A roundup of all of Saturday’s action in the Premier League…
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Liverpool 2-1 West Bromwich Albion — FULL RECAP
Liverpool were less than 10 minutes from going top of the league — ahead of Arsenal on goals scored, the second tiebreaker — but Gareth McAuley grabbed a consolation goal in the 81st minute to upset the Reds’ pursuit of the PL summit. Instead, Sadio Mane and Philippe Coutinho‘s first-half goals were only enough to send Liverpool second in the league — behind the Gunners on goal differential.
Arsenal 0-0 Middlesbrough — FULL RECAP
The door was left wide open by Arsenal, thanks to the Gunners’ disappointing draw with previously-18th-place Middlesbrough at the Emirates Stadium a couple hours earlier in the day. Arsenal enjoyed a whopping 75 percent of possession, but were nullified in the final third by a dogged defensive performance by Boro. The one time Arsenal found the back of the net, through Mesut Ozil in the final few minutes, the German playmaker’s goal was (correctly) ruled out as offside.
Bournemouth 0-0 Tottenham Hotspur — FULL RECAP
Speaking of underwhelming 0-0 draws featuring a side from north London with title aspirations, let’s talk about Tottenham. If not for back-to-back draws with West Brom and now Bournemouth, Spurs would be top of the league. Alas, the unbeaten start has reached nine games, though Mauricio Pochettino‘s side has been blunted since Harry Kane was lost to injury on Sept. 18. Fortunately for Spurs, Kane is back in full training and expected to return to action in the near future.
Leicester City 3-1 Crystal Palace — FULL RECAP
That’s more like it from Leicester. The defending champions had won just one point from their last three league games before racing out to a 3-0 lead against Palace. Ahmed Musa, Shinji Okazaki and Christian Fuchs bagged the goals for Claudio Ranieri‘s side before Yohan Cabaye grabbed a late consolation goal in the final few minutes. All is not well for the Foxes, though, as Jamie Vardy is without a goal in his last nine games played (all competitions). Saturday marked just the fourth time this season that Leciester managed to score multiple goals (all competitions).
- No clean sheet, no cake for the players at Ranieri’s birthday party
- VIDEO: Fuchs’ bullet a highlight for resurgent Foxes
Swansea City 0-0 Watford — FULL RECAP
Bob Bradley’s Swansea earned a point on the American’s PL home debut, a game which the Swans had the upper hand for most of the 90 minutes, but failed to put away a handful of key chances. Still, it’s a clean sheet for a side with one of the worst defensive records in the PL this season, and a massive improvement on the dodgy defending away to Arsenal last weekend.
Burnley 2-1 Everton — FULL RECAP
Scott Arfield scored a 90th-minute winner at Turf Moor, as Burnley dropped Everton to four games without a victory. Sam Vokes put the home side ahead not long before halftime, but Yannick Bolasie‘s first goal for Everton pulled the visitors level just before the hour mark. After starting the season five games unbeaten, Ronald Koeman‘s Toffees have just two points to show for their last four games and have slipped to sixth in the league table, and could finish the weekend as low as eighth.
West Ham United 1-0 Sunderland — FULL RECAP
The West Ham reclamation continues, at a snail’s pace, thanks to Winston Reid‘s 93rd-minute winner against last-place (now just 2 points from 9 games) Sunderland. After an horrific start to the season, the Hammers are unbeaten in three, including back-to-back 1-0 wins, and just two points stand in between themselves, in 15th, and Southampton, in eighth. Slaven Bilic has survived.
Hull City 0-2 Stoke City — FULL RECAP
If Stoke City are winning games, chances are Xherdan Shaqiri is amongst the goals. On Saturday, Shaqiri was the goals for the Potters, bagging a brace either side of halftime to make it back-to-back wins for Mark Hughes‘ side as the ascent up the league table follows a nearly identical path to that of West Ham.
Sunday’s PL schedule
Manchester City vs. Southampton — 8:30 a.m. ET, NBCSN/NBCSports.com
Chelsea vs. Manchester United — 11 a.m. ET, NBCSN/NBCSports.com
