Sports
Chelsea lose again as Tottenham hold Arsenal, Liverpool go second – ARN News Centre
AFP
Chelsea’s woes continued as they lost at home to Aston Villa. Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur slugged each other to a standstill in an absorbing 2-2 draw in Sunday’s big Premier League derby and Liverpool maintained their resurgence to move into second place after a victory over West Ham United.
Brighton and Hove Albion shrugged off the midweek disappointment of losing their first-ever European game to move into third place with victory over Bournemouth.
Sheffield United slumped to the bottom of the table as they suffered a humiliating 8-0 home thrashing by Newcastle United in which eight different Newcastle players scored.
The first north London Premier League derby since 2014 not to feature Harry Kane produced an enthralling contest at The Emirates where the two unbeaten sides went toe-to-toe.
Arsenal twice led, first through Cristian Romero’s 26th-minute own goal, and again thanks to Bukayo Saka’s penalty early in the second half. But Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham earned a deserved point thanks to Son Heung-min’s brace.
“We conceded an unlucky own goal, then a VAR penalty, so it’s not like everything was falling in our favour,” Postecoglou, whose side remain unbeaten after six league games, told reporters. “Just a real character and resilience the boys showed, a real belief in the kind of team we want to be.”
Arsenal, who are also unbeaten, slipped to fifth with 14 points, below fourth-placed Tottenham on goal difference and have an injury concern after record signing Declan Rice went off with a back issue at halftime.
“Today we lacked a certain composure on the ball to be more dominant, get set and get a structure in the game that we needed against a really good Spurs side,” manager Mikel Arteta said.
Liverpool moved into second place, two points behind leaders Manchester City, who have a 100% record, after beating West Ham 3-1 — their fifth successive league win.
West Ham started well but were left to rue some early misses when Mohamed Salah was felled by Nayef Aguerd in the 15th minute and the Egyptian tucked away the penalty.
Jarrod Bowen levelled but Darwin Nunez steered home a superb volley from Alexis Mac Allister’s pass midway through the second half and substitute Diogo Jota sealed the points late on.
After last season’s slump, Juergen Klopp’s side are looking much more like their old selves.
“When we are not playing well we are solid, when we are playing well we are really good,” Klopp said. “That’s how you can get kind of consistency and that’s what we obviously need.”
Australia and South Africa won both the women’s and men’s tournaments at the Dubai 7s weekend.
For the first time the series, also known as the HSBC SVNS, the tournament featured equal numbers of men’s and women’s teams competing in each leg of the competition.
Women’s Rio 2016 Olympic champions Australia got off to a flying start on Saturday with victories over Brazil (39-0), Japan (66-0), and Ireland (33-5).
On Sunday the Pearls beat USA 32-5 in the quarter-finals, before edging past France 21-14 in the semi-final to set up a final match against their oldest rivals, and reigning series champions, New Zealand.
Australia clinched the winning try through flying winger Maddison Levi, sealing the game 26-19 and top spot in the rankings.
Olympic Games Paris 2024 hosts France beat Canada 26-5 in the third place play-off.
Queens of the desert 👑@aussie7s win the #HSBCSVNSDXB#HSBCSVNS pic.twitter.com/0nGP76J1Ur
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) December 3, 2023
South Africa’s men’s team opened their season with victories over Samoa (22-14), Canada (35-14), and previous champions New Zealand (21-19) in the group stage.
After comfortably dispatching Australia 24-7 in the quarter-finals on day two, they shocked two-time reigning Olympic champions Fiji 14-7 in the semi-finals.
The defending champions beat Argentina 12-7 in a thumping encounter to claim their fifth straight Emirates Dubai 7s title.
Unstoppable in Dubai 🎆
The @Blitzboks are champions of #HSBCSVNSDXB#HSBCSVNS pic.twitter.com/8244N71Su1
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) December 3, 2023
More from Sports
First Chelsea Premier League goals from Enzo Fernandez and Levi Colwill earned the 10-man home side a 3-2 win over Brighton and Hove Albion at a rain-sodden Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Chelsea played the entire second half a player down after captain Conor Gallagher picked up two yellow cards, but World Cup-winning Argentine Fernandez kept them in front with a goal in each half.
Fernandez, who had only previously scored in the League Cup, headed home a neat overhead kick from defender Benoit Badiashile in the 17th minute.
Colwill, on loan at Brighton last season, made it two four minutes later from a Nicolas Jackson headed pass. It was the former Chelsea junior’s first senior goal for his side but he chose not to celebrate in front of the travelling fans.
Chelsea looked to be cruising but Brighton pulled one back two minutes from halftime through a curling shot by Facundo Buonanotte.
Then Gallagher slid in on former Chelsea team mate Billy Gilmour and was dismissed by referee Craig Pawson.
Brighton pressed Chelsea in numbers at the start of the second half, trying to make their advantage tell but substitute James Milner could not keep up with Mykhailo Mudryk on the counter and brought him down.
After a six minute delay for a VAR check, Fernandez scored his second from the penalty spot in the 65th minute.
Brighton’s Joao Pedro made sure of a nervy run-in during time added-on when he scored with a glancing header in the 92nd minute after sustained pressure from the visiting side.
They peppered the Chelsea goal for the last hectic 10 minutes and Chelsea had Robert Sanchez to thank for keeping the score in check.
Pascal Gross had three good chances saved by the Spanish keeper in regulation time and he also kept out a Joao Pedro effort in the 99th minute.
A final twist in the tail sent Pawson to the VAR monitor for a second time after he indicated a penalty for a handball from Colwill as Chelsea defended desperately with every player behind the ball.
The replays showed the Chelsea man had been hit in the face rather than on the arm by the ball and the decision was overturned.
The result sent Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea up a place to 10th in the table, three points behind Brighton in eighth.
Kicking off a big December with a W. 💪#CFC | #CheBri pic.twitter.com/nrNU0DKw5a
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 3, 2023
A Sunday goal glut ended with champions Manchester City drawing a third successive Premier League game as they were held 3-3 at home by injury-hit Tottenham Hotspur to slip to third place in the table, three points behind leaders Arsenal.
The five games produced 24 goals, the last of which was headed home by Spurs winger Dejan Kulusevski in the 90th-minute at the Etihad Stadium to deny Pep Guardiola’s side victory.
Liverpool moved a point above City into second spot as they scored twice late on to turn around a 3-2 deficit at home to Fulham and win 4-3 with Trent Alexander-Arnold sealing victory.
Ten-man Chelsea beat Brighton & Hove Albion 3-2 at Stamford Bridge while fourth-placed Aston Villa needed a late Ollie Watkins goal to scrape a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth.
West Ham United drew 1-1 at home to Crystal Palace.
City have now gone three games without a win in the league for the first time in six years as once again their nemesis Tottenham caused Guardiola’s side a headache.
Despite winning three successive titles, City have now beaten Spurs only once in their last five meetings.
Substitute Jack Grealish’s 81st-minute goal looked to have secured City victory but Kulusevski headed in Brennan Johnson’s cross to reward Ange Postecoglou’s side’s risk-taking approach and move them back up to fifth, six points off the pace.
What a game at the Etihad.
🩵 3-3 ⚪️ #ManCity pic.twitter.com/98rklZgu1P
— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 3, 2023
Tottenham’s Son Heung-min had opened the scoring in the sixth minute on the counter-attack but then levelled for City as a cross bounced off him into the net three minutes later.
Phil Foden gave City the lead and they twice hit the woodwork in a dominant first half but Giovani Lo Celso equalised after the break with a sublime low shot.
In a frantic conclusion Guardiola’s side were furious deep in stoppage time when Grealish was through on goal but play was stopped for a foul on Erling Haaland during the build-up.
“It is hard when you review the image, the referee decides to blow the whistle after he has already said to play on. After the pass, the whistle, so I do not understand this action,” Guardiola told Sky Sports.
“It was a good game. It is a pity. Sometimes football is like life, you do not get what you deserve.”
Arsenal, who beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 on Saturday, lead the table with 33 points from 14 games, with Liverpool on 31 and Manchester City on 30.
Ananya Panday, Siddhant Chaturvedi surprise fans at NH7 Weekender
Emily Blunt shares how ‘The Office’ fans react when they spot her with John Krasinski
