EBPL: Arsenal Bounces Back, Defeats Tottenham
By Tanko Bauka
Arsenal has bounced back to contention for the English Barclays Premier League title after defeating their London arch-rival, Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 to cut Liverpool’s gap sitting at the top of the league table to four points, though Liverpool has an outstanding match against Everton.
Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur went into the North London derby at the Emirates Stadium knowing that anything short of three points will be a great setback as they play catch-up with Liverpool FC.
The Emirates stadium came into life immediately after the centre referee signalled the commencement of the North London derby with the vociferous Arsenal fans drumming support for the Arteta boys, but in the 25 minutes, anxiety and doubt swept through the stadium as Son Min fired Tottenham Hotspurs into the lead to silence the thunderous fans.
The goal jostled Arsenal as they upped their game, pounding Tottenham Hotspurs’ goal mouth unrelentingly, and their constant pressure paid off in what has become Arsenal Hallmark as kings of set pieces, with Gabriel rising high to nod in the equalizing goal with the help of Tottenham Hotspurs’ Solanke.
Lisandro Trossard fired Arsenal into the lead before the half-hour mark, and on resumption of the second half, Arsenal continued from where they left off before the break as they kept prodding for a goal to kill off the game, but Tottenham Hotspurs defended stoutly to deny the gunners scoring more goals.
The win, going by anything, is significant to Arsenal’s title push as they challenge Liverpool FC.
Liverpool FC had earlier on dropped point as they played out a one-all draw with Nottingham Forest while Manchester City’s rebuilding process and momentum charge suffered a major setback as Brentford came back from two goals down to level up the match to two all draw at the G-tech stadium as Chelsea also laboured so hard to snatch a two all draw against AFC Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge stadium.
Ruben Amorim’s side, Manchester United, defeated Southampton by 3-1 at Old Trafford, while Ipswich Town lost 0-2 to Brighton Hove Albion as they continue to fight relegation.
In the Italian Serie A, Como lost 2-1 against AC Milan, while draw specialist Juventus were again held to a one-all draw by Atalanta as Inter Milan also played out a two-all draw against Bologna.
In the German Bundesliga, Bayern Munich, Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayern Leverkusen, Stuttgart, Holstein Kiel FC Augsburg and Wolfsburg all recorded wins in their various matches.
Results across Europe
English Barclay Premier League
Brentford 2- Manchester United 2
West Ham 3- Fulham 2
Chelsea 2- AFC Bournemouth 2
Nothingham Forest 1- Liverpool 1
Everton 0- Aston Villa 1
Leicester 0- Crystal Palace 2
Newcastle 3- Wolves 0
Arsenal 2- Tottenham Hotspur 1
Manchester United 3- Southampton 1
Ipswich Town 0- Brighton Albion 2
Italian Serie A
Como 1- AC Milan 2
Atalanta 1- Juventus 1
Inter Milan 2- Bologna 2
German Bundesliga
Holstein Kiel 4- Dortmund 2
Bayern Leverkusen 1- Mainz 05 0
Frankfurt 4-SC Freiburg 1
Wolfsburg 5- Monchenglabach 1
VFL Bochum 1- FC St Pauli 0
Stuttgart 2- RB Leipzig 1
Bayern Munich 5- Hoffenheim 0
Werder Bremen 3- Heidenheim 3
Union Berlin 0- FC Augsburg 2
Weekend Fixtures across Europe
English Barclay Premier League
Saturday
Newcastle vs AFC Bournemouth
Brentford vs Liverpool
Leicester vs Fulham
West Ham vs Crystal Palace
Arsenal vs Aston Villa
Sunday
Everton vs Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester United vs Brighton
Nothingham vs Southampton
Ipswich Town vs Manchester City
Monday
Chelsea vs Wolves
Spanish LA Liga
Friday
Espanyol vs Real Valladolid
Saturday
Laganes vs Atletico Madrid
Real Betis vs Deportivo Alaves
Celta Vigo vs Athletic Bilbao
Real Madrid vs Las Palmas
Osasuna vs Rayo Vallacano
Valencia vs Real Sociedad
Monday
Villarreal vs Mallorca
Italian Serie A
Friday
AS Roma vs Genoa
Saturday
Bologna vs AC Monza
Juventus vs AC Milan
Napoli vs Atalanta
Sunday
Fiorentina vs Torino
Cagliari vs Lacce
Parma vs Venezia
Hellas Verona vs Lazio
Inter Milan vs Empoli
Monday
Como vs Udinese
German Bundesliga
Friday
Eintrach Frankfurt vs Dortmund
Saturday
VFL Bochum vs RB Leipzig
Holstein Kiel vs Hoffenheim
Stuttgart vs SC Freiburg
Bayern Munich vs Wolfsburg
Heidenheim vs FC St Pauli
Leverkusen vs Monchenglabach
Sunday
Union Berlin vs Mainz 05
Werder Bremen vs FC Augsburg
