EPL Round-up | Arsenal suffer shocking home defeat; Chelsea and Liverpool settle for draw
Liverpool held table-toppers Chelsea to a 1-1 draw on Tuesday, while Arsenal lost 1-2 to their London rivals Watford in the English Premier League. Meanwhile, Crystal Palace got the better of Bournemouth 2-0 for their first win since Sam Allardyce took over as manager late in December.
Chelsea vs Liverpool 1-1
Midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum’s hard-fought goal helped Liverpool draw at Anfield after controlling much of the possession in the first-half to not give Chelsea any easy offering. But that effort went futile as Chelsea were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the area which was duly converted to a goal by David Luiz.
Roberto Firmino got a chance to draw level after the break but failed to convert the penalty as his shot flew over the bar. Jordan Henderson pulled off the equalizer through a wonderful cross-field ball to James Milner at the back post. The Dutch midfielder was able to finish past Courtois.
Arsenal vs Watford 1-2
In a thrilling encounter, Arsenal went down to their London rivals 2-1 at their home den Emirates Stadium.Â
The Gunners got off to a slow start as former Tottenham player Younes Kaboul opened the scoring for Watford with a free-kick on the 11th minute. He was helped by the deflection from Aaron Ramsey. Three minutes later, Troy Deeney scored another with a rebound inside the Arsenal area.Â
Arsenal came out with more energy in the second half and Alex Iwobi put his best foot forward to send an Alexis Sanchez cross to the bar. Had Lucas Perez not missed the second chance, the game would have ended in a draw.
Watford held firm in the last few minutes. The defeat effectively ended the Gunners’ title challenge this season.
Crystal Palace vs Bournemouth 2-0
Crystal Palace’s losing streak under Allardyce finally ended as goals by Scott Dann and Christian Benteke secured a 2-0 victory at a rain-swept Vitality Stadium.
After a goalless first half, Dann broke the deadlock from Damien Delaney's flick. In the closing moments of the game, Benteke scored by heading a pinpoint cross by Andros Townsend.
Before this match, Palace had only earned two points from the last available 24 and continue to remain inside the relegation zone, just two points behind Swansea. This defeat also added to Bournemouth's woes as Eddie Howe's side dropped to the 14th place and are now seven points above the drop zone after a run of just one win in seven.
Other matches:
Burnley 1 - 0 Leicester City
Middlesbrough 1 - 1 West Bromwich Albion
Sunderland 0 - 0 Tottenham Hotspur
Swansea City 2 - 1 Southampton