Arsenal's Gabriel Jesus vies for the ball with Chelsea's Marc Cucurella, background, during the English Premier League soccer match between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge stadium in London on Nov. 10.Kirsty Wigglesworth/The Associated Press
Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge took another hit on Sunday after a 1-1 draw with Chelsea.
It’s now four games without a win in the league for Mikel Arteta’s team, which is nine points behind leader Liverpool.
While a point saw Arsenal climb up to fourth in the standings, its winless run has seen a gap open up at the top. Chelsea is third, ahead of Arsenal on goal difference.
Gabriel Martinelli had fired Arsenal in front in the 60th minute at Stamford Bridge, but Pedro Neto equalized 10 minutes later.
“We have dominated one of the best teams in Europe but we don’t get the results. That is what is missing,” Arteta said afterward.
Arsenal was runner-up to Manchester City in each of the past two seasons and expected to be the closest rival to the defending champion again.
Instead it is Liverpool, under new manager Arne Slot, that has powered ahead at the start of the campaign and taken advantage of the faltering form of both City and Arsenal. City is five points back in second after two-straight losses in the league.
“It is a long season – long way to go. We had a tough period in December last season and came back,” Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard said after making his first start since sustaining ankle-ligament damage in September. “We know the quality and mentality we have and we just have to keep going.”
Behind the top two, the league is bunching up.
Just four points separate Chelsea and 13th-place Manchester United after 11 rounds of the season.
New era
Over to you Rúben Amorim. United’s incoming head coach will take over a team on the up after a 3-0 win against Leicester made it four games unbeaten in all competitions under interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy. Amorim officially starts on Monday after serving out his notice period at Sporting Lisbon and comes into a club that looks to be in a much healthier position than it was when Erik ten Hag was fired at the end of last month. “We said ‘Let’s make the most of these four games, get the maximum out of it,’ and I think we did an okay job,” Van Nistelrooy said. “I really enjoyed it, it’s been a short but amazing period.” Van Nistelrooy, Ten Hag’s former assistant and an iconic striker for the club in his playing days, has secured three wins and a draw during his four-game temporary reign. Now he is seeking clarity from United’s hierarchy about his own future once Amorim takes over. “I expect to hear today or tomorrow from them,” he said. On his 250th appearance for the club Bruno Fernandes scored with a brilliant curling shot from the edge of the area in the 17th minute at Old Trafford. His effort in the 38th then saw Victor Kristiansen accidentally divert the ball past Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen to double United’s lead before the break. Substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored an even more spectacular goal than Fernandes’s in the 82nd when sweeping the ball into the top corner from outside the box. Fernandes said later that the Argentina international didn’t fully celebrate the goal because he believes some fans have lost faith in him.
Newcastle fights back
Nottingham Forest’s rise has been one of the stories of the season, but it missed the chance to close the gap on Manchester City in second after falling 3-1 to Newcastle. City’s 2-1 loss against Brighton on Saturday meant Forest could have moved to within a point of Pep Guardiola’s team and it got off to an ideal start through Murillo’s goal in the 21st at the City Ground. But second-half goals from Alexander Isak, Joelinton and Harvey Barnes completed eighth-place Newcastle’s comeback. Defeat saw Forest drop from third to fifth on goal difference.
Ipswich wins
Ipswich won for the first time in the league this season with a 2-1 victory at Tottenham that saw it climb out of the relegation zone. Ipswich was the only top-flight team without a win heading into Sunday and led 2-0 at halftime against a Spurs side that could have moved into the top four with victory. Sam Szmodics and Liam Delap put Ipswich in control at that break. Rodrigo Bentancur pulled one back for Tottenham, but couldn’t prevent Ange Postecoglou’s team falling to a fifth league loss this season.
Chelsea cruising
LIVERPOOL Goals from Mayra Ramírez, Guro Reiten and Aggie Beever-Jones gave Chelsea a comprehensive 3-0 win away to Liverpool on Sunday to keep the pressure on Women’s Super League leaders Manchester City, which beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 on Friday.
City stay top on 19 points, one point ahead of Chelsea with the Londoners having a game in hand, while Brighton & Hove Albion remains third on 13 points despite a 5-0 thrashing by Arsenal on Friday.
Ramírez gave Chelsea the lead in the 37th minute after Liverpool failed to clear a Johanna Rytting Kaneryd shot that hit the crossbar, and the Colombian blasted home the loose ball to break the deadlock.
Reds keeper Rachel Laws had a moment to forget five minutes later when Liverpool tried to play out from the back and her pass landed at the feet of Chelsea winger Reiten, who took a touch before sweeping the ball into the empty net.
Liverpool improved in the second half and pressed Chelsea high up the pitch to pin them back, but substitute Beever-Jones netted an easy finish in the 90th minute to wrap up the three points for the Blues.
“We knew it would be tough and we needed to have a great performance if we wanted a good result,” Chelsea coach Sonia Bompastor said after her sixth win in six league games.
In London, Viviane Asseyi’s goal deep into first-half stoppage time gave West Ham United its first win of the season as it beat Leicester City 1-0, and Crystal Palace was pegged back by bottom side Everton after taking the lead in the first minute as the Toffees grabbed a 1-1 draw.
In Sunday’s late kickoff, second-from-bottom Aston Villa had little difficulty securing a 0-0 stalemate away to a toothless Manchester United side which is fifth in the table but barely managed a shot on target in a disappointing performance.
With reports from the Associated Press and Reuters