Mohamed Salah allowed Liverpool to come away from their perilous trip to Arsenal (2-2) with a point, Sunday during a ninth day which brought Manchester City back to first place in a suspenseful Premier League.
The other Manchester team, United, extended its painful start to the season with a fourth defeat in the league, at West Ham (2-1), which sends Erik ten Hag back to a dangerous fourteenth place.
All eyes were on the Emirates on Sunday, and the summit between Arsenal and Liverpool did not disappoint, with constant tension, goals and a sharing of points which did not suit either side.
Manchester City (1st, 23 pts), reigning four-time English champion, takes the lead after its narrow victory the day before against Southampton (1-0), the new bottom.
Liverpool are in their stride (2nd, 22 pts) while Arsenal (3rd, 18 pts) appear a little off track, eight days after suffering their first defeat of the season, against numerically inferior Bournemouth.
Despite the absence of William Saliba, suspended, and that of captain Martin Odegaard, still injured, the « Gunners » showed a conquering face in front of their supporters, at least in the first period.
The advantage offered by Bukayo Saka (9th, 1-0) and Mikel Merino (43rd, 2-1), despite the equalizer from Virgil van Dijk (18th, 1-1), however disappeared after the break when Liverpool regained energy and ambitions.
Arsenal’s defense, weakened by the injury exits of Gabriel and Jürrien Timber, ended up cracking in front of Salah (81st, 2-2), served behind by Darwin Nunez.
Mikel Arteta’s men will try to get back to winning ways against Newcastle (12th, 12 pts) then Chelsea (5th, 17 pts), their next two opponents, while Liverpool will face Brighton (6th, 16 pts) and Aston Villa (4th, 18 pts).
ten Hag still weakened
Earlier in the afternoon, a fourth defeat in nine matches dropped Manchester United to fourteenth place and increased the pressure on coach Erik ten Hag, who is constantly in the hot seat.
His team left West Ham with plenty of regrets: that of having wasted too many opportunities, especially before the break, and that of having given in to a penalty from Jarrod Bowen (90th + 2) in added time.
Jean-Philippe Mateta congratulated by Daniel Munoz after scoring the winning goal for Crystal Palace against Tottenham in the Premier League on October 27, 2924 in London / HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
“We must look in the mirror”commented the Dutchman. But he also railed to the BBC about the penalty conceded, a new « injustice » according to him who “has a significant impact on our team, our results and our position in the ranking”.
His opposite number, Julen Lopetegui, is breathing a little easier after obtaining only a third victory this season. THE « Hammers » are thirteenth with eleven points, the same total as Manchester United.
There is also better for Crystal Palace, out of the relegation zone after its first victory of the season, Sunday against Tottenham (1-0).
The light came from a brilliant deflection from Eberechi Eze for the French striker « Eagles »Jean-Philippe Mateta (31st, 1-0), scorer after a month and a half of drought.
Chelsea took advantage of a new demonstration from Cole Palmer to prolong the torments of Newcastle (2-1) and enter the Top 5 of the ranking.
The 22-year-old offensive leader, scorer frustrated by a slight offside (4th), initiated the action leading to the opening score of Nicolas Jackson (18th, 1-0) with a laser pass for Pedro Neto and scored the winning goal (47th, 2-1) after the equalizer from Alexander Isak (32nd, 1-1).
Young Chelsea playmaker Cole Palmer a few minutes before the start of the Premier League match against Newcastle on October 27, 2024 in London / JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP
Unstoppable, Palmer? “I won’t go that far.”responded on Sky Sports the England international, author of seven goals in nine matches. “It’s my second season (among the professionals, editor’s note) and I’m still very, very young”he tempered.
With him, the « Blues » look ahead: here they are fifth with 17 points, one length behind Aston Villa and Arsenal.
