🦁 Arsenal stay top after pulsating draw at Anfield; Man Utd lose again | OneFootball

The last Saturday before Christmas delivered the goods in the Premier League.

Here is what went down.

Liverpool and Arsenal share spoils in Anfield thriller

Scorers: Salah 29′, Gabriel 4′

Arsenal remain top of the Premier League at Christmas after an entertaining 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield.

Despite the cauldron of Anfield noise, the visitors made an electric start to their top-of-the-table clash as Gabriel Magalhães headed home a freekick past Alisson to give the away side a 0-1 lead after just four minutes.

After shouts of a penalty were denied by VAR following a handball in the box from Martin Ødegaard, Liverpool got their just desserts just before the 30-minute mark. Trent Alexander-Arnold lofted a beautiful ball in behind Oleksandr Zinchenko for Mohamed Salah, who skinned the Ukrainian and smashed a vicious strike past David Raya’s near post into the top right corner to make it 1-1.

Liverpool were then forced into an early substitution in bizarre circumstances after Konstantinos Tsimikas collided with Jürgen Klopp on the sidelines and was replaced with Joe Gomez after being deemed unable to continue.

Arsenal should have taken the lead with just four minutes to go before the break when Gabriel Martinelli failed to hit the target despite Alisson standing in no man’s land. Bukayo Saka had been played through on goal and had taken the ball past the keeper but was unable to get his shot off before Martinelli took over.

The second half started in the same pulsating fashion. Both sides went end to end, attacking, then scrambling to get back, but neither team were able to create that clear-cut chance they craved.

It took until the 72nd minute for that chance to come and it came Liverpool’s way. The Reds countered Arsenal after Ødegaard and Zinchenko fell over each other on the halfway line, leaving Liverpool five-on-one with Salah baring down on goal. The Egyptian passed at the last second to Alexander-Arnold and just when it seemed the net would ripple, it was the crossbar that rifled instead, sparing Arsenal’s blushes.

Both sides continued to push for that deeply desired winner but again neither were able to fashion it, meaning the spoils were shared.

The draw sees Arsenal stay top of the Premier League and means Liverpool climbed back above Aston Villa into second.

From earlier

Richarlison on target as Spurs squeeze past Everton

Scorers: Richarlison 9′, Son 18′; Gomes 82′

Tottenham had to grind out a victory over Everton in what was a brilliant end-to-end affair.

Everton started well and had a good chance to catch Spurs on the break in the seventh minute when Dwight McNeil played Dominic Calvert-Lewin in, but Cristian Romero got back well to snuff out the opportunity.

Two minutes later the score was opened at the other end, and it was Richarlison who found the net against his old club, slotting away Brennan Johnson’s low cross to claim his sixth goal of the season.

It was soon 2-0, and Son Heung-min was the scorer. A well-worked corner routine ended with Johnson getting a shot on goal which Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford could only parry, and the Spurs captain tucked home the rebound.

Everton thought they’d halved the deficit early in the second half when Calvert-Lewin finished well into the bottom corner, only for VAR to rule the goal out for an André Gomes foul on Emerson Royal in the build-up.

The Toffees went in search of goals but it was Spurs who went close to adding to the scoreline, with Dejan Kulusevski forcing Pickford into a top class save in the 75th-minute.

However Everton did pull one back with eight minutes to go and it was substitute Gomes who got it, lashing in on his first appearance since May 2022.

Moments later, Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario had to make a superb save to keep out a deflected effort from Arnaut Danjuma, and 2-1 was how it finished.

That result moves Spurs up to fourth, while Everton are 16th.

Townsend breaks his duck as Luton beat Newcastle

Scorers: Townsend 25′

Luton Town pulled off a massive victory over Newcastle in which Andros Townsend scored his first Premier League goal since 2021.

Former Newcastle player Towsend gave Luton the lead in the 25th-minute when he nodded in at the back post following Ross Barkley’s flick on.

Barkley went close to increasing the Hatters’ advantage when he hit the bar with a stunning effort in the first half, before Jacob Brown also rattled the woodwork in the second.

Alexander Isak had the ball in the net for Newcastle just after the hour mark, but his goal was ruled out for offside.

That defeat leaves the Magpies seventh in the table, while Luton are two points from safety.

Clarets stun Cottagers as Welch makes history

Scorers: Odobert 47′, Berge 66′

Burnley enjoyed their third Premier League victory of the season following a brilliant performance away at Fulham.

Rebecca Welch made history by becoming the first woman to referee a Premier League match when she blew the whistle to begin proceedings at Craven Cottage.

Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford was forced into a few good saves in the first half, but it was 19-year-old Burnley winger Wilson Odobert who broke the deadlock early in the second, lashing brilliantly past Bernd Leno from 25-yards after exchanging passes with Lyle Foster.

The Clarets were in dreamland when they went 2-0 up just after the hour mark. Odobert was the provider this time and Sander Berge was the scorer, drilling past Leno from outside the box.

Vincent Kompany’s side are now three points from safety.

Solanke hat-trick breaks Nuno’s heart

Scorers: Elanga 47′, Wood 74′; Solanke 51′, 58′, 90+4′

Red card: Boly 23′

A hat-trick from Dominic Solanke gave Bournemouth victory from an extraordinary game with Nottingham Forest.

Nuno Espirito Santo took charge of his first match as Forest manager, and his task was made significantly harder when Willy Boly was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Adam Smith midway through the first half.

The ten men broke the deadlock early in the second half, when Anthony Elanga found the bottom corner with a composed curling effort after being played in by Chris Wood.

But their lead didn’t last long, with Dominic Solanke soon equalising for Bournemouth with a looping header.

And before long Solanke turned the game on its head for the Cherries when he found the net again, finishing unmarked at the back post after Phillip Billing’s flick on.

But there was to be another twist, with Wood equalising for Forest with a powerful header from Morgan Gibbs-White’s corner.

The twists didn’t end there, however, with Solanke popping up in the 94th-minute to complete his hat-trick and stun the City Ground.

That result leaves Forest just above the drop zone, with Bournemouth moving up to 11th.

Lacklustre Manchester United punished by incisive West Ham

Scorers: Bowen 72′, Kudus 78′

Manchester United suffered their eighth Premier League defeat of the season when they were beaten at West Ham in the day’s early kick-off.

Two goals in the space of six second-half minutes gave Hammers boss David Moyes a victory against his former club, and piled further pressure onto Erik ten Hag, whose side are now goalless in their last four matches in all competitions.

With Raphaël Varane out due to illness, Manchester United handed a debut to 18-year-old centre-back Willy Kambwala at the London Stadium.

Both sides made tentative starts to the game, with Emerson Palmieri forcing Manchester United goalkeeper André Onana into just one early save, and the visitors not registering their first shot on goal until Antony struck ambitiously from distance after 32 minutes.

The first big chance fell to Alejandro Garnacho when he was played through on goal by Antony after 35 minutes, but the youngster’s weak finish was dealt with by Hammers goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.

Jarrod Bowen went close to opening the scoring for the hosts 10 minutes into the second half when he got his head onto a James Ward-Prowse corner, but Onana came to United’s rescue with a good save.

The breakthrough finally did come in the final 20 minutes, and Bowen was the scorer, when he latched onto a brilliant Lucas Paquetá pass and finished past Onana from close range after creeping in behind the hosts’ backline.

It was soon 2-0 and Paquetá again got the assist, this time playing in Mohammed Kudus to finish superbly after Kobbie Mainoo had lost the ball cheaply in midfield.

That result leaves West Ham sixth in the table, with Manchester United in eighth.

Sunday’s fixture