Arsenal blew the chance to reduce Manchester United’s lead at the top of the Premier League to just one point after being held to a 0-0 draw at home to Sunderland on Saturday.
With United facing a tricky away game at Liverpool yesterday, Arsenal could have piled the pressure on Sir Alex Ferguson’s team with a win over Sunderland at the Emirates.
However Arsene Wenger’s injury-hit team, missing Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott and Robin van Persie, were frustrated by a resolute Sunderland side who were determined to end a run of four consecutive defeats.
Photo: Reuters
A disappointed Wenger was furious that an Andrey Arshavin goal had been disallowed for offside when replays appeared to show he had been onside.
“It’s really disappointing and it’s very difficult to take a decision like that in a game of this importance,” Wenger told Sky Sports.
“We have to take it on the chin and continue to fight, but it’s absolutely disappointing and unacceptable,” added Wenger, whose side now face a daunting trip to face Barcelona in the Champions League tomorrow.
Photo: Reuters
The draw leaves Arsenal three points adrift of United ahead of yesterday’s game at Anfield. The Emirates stalemate was the only goalless draw on a day of breathless entertainment across the league.
Third placed Manchester City closed the gap on Arsenal to four points as a howler from Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi gifted the hosts a 1-0 win at Eastlands, the Omani somehow allowing David Silva’s 38th minute shot to squirm through his hands and into the net.
Conor Sammon almost equalized for Wigan in stoppage time, but Roberto Martinez’s side remain bottom of the table and are now four points from safety.
In a dramatic game at the Reebok Stadium, Bolton twice came from behind against Aston Villa and saw the visitors miss a penalty before snatching a dramatic 3-2 victory.
Villa took the lead on 15 minutes, Darren Bent scoring after meeting Kyle Walker’s cross at the back post to silence the Reebok Stadium.
However, Gary Cahill equalized with a header on the stroke of halftime to restore parity for Bolton.
Marc Albrighton gave the visitors the lead again when he finished on 64 minutes and Ashley Young could have made the game safe for Villa on 70 minutes only to see his penalty saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen.
Young was made to rue the miss shortly afterwards, when Cahill grabbed his second to make it 2-2. And four minutes from time substitute Ivan Klasnic fired in the winner to sink Villa and see Wanderers move up a place to sixth.
There was more drama at Craven Cottage where Fulham overcame a stubborn Blackburn side 3-2 courtesy of a late penalty from Bobby Zamora.
Earlier, Damien Duff had twice given Fulham the lead against his former club only for his goals to be cancelled out by Grant Hanley and David Hoilett.
Everton meanwhile bounced back from their midweek FA Cup exit to Reading to beat Newcastle 2-1 at St James Park.
Leon Best fired the Magpies ahead after 23 minutes before two goals in five minutes from Leon Osman and Phil Jagielka gave Everton a valuable three points.
West Ham’s revival gathered pace with a 3-0 win over Stoke at Upton Park, with Senegalese striker Demba Ba taking advantage of some comedy defending by Asmir Begovic and Marc Wilson to open the scoring after 21 minutes.
Manuel da Costa made it 2-0 for the Hammers shortly afterwards as Stoke struggled to gain a foothold in the match. An 83rd-minute effort from German international Thomas Hitzlsperger completed the scoring.
In the early kick-off newly crowned League Cup winners Birmingham were brought down to earth, losing 3-1 to West Bromwich Albion at St Andrews.
Only six days after Alex McLeish’s side stunned Arsenal at Wembley, the Blues were left contemplating a potentially costly home defeat that sent them into the relegation zone.
Second-half goals from Youssouf Mulumbu, James Morrison and Paul Scharner secured the win for Albion, giving new manager Roy Hodgson the first victory of his three-match reign following last month’s dismissal of Roberto Di Matteo.
Birmingham’s solitary goal came from Jean Beausejour.
The win saw West Brom move up to 16th place, and left the Blues in 18th place, two off the bottom.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS