Arsenal’s Title Hopes Dented by West Ham

AFP | London
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• Manchester United Recover from 2-0 Down to Draw 2-2 at Everton
• Tottenham’s Brennan Johnson Scores Twice in 4-1 Ipswich Rout

Arsenal’s Premier League title bid suffered a huge blow as West Ham earned a shock 1-0 win over the 10-man Gunners. Meanwhile, troubled Manchester United rallied from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw at Everton yesterday.

With leaders Liverpool not in action until Sunday’s trip to Manchester City, Arsenal had a chance to close the gap in the title race with a victory at the Emirates Stadium. But Mikel Arteta’s side stumbled to their first loss in 16 league games as Jarrod Bowen netted West Ham’s first-half winner. The Gunners also had Myles Lewis-Skelly sent off after the interval.

Second-placed Arsenal, whose last top-flight defeat came at Newcastle in November, are now eight points behind Liverpool, who could move 11 points clear with a win over struggling City.

After coming off the bench to score twice in the closing stages of last weekend’s win at Leicester, Spain midfielder Mikel Merino started for injury-hit Arsenal as a makeshift striker. But Arsenal’s lack of cutting edge in the absence of Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, and Bukayo Saka was exposed when Bowen headed in a pin-point cross from Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the 44th minute.

Arsenal’s misery continued in the 73rd minute when Lewis-Skelly brought down Mohammed Kudus as the West Ham forward surged away on the halfway line. Lewis-Skelly was initially shown a yellow card, but the punishment was upgraded to a red after referee Craig Pawson consulted the pitchside monitor.

At Goodison Park, United were headed for a ninth defeat in their last 13 league games as goals from Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure put Everton two up inside 33 minutes. However, Bruno Fernandes’ free-kick pulled a goal back for United 18 minutes from time, and Manuel Ugarte’s equalizer salvaged a point.

More late drama unfolded as Everton were awarded a penalty deep into stoppage time, but referee Andy Madley overturned his decision after a VAR review.

When the sides last met in Ruben Amorim’s first home league game, United cruised to a 4-0 win, but under Amorim, they’ve managed just three victories in 13 league games, sitting 15th in the table.

Tottenham eased the pressure on manager Ange Postecoglou with a 4-1 win at third-bottom Ipswich. Brennan Johnson put Tottenham ahead in the 18th minute with a tap-in from Son Heung-min’s cutback.