Top-tier football saw Arsenal chalk up a 2-1 victory against Brentford, courtesy of a last-minute goal from Kai Havertz, propelling them to the apex of the Premier League standings, and saving Aaron Ramsdale, their goalkeeper, from embarrassment. Given upcoming matches pitting their rivals Liverpool and Manchester City against each other, a simple win sufficed to hoist Arsenal to the top spot, a position they haven’t occupied since 2024. With an own-goal from Ramsdale leveling the scores at one apiece, courtesy of Yoane Wissa, Havertz swooped in to seal the deal with only four minutes left on the clock. Mikel Arteta’s team has been on a victorious streak of late, and the tense victory bears testament to another facet of their gameplay, keeping them atop the league if Liverpool and City play to a draw. After his stumble in the November Brentford game, Ramsdale hasn’t been on the field and lost his numero uno positioning to David Raya, who is ironically on loan from Brentford and couldn’t play against his home team. This match might have been Ramsdale’s final Arsenal appearance. Rumored to join Arsenal, Ivan Toney began with a strong defensive move, but Arsenal persisted, and Ben White set up Rice for his career-best sixth goal of the season, putting Arsenal in command. Things took a dramatic turn when Ramsdale’s delay in clearing a pass from Gabriel Magalhaes lets Wissa level the score. Brentford sought to capitalise on Ramsdale’s blunder, but his commendable save cemented Arsenal’s danger quotient. Despite Gabriel’s near goal from Bukayo Saka’s corner being blocked by Vitaly Janelt, the resulting save by Brentford’s keeper Mark Flekken was met with relief.
In their recent match, the home team grew increasingly agitated with referee Robert Jones, feeling that they were at the receiving end of several unfair penalty decisions. Havertz was fortunate to avoid a second yellow card, having apparently dived in the box shortly after the hour. Meanwhile, Brentford continued to pose a threat, with Ramsdale stepping up to defend brilliantly, tipping a header from Nathan Collins as the second half progressed. The game saw a back-and-forth dynamic as Rice hit the bar from a distance, causing unease to set in around the Emirates Stadium. Nonetheless, Arsenal persevered and eventually found their groove, with White providing the cross for Havertz’s header that secured him his fourth league game goal.
In other news, Manchester United managed a rather unimpressive 2-0 victory over Everton, thanks to penalties from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford. Despite some clunky performance on Saturday, Erik ten Hag’s team broke a streak of consecutive Premier League losses, keeping their Champions League hopes alive. Up against Everton, who weren’t in their best form and shot 23 times, United struggled for a substantial part of the match. However, Everton made costly mistakes in the first half, including James Tarkowski clumsily tackling Alejandro Garnacho to give away a penalty.
Football action continued in Bournemouth, where substitute Enes Unal scored his first Premier League goal in extra time. That helped his team come back from a 2-0 deficit to clinch a 2-2 draw against Sheffield United, who are mired in relegation fears. The Blades had looked set for only their second away win of the season, thanks to goals from Gustavo Hamer and captain Jack Robinson, but it wasn’t to be.
Substitutes Dango Ouattara and Unal netted goals in the last 16 minutes, salvaging a draw for the home team during an exciting fixture in Dorset.
At Selhurst Park, Luton forged a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace, with substitute Cauley Woodrow grabbing a tie in the dying moments of additional play, granting the Hatters a necessary point for their fight against relegation. Jean-Philippe Mateta seemed to have secured the game for the hosts with his quick off-the-block goal until Woodrow levelled things. The Palace suffered another blow in their record of late goals conceded in the Premier League.
The encounter also distinguished Sunny Singh Gill as the first British South Asian to officiate a Premier League match, and he was seen signing autographs before the beginning of the latter half. This outcome pulls Luton closer to safety by three points, while the Eagles lose a significant chance to widen the gap between themselves and the bottom three.
Wolverhampton Wanderers were promoted to the eighth spot in the Premier League standings following their 2-1 triumph over Fulham. This achievement, however, was not without incurring more injuries. Jean-Ricner Bellegarde had to leave the game with less than 11 minutes played while Pedro Neto halted before the halftime whistle with a thigh issue.
Despite this, the hosts capitalised on Fulham’s missed chances. Rayan Ait-Nouri and Nelson Semedo scored two goals, the former for the first time since December 2022 and the latter via deflection, before Alex Iwobi managed to lessen the damage with a last-minute consolation goal. Following these events, there is buzz that contract discussions with the Wolves’ manager will occur this summer.
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