Liverpool twice came from behind as Mohamed Salah’s 81st-minute goal earned a 2-2 draw with injury-hit Arsenal on Sunday in a match between Manchester City’s two biggest rivals for the Premier League title.
City ended the day a point clear atop the standings after Liverpool dropped points for just the second time in nine games this campaign.
Arsenal took the lead through Bukayo Saka in the ninth minute and then looked to hold on after Spain midfielder Mikel Merino headed the team back in front in the 43rd following Virgil van Dijk’s equalizer.
Salah denied Arsenal the win by converting a pass into the area from Darwin Nunez, who had been set free by a long ball from Trent Alexander-Arnold. Salah has scored against Arsenal in eight straight seasons.
Liverpool dropped into second place behind City, which won 1-0 at home to Southampton on Saturday, while Arsenal is now five points off the pace and carrying a worrying list of injuries.
With captain Martin Odegaard and left back Riccardo Calafiori missing because of injury and center back William Saliba suspended, the last thing Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta needed was two more defenders — Gabriel and Jurrien Timber — coming off with injuries.
It left Arsenal with a completely makeshift back four, including midfielder Thomas Partey at right back and 18-year-old rookie Myles Lewis-Skelly at left back, for the final stages and Liverpool took advantage.
Liverpool has only lost one of its 13 matches in all competitions under new manager Arne Slot since he replaced Jurgen Klopp. Eleven of them have been wins.
TEN HAG FRUSTRATED
If seeing a player miss an open goal wasn’t bad enough for Erik ten Hag, the Manchester United manager then had to endure the VAR overturning an on-field decision to give a stoppage-time penalty that plunged his team to a 2-1 defeat at West Ham.
Jarrod Bowen converted a highly disputed penalty in the second minute of added-on time after a foul by Matthijs de Ligt as United counted the cost of a string of wasted chances, notably when Diogo Dalot sidefooted over when faced with an empty net in the first half.
“We have to score, we created so many chances,” said Ten Hag, whose United team has lost four of its nine games and is languishing in 14th place in the 20-team standings.
Crysencio Summerville put West Ham ahead against the run of play in the 74th before Casemiro equalized for United at Olympic Stadium.
PALMER SHINES
With an exquisite pass and the winning goal, Cole Palmer shone again for Chelsea in a 2-1 victory over Newcastle.
It was the England playmaker’s curling 50-meter pass behind Newcastle’s defense that sent away Pedro Neto down the left to set up Nicolas Jackson for Chelsea’s 18th-minute opener.
Alexander Isak equalized but Palmer drove home his seventh goal of the season in the 47th to secure the victory for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. With five assists, too, Palmer has a league-leading 12 goals involvements this campaign.
“It is the reason why people pay (to come), they want to see that kind of player,” Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said of Palmer. “We are very happy to have him.”
PALACE FINALLY WINS
Crystal Palace finally claimed its first league win of the season by beating Tottenham 1-0 thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta’s goal to climb out of the bottom three.
It lifted the pressure on manager Oliver Glasner, whose arrival in February inspired Palace to a strong finish to last season but who struggled to get the best out of the team in the first two months of this campaign.
“Credit to the manager and staff, the message this week was to not sink when things get difficult,” Palace captain Marc Guehi said.
The only goal came after Tottenham gave the ball away trying to play out from the back. Daniel Muiz crossed to Eberechi Eze, whose flick found Mateta in space and the striker shot low into the net
“It turned into a game they were thriving on and we should have dealt with it better,” Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said. “It was a poor goal to concede.”
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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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