By Lori Ewing, Reuters.
Photo Credit: Premier League.
Champions Arsenal needed a late goal from Noni Madueke, their only shot on target, to scrape a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest on Sunday and remain three points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Brighton & Hove Albion’s Diego Gomez struck a sensational goal from inside his own half in a 5-0 rout of Crystal Palace on Sunday to leave his side third in the table with 16 points, five behind leaders Manchester City.
Manchester United and bitter rivals Leeds United shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw at Elland Road at the end of a turbulent week for the Red Devils in which defender Lisandro Martinez had publicly challenged the club’s hierarchy.
Leeds are seventh in the table and Manchester United, who have just one win from seven games, are 13th.
Bournemouth beat Sunderland 2-0 for their first league victory of the season to climb to 15th place. Sunderland remained in the drop zone in 19th place.
At the City Ground, a frustrated Arsenal finally sealed victory in the 80th minute.
Ibrahim Sangare hesitated when he could have cleared the ball, leaving Forest manager Oliver Glasner visibly fuming, and second-half substitute Madueke then danced past Daniel Munoz before hammering a shot that deflected off Jair Cunha and wrong-footed Matz Sels.
“We’re really happy, we did it all together. We showed grit, determination, and maybe we showed a champion spirit here for that, really pleased,” Madueke told Sky Sports.
Murillo almost salvaged a point for Forest in injury time when he beat three players before unleashing a shot that sailed agonisingly wide.
The defeat left Forest, who have yet to win or even score at the City Ground this season, in the drop zone in 18th place with five points.
At the Amex, Brighton got on the scoresheet in the fourth minute through a Jaydee Canvot own goal, before Gomez struck a goal of the season contender three minutes later, robbing Adam Wharton of the ball near the halfway line before taking a touch and firing the ball over keeper Walter Benitez and into the net.
“When I got the ball I knew the goalkeeper was a little bit ahead,” Gomez told Sky Sports. “When I scored I didn’t know where to run or what to do. I was very happy with the goal.”
Yasin Ayari padded Brighton’s lead three minutes later, before Charalampos Kostoulas and Jack Hinshelwood completed the rout after the break.
Kostoulas scored just after halftime when Ayari’s shot deflected into the Greece international’s path, and Hinshelwood struck in the 84th when Luka Vuskovic’s header was scooped off the line by Benitez and he fired home the rebound.
Manchester United looked on course for a much-needed victory when Bryan Mbeumo scored in the 35th minute after missing a couple of chances. Mbeumo held off James Justin before tapping in a Youri Tielemans cross from six yards out.
Leeds striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin equalised in the 51st minute, chesting down the ball from a corner before poking home.
“We are slightly disappointed it is just a point,” Leeds boss Daniel Farke told Sky. “Second half, we got the equaliser, we should have kept up the dominance, too many strikes went over the crossbar but it was overall a solid performance.
“We took it as a compliment that we have done many things right over the last month if we were seen as favourites against Manchester United.”
Manchester defender Martinez retained his place in Michael Carrick’s starting lineup despite criticising United’s hierarchy following Tuesday’s 2-0 Champions League defeat at Atletico Madrid, questioning the club’s summer investment and singling out director of football Jason Wilcox before later apologising.
Bournemouth punished a shaky Sunderland start to take the lead after just six minutes, when Lewis Cook lofted a long ball forward that Evanilson ran on to and squared for Marcus Tavernier to head home from close range.
Evanilson scored himself in the 48th minute when the Brazilian rounded goalkeeper Robin Roefs before slotting home left-footed.