Premier League: Liverpool draws with Fulham, Arsenal held by Everton
AP Soccer, December 15 — Premier League leader Liverpool twice came from behind with 10 men to draw with Fulham 2-2, yet dropped points for the second straight match to give hope to its title rivals on Saturday.
Arsenal failed to take advantage.
A 0-0 draw at home to lowly Everton left third-placed Arsenal still six points behind Liverpool and will go down as a big opportunity missed.
Undermined by Andy Robertson’s 17th-minute red card, Liverpool did well to earn a point at Anfield — but could have pulled off an unlikely win after sustained late pressure following Diogo Jota’s equalizer in the 86th.
“I don’t think I could’ve asked for more from my players,” Liverpool manager Arne Slot said.
Fulham led for the first time after Andreas Pereira’s 11th-minute volley deflected into the net off Robertson, who was sent off six minutes later for bringing down Harry Wilson as the last man and denying a goal-scoring opportunity.
Cody Gakpo leveled just after halftime by heading in a cross from Mohamed Salah, who registered his 100th assist for Liverpool in all competitions.
Substitute Rodrigo Muniz’s flick put Fulham back ahead in the 76th, only for Jota to run onto Darwin Nunez’s pass, turn his marker and drive home a finish from the edge of the area.
Liverpool drew at Newcastle 3-3 in its last league game.
Arsenal has also drawn two games in a row, after a 1-1 at Fulham last weekend, and hasn’t scored from open play in its last three league matches.
Second-placed Chelsea hosts Brentford on Sunday and can move two points behind Liverpool with a win.
O’Neil on the brink
Wolverhampton manager Gary O’Neil will do well to survive this latest damaging defeat.
Ipswich beat Wolves 2-1 thanks to Jack Taylor’s winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time in a match between teams in the relegation zone, though only one of the coaches came into it under real pressure.
O’Neil has led Wolves to only two victories in the league this season, and three since March. The slide under O’Neil began at the end of last season when Wolves won just one of their last 10 league games after being knocked out of the FA Cup in the quarterfinals by second-tier Coventry.
On Monday, after losing at West Ham 2-1, O’Neil expressed his disappointment at losing the connection with Wolves’ fans and also aimed some criticism at the club’s owners for sanctioning the sale of many of its top players over the last two years.
There were boos at halftime and fulltime at Molineux, with Wolves staying in next-to-last place and dropping three points behind third-to-last Ipswich.
There was also some post-match chaos when Wolves players and staff argued between themselves and Ipswich players on the field. Amid it all, Wolves defender Rayan Ait-Nouri was shown a second yellow card.
Ruud awakening
Ruud van Nistelrooy fell to his first loss with Leicester — and it was a big one.
Leicester was thrashed 4-0 at Newcastle, for which Jacob Murphy scored twice and Alexander Isak nodded in his seventh goal of the campaign. Bruno Guimaraes netted the other goal.
Van Nistelrooy, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid striker, was brought in to replace the fired Steve Cooper and earned a win and a draw — both at home — in his first two games in charge.
Wonder save
Emi Martinez’s wonder save for Aston Villa proved to be in vain.
In the 60th minute, the Argentina international was standing slightly off his line as a header by Nottingham Forest’s Nicolas Dominguez went past him. Martinez stuck out his left hand behind him and somehow managed to drop the ball down onto the ground and scoop it away from off the line in the same motion.
Villa went ahead three minutes later through Jhon Duran, only for goals by Nikola Milenković in the 87th and Anthony Elanga in the third minute of stoppage time to clinch a 2-1 win for Forest.
Forest moved up to fourth place above Manchester City, which hosts Manchester United in the derby on Sunday.
