The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Arsenal fans hurl bottles after meltdown against Man City; Spurs and Hammers both win

Autoplay in... 6 (Cancel)
Up Next No more videos! Playlist is empty -
Replay
Cancel
Next
Roar Rookie
1st January, 2022
0

The hottest ever New Year’s Day in London saw Arsenal fans get heated after a meltdown against Manchester City.

Arsenal fans hurled plastic bottles and toilet rolls at City’s celebrating players after Rodri scored a stoppage-time winner at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday as temperatures reached 16.2 degrees Celsius in the capital.

City’s comeback to win 2-1 and secure an 11th straight Premier League victory was completed in the third minute of stoppage time, prompting Rodri to rip off his jersey and slide across the field right in front of the home supporters.

As City moved 11 points clear of second-placed Chelsea at the top of the standings, fourth-placed Arsenal were left dwelling forlornly on their partially self-inflicted collapse, which saw them reduced to ten men after Gabriel’s foolish sending off.

And to make things worse after losing the first match of the year, Arsenal then had to endure their great north London rivals Tottenham securing a 96th-minute winner through Davinson Sanchez to beat Watford 1-0 at Vicarage Road and move just two points behind the Gunners in sixth place.

West Ham then went fifth, a point behind Arsenal, after edging a 3-2 victory in the late match at Crystal Palace, who fought back from three down.

Advertisement

At the Emirates, City had been trailing through Bukayo Saka’s goal during an electrifying first-half display from Arsenal – but the game shifted dramatically in City’s favour during a two-minute spell after the break.

First, Granit Xhaka conceded a penalty for bringing down Bernardo Silva with a trailing leg – referee Stuart Attwell changing his mind over the decision after being told to go and look at his monitor by Australian VAR official Jarred Gillett – which allowed Riyad Mahrez to level from the spot in the 57th minute.

What proved just as costly for Arsenal was Gabriel getting booked for trying to scuff the penalty spot before Mahrez’s kick.

He was booked again in the 59th, getting his marching orders for fouling Gabriel Jesus.

Advertisement

Arsenal’s attempts to cling on to the point were finally thwarted by Laporte’s deflected shot reaching Rodri to score.

“We are very frustrated with the outcome if you play a game like this against one of the best teams in the world,” said Arsenal assistant manager Albert Stuivenberg, who was on the touchline while manager Mikel Arteta isolates with COVID-19.

“To have zero points is frustrating because we should have won the game.”

City boss Pep Guardiola admitted Arsenal had been the better team.

“Now we find time to rest – 11 wins in a row, that is great in this period. Just take a look at our bench today – there were four guys from the academy,” said the Spaniard.

“We had many cases of COVID and injuries. This period we were incredibly tired. Arsenal was better today. Sometimes it can happen.”

Advertisement

At Watford, Spurs had looked like being frustrated for the second match in succession but Sanchez finally broke the deadlock, flicking in a header from Son Heung-min’s whipped delivery.

Spurs are now unbeaten in the eight league games they’ve played under Conte since the Italian replaced Nuno Espirito Santo.

At Selhurst Park, Michail Antonio had given West Ham the 22nd minute lead before Manuel Lanzini’s double before the break but Palace fought back late with an 83rd minute effort from Odsonne Edouard and a 90th minute free-kick from substitute Michael Olise.

Sports opinion delivered daily 

   

Advertisement

© AAP

close