir spilling Loum Tchaouna’s shot and Anthony poking the loose ball goalwards before Kobbie Mainoo’s attempted clearance rebounded in off the United goalkeeper.

But in the final moments Anthony pulled Amad Diallo, with a lengthy VAR check concluding the foul continued inside the area, conceding a controversial penalty that Fernandes gratefully tucked away to Amorim’s immense relief.

“I was frustrated like any Man United fan, we had chances to score more goals. But today we were the better team,” Amorim said.

“Sometimes we were not playing so well, but you can see the effort of everyone on the pitch wanting to win.”

Tottenham were beaten 1-0 by Bournemouth to end Frank’s strong start since he arrived from Brentford to replace the sacked Ange Postecoglou in the close-season.

Tottenham had won their first two league games under the Dane without conceding a goal, including a 2-0 win at Manchester City last weekend.

But Evanilson struck in the fifth minute with a deflected shot as Bournemouth left north London with their second win this term.

Leaders Chelsea took advantage of VAR controversy to beat Fulham 2-0 as the visitors were left to rue a series of costly decisions awarded against them at Stamford Bridge.

Enzo Maresca’s side, who have seven points from three games, were fortunate not to fall behind in the west London derby when Fulham were harshly denied a first-half opener.

Josh King’s strike was ruled out after VAR deemed Rodrigo Muniz’s accidental collision with Trevoh Chalobah was worthy of a foul.

As if that wasn’t infuriating enough for Fulham boss Marco Silva, Joao Pedro put Chelsea ahead beyond the scheduled eight minutes of stoppage time at the end of the first half.

Adding to Silva’s anger, Chelsea’s second goal was also VAR-influenced as Ryan Sessegnon was adjudged to have handled a cross, leading to Enzo Fernandez converting from the penalty spot.

Jack Grealish starred as Everton beat Wolves 3-2 at Molineux.

Beto headed Everton in front from Grealish’s flick after seven minutes before Wolves forward Hwang Hee-chan levelled in the 21st minute.

Iliman Ndiaye restored Everton’s advantage in the 33rd minute, applying the finishing touch to a flowing move involving on-loan Manchester City winger Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

Dewsbury-Hall bagged Everton’s third, blasting home from Grealish’s pass in the 55th minute before Rodrigo Gomes reduced the deficit in the 79th minute.

Sunderland staged an impressive fightback to beat Brentford 2-1 at the Stadium of Light. (JapanToday)