Manchester City twice missed penalties in a 1-1 draw with Everton on Saturday as 10-man Arsenal went level with them on points at the top of the English Premier League table after seeing off Swansea 3-2.
Arsenal leapfrogged Tottenham Hotspur into second place after their north London rivals also dropped points in a 1-1 draw away to West Bromwich Albion.
Everton goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg saved penalties from Kevin de Bruyne and Sergio Aguero — his second spot-kick failure this week after he was off target in Argentina’s World Cup qualifying defeat by Paraguay.
Photo: AFP
Romelu Lukaku then fired the visitors ahead in the 64th minute at Eastlands before substitute Aguero’s miss.
However, City, who have now gone three games without a win in all competitions, equalized in the 72nd minute when Nolito headed in Silva’s cross as former Barcelona teammates-turned-managers Pep Guardiola (City) and Ronald Koeman (Everton) had to settle for a point apiece.
“We did absolutely everything — Everton create just one chance which was a goal,” Guardiola said. “The players have all the qualities to score penalties, but we miss a lot. Hopefully we will score more of them in future.”
At the Emirates Stadium, Theo Walcott scored twice in seven first-half minutes as Arsenal defeated Swansea for a sixth straight win in all competitions.
Swansea, in former US manager Bob Bradley’s first game in charge, saw Gylfi Sigurdsson score in his 100th appearance for the Welsh club with a 38th-minute curling shot.
However, Mesut Ozil marked his 28th birthday by restoring Arsenal’s two-goal advantage with a 57th minute-volley.
Borja Baston pulled a goal back for Swansea and Arsenal had to play the final 20 minutes a man down after Granit Xhaka received a straight red card for a challenge on Modou Barrow.
“We could never capitalize on the two-goal cushion, but at least we got the three points,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.
‘INTENSITY’
Tottenham dominated possession at The Hawthorns only for former Spurs star Nacer Chadli to put the Baggies ahead eight minutes from time.
However, Dele Alli’s 89th-minute equalizer preserved the Spurs’ unbeaten league record.
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said: “We missed the opportunity to achieve three points, but in the same way it was a difficult game.”
Chelsea hammered champions Leicester City 3-0 at Stamford Bridge thanks to goals from Diego Costa, Eden Hazard and Victor Moses.
Defeat meant the Foxes had won just two of their eight league games this season and manager Claudio Ranieri, a former Chelsea boss, said: “Our approach to the match was not good.”
The result gave Antonio Conte, Ranieri’s fellow Italian, a much-needed win after speculation he was about to be sacked as Chelsea manager.
“From the start I asked them to play well with intensity and to try to do what we are doing in training,” Conte said. “This is the best game for us.”
Stoke won in the league for the first time this season as Wales international Joe Allen made it four goals in his last three games by scoring twice in a 2-0 win at home to basement club Sunderland.
Meanwhile, West Ham climbed out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win away to London rivals Crystal Palace.
Manuel Lanzini’s 19th-minute goal proved decisive in a match where Palace’s Christian Benteke missed a penalty on the stroke of halftime.
The Hammers won despite being reduced to 10 men for the final 15 minutes of the game after Aaron Cresswell was sent off for two bookable offences.
“I’ve been the first one lately to criticize the team and the way we played, but tonight we showed we haven’t given up and how much it means to us put a win on the board,” West Ham captain Mark Noble said.
‘GROW UP’
Elsewhere, AFC Bournemouth thrashed Hull City 6-1 as Mike Phelan’s first game in charge of the Tigers ended in an a thumping defeat.
Charlie Daniels put Bournemouth 1-0 up as early as the fifth minute. Hull’s Ryan Moses equalized in the 34th minute, but from then on it was one-way traffic as Steve Cook, Junior Stanislas, Callum Wilson and Dan Gosling scored for the Cherries.
Phelan, who took caretaker charge of Hull after former manager Steve Bruce left in the pre-season, was scathing about his side’s display.
“I feel very embarrassed,” he said. “We’ve got to grow up... What we’ve done today is not good enough.”
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