Arsenal beat Chelsea to keep hope alive
Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-0 to leapfrog Manchester United to fifth place in the Premier League table, and keep their hopes of a top four finish alive.
Alexander Laccazette gave the Gunner the lead in the 14th minute, clearing the ball off Pedro before drilling the ball past goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga from a tight angle.
Laurent Koscielny got the second goal in the 38th minute after connecting to a Sokratis ball, and scored, getting the header wrong, but the ball touched his shoulder and got to the top corner of the net.
Hector Bellerin ended his game 69 minute after going down without contact when chasing the ball . He was stretched out of the field eventually.
The Gunners however ended the game with 39% of ball possession as against Chelsea’s 61, with nine shots on target for the blues as against seven for Arsenal. Chelsea were however slow in the first twelve moniues of the game.
Earlier on, current African footballer of the year, Mohammed Salah was on song as Liverpool came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 4-3 at Anfield.
This win gives the Reds a seven-point gap over second place Manchester City.
The 26-year old Egyptian found the net after half time to draw level after Andros Townsend had given Palace the lead in the first half. The Reds went ahead with Roberto Firmino, but Crystal Palace had other plams, with James Tomkins capitalizing on a poor defending to equalize from a corner kick for his side.
An error from goalkeeper Julian Speroni gifted Salah a second goal and Senegalese forward Sadio Mane made it 4-2 in injury-time
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer recorded his seventh victory in seven matches for Manchester United with a 2-1 victory over Brighton at Old Trafford.
Paul Pogba put the Red Devils in front after winning and converting a penalty in the 27th minute, and Marcus Rashford scored a second three minutes to half-time with a beautiful solo goal.
The Premier League table as it stand sees Liverpool top with 60 points after 23 matches, with Manchester City second with 53 points after 22 matches.
The defending champions visit Huddersfield on Sunday for their fixture.
