For 82 minutes against Chelsea on Sunday, Arsenal put forth a performance of rare shape, commitment and defensive solidity on manager Mikel Arteta’s home debut. But then Mason Mount’s innocuous free kick fluttered over the despairing arm of Bernd Leno and the excrement hit the air-conditioning again inside the Emirates.
Norwich City, with no hope of getting off the bottom of the table before the new year, held Tottenham to a 2-2 draw thanks to a slapstick Serge Aurier own goal on Saturday at Carrow Road.
Mario Vrancic put the Canaries ahead in the first half and the home side could’ve led by two but for a VAR reversal on Teemu Pukki. Christian Eriksen struck a brilliant free kick to briefly pull Spurs level before Aurier bundled the ball into his own net. Jose Mourinho was spared a second loss this week when Harry Kane drew and converted a penalty kick in the 83rd minute.
Even for the best of teams, playing down a man for 80 minutes is a most difficult task. Thanks to an idiotic Ederson red card, Manchester City suffered to a 3-2 defeat to Wolverhampton on Friday.
Despite two first-half goals from Raheem Sterling after City went down to 10 men, Wolves rallied with three in the second half to beat City, further denting Pep Guardiola’s title defense.
A meeting between first and second in the Premier League was more one-sided than anyone could’ve predicted as Liverpool ran riot at the home of Leicester City on Thursday evening, winning 4-0 with a masterclass in both attack and defense.
Manchester United punished Newcastle United 4-1 at Old Trafford on Thursday thanks to a devastating performance from the front three of Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood. Newcastle’s Matty Longstaff scored the game’s opening goal in the 17th minute, but the Red Devils replied with four unanswered (three of which were down to Newcastle errors) to climb to seventh in the table.
Tottenham’s top four aspirations were lifted Thursday following a 2-1 win over Brighton at Spurs’ Stadium. Brighton took a first half lead through Adam Webster, but Tottenham roared back with second half strikes from Harry Kane and Dele Alli.
Alli’s classy winner in the 72nd minute was a continuation of the Englishman’s fine form under manager José Mourinho: since the Portuguese’s appointment, Alli has scored five goals and provided three assists in eight games.
If you watched Chelsea’s dominate 2-0 victory over Tottenham on Sunday, you might be justifiably worried that Christian Pulisic is in another “rough” patch for the time being. After scoring five goals in three Premier League matches during a tear between Oct. 26 and Nov. 9, the American went five matches without a goal or assist.
“When I left you I was but the learner, now I am the master,” is what Frank Lampard presumably said to José Mourinho following Chelsea’s 2-0 victory over Tottenham on Sunday. After suffering four defeats in their last five Premier League games, Lampard elected to switch to a back three and relied on excellent performances from Willian, Mason Mount and Marcos Alonso to drive Mourinho’s side inside its shell at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
It's been nearly a year since Miguel Almirón made his big-money move to Newcastle United from Major League Soccer's Atlanta United.
In Atlanta, the Paraguayan scored 22 goals in 68 appearances over the course of two seasons. He was one of the attacking powerhouses of the league and one of the main reasons Atlanta's expansion season in 2017 and title-winning 2018 campaign were both large successes.
Liverpool won its first Club World Cup title with a 1-0 extra-time win over Brazil’s Flamengo on Saturday. It was Liverpool’s first intercontinental title but few in the U.S. were afforded an opportunity to watch it live.
Because Fox still shows a hatred for soccer, as we’ve lamented for more than two years, the American broadcaster chose to show three different college basketball games instead of the Club World Cup on Saturday.