Shaken before the break, Manchester City regained momentum against Brighton (2-1) on Saturday and at least temporarily took the lead in the championship ahead of Arsenal, who came from a long way against Chelsea (2-2).
The suspense remains total at the top of the Premier League with the four leading locomotives standing in one point before Tottenham (4th)’s match on Monday against Fulham at the end of the 9th day. Liverpool are third after their 2-0 derby win over Everton.
. City returns to success
Manchester City entered the international break with two successive defeats, against Wolverhampton and Arsenal, a first since 2018 in the league.
At home, the Citizens wasted no time with goals from Julian Alvarez (7th) and Erling Haaland (19th), the ninth in nine matches for the Norwegian striker. However, they broke out in a cold sweat after Ansu Fati reduced the score in the 73rd.
“We played 55-60 minutes really, really good, and we had more and more scoring opportunities. In the end we defended with our heart,” Pep Guardiola responded to the BBC.
. Arsenal au forceps
Amorphous in the first period, guilty of unusual defensive errors, Arsenal recovered from a two-goal handicap against Chelsea (2-2) to cool down the boiling public at Stamford Bridge and preserve their invincibility in the league.
“The way the team reacted was phenomenal, that’s the part I loved,” reacted coach Mikel Arteta. His friend Mauricio Pochettino, on the Chelsea bench, said he was “disappointed because we dropped two points”, but “satisfied because we were competitive”.
The Gunners are second on equal points with City and one unit ahead of Liverpool and Tottenham, the north London rival who could however regain control of the championship on Monday.
Chelsea were heading towards a third success in a row in the Premier League with a penalty from Cole Palmer (15th, 1-0) and a lob from Mykhailo Mudryk (48th, 2-0), helped by the passivity of William Saliba, already guilty of a handball on the penalty.
But Arsenal regained hope with a long shot from Declan Rice (77th, 2-1), on the lookout after a poor recovery from goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, then equalized by Leandro Trossard, six minutes after the Arsenal came into play. Belgian winger (84th, 2-2).
Chelsea are ninth, eight points off the podium.
. Salah porte Liverpool, encore
Liverpool, in numerical superiority, took time to beat poorly ranked Everton (2-0), before Mohamed Salah liberated Anfield with a double.
The Egyptian took the penalty obtained by Luis Diaz (75th) with force, before scoring his seventh goal of the season in the league, after a lightning counter-attack in added time (90th+7) .
Everton resisted in this 243rd Mersey derby, despite the exclusion of Ashley Young after a second yellow card (37th). And Liverpool could also have finished with ten men, but Ibrahima Konaté miraculously escaped a second warning, just before being sent to the bench by Jürgen Klopp.
Saturday afternoon, Newcastle also outclassed Crystal Palace (4-0) to climb to fifth place before the final matches of the weekend.
. Manchester United with Charlton in the lead
Manchester United won late at the bottom of Sheffield United (2-1), bringing welcome comfort to its supporters, mourning the death on Saturday of club legend, Bobby Charlton, at the age of 86.
At Bramall Lane, the crowd and players paid tribute to the 1966 world champion with a minute’s applause before kick-off.
The “Red Devils” then struggled against the promoted team, but they escaped with a long shot from Portuguese defender Diogo Dalot (77th).
This second success in a row allows them to occupy eighth place ahead of West Ham, who could however move back in front in the event of a good performance on Sunday against Aston Villa.
The situation becomes more complicated for Sheffield, twentieth with just one point, four less than Luton, the first club outside the relegation zone. The “Hatters” put in a funny performance by overcoming a two-goal deficit to equalize at 2-2 in the 92nd minute on the Nottingham Forest pitch.
2023-10-22 03:07:41
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