Manchester United were left frustrated after Paul Dummett’s late deflected goal won a point for Newcastle in an exhilarating 3-3 draw. The unlikely Joe Allen scored a 90th minute equalizer for Liverpool in rainy conditions to salvage a draw against table-toppers Arsenal. West Brom came from goal down twice to hold Chelsea to a draw at Stamford Bridge.
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After weeks of being criticized by fans and pundits alike for playing ‘boring’ football, Manchester United silenced all critics with a commanding performance up front, as Wayne Rooney scored twice in arguably United’s best attacking performance this season. The visitors were awarded a controversial penalty in the 9th minute against Chancel Mbemba, when the defender’s arm was struck by Marouane Fellaini’s header at the far-post. Captain Rooney stepped up to take the penalty and finished with ease to make it 1-0. The visitors doubled their lead in the 38th minute, when Rooney was clear on goal with a couple of defenders and slipped in an exquisite no-look pass to Jesse Lingard, who made an overlapping on the left-flank and the youngster sent the ball through Rob Elliot’s legs. Newcastle got a goal back when Fabricio Coloccini’s ball into the box was headed down by Aleksandar Mitrovic for Georginio Wijnaldum, who converted brilliantly past David De Gea, as the first-half ended 2-1.
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Halfway through the second half, Chris Smalling wrestled Mitrovic to the ground during a corner routine and the referee awarded a penalty to the Magpies. The Serbian striker picked himself up to take the resulting spot-kick and sent De Gea the wrong way to make matters level. In the 79th minute, Memphis Depay’s shot was blocked right into the path of Rooney and the Englishman’s first-time shot flew into the top-left past the helpess Elliot to restore United’s lead. Having seemingly won a three crucial points, the Red Devils were in for a cruel shock, when a headed clearance was thumped home by the left-back Dummett into the roof of the net, after taking a deflection off Smalling to make it 3-3. Despite an ultimately disappointing result, Louis van Gaal will be pleased with his side’s attacking performance, especially that of Wayne Rooney whose display was absolutely stellar. Meanwhile, Newcastle have been quick to bring in new players in the January transfer window, signing Jonjo Shelvey from Swansea and Henri Saivet from Bordeaux.
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After a downright abysmal performance at West Ham last gameweek, Jurgen Klopp’s men welcomed league leaders Arsenal to Anfield, in what proved to be an unforgettable night. The hosts started brightly and in the 9th minute, Emre Can’s vicious shot was saved by Petr Cech but the ball fell to Roberto Firmino who sent his shot through Laurent Koscielny’s legs to make it 1-0. Liverpool’s lead didn’t last for long and Aaron Ramsey beat Simon Mignolet at the near post, after latching on to Joel Campbell’s superb through-ball. The Reds regained their lead in the 19th minute, when Firmino almost nonchalantly curled the ball into the top-right from 20 yards, beating the hapless Cech. The Gunners fought fire with fire and in the 25th minute, the scores were level once again after Olivier Giroud poked the ball through Mignolet’s legs during a corner routine. Firmino came close to completing a hat-trick in the dying stages of first-half when his shot struck the upright, while Giroud scoffed his shot in front of an empty net.
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Giroud amends for his first-half mistake in the 55th minute, when he left Kolo Toure for the dead with superb twist-and-turn finish in the 18 yard-box past the stupefied Mignolet to give the visitors the lead for the first time. Despite leading for the majority of the second-half, Arsenal failed to build on their tally and were punished in the 90th minute for their failure to see the game through, when Jordan Henderson’s ball into the box was headed down by substitute Christian Benteke to Joe Allen, who finished with a well-taken first-time strike. As the game ended three goals apiece, Klopp will be pleased with his side’s resilience to push for an equalizer and although Arsenal are top of the table, Wenger will be disappointed after his men failed to win all three points, especially when the win was almost in the bag.
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In other news, Liverpool are short of centre-backs and have signed Steven Caulker on loan till the season end from QPR, having also completed the signing of Marko Grujic from Red Star Belgrade. Arsenal have their key midfielders Santi Cazorla and Francois Coquelin out through injury and have brought in highly rated Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Elneny for £7 million from Basel.
It was full-back to full-back action in the build-up of the first goal at Stamford Bridge, as Branislav Ivanovic’s cross from the right-flank was converted home at the far-post by left-back Cesar Azpilicueta in the 20th minute. In the 33rd minute, Pedro was lost the ball in his own half and Darren Fletcher played the ball to Craig Gardner, whose thumping shot flied into the back of the net past Courtois. Chelsea restored their lead in the 73rd minute, when Gareth McAuley put the ball in his own net of Willian’s cross. Chelsea were on course to seal the victory but James McClean’s precise shot found the bottom corner, as the game ended 2-2 with Chelsea still stuck in the bottom half of the table.
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Leicester City left it late at Tottenham, as the unlikely Robert Huth scored an 83rd minute winner as the Foxes are now only behind leaders Arsenal with 43 points in second spot on goal difference.
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Manchester City and Everton played out a stalemate at the City of Manchester United, while Southampton beat Watford 2-0 at St Mary’s. Stoke City eased 3-1 past 10-man Norwich, while Sunderland rode on Jermaine Defoe’s hat-trick to win 4-2 at Swansea. Dimitri Payet made a return from injury to inspire West Ham to a 3-1 win at Bournemouth.
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