EPL Scores & Highlights 2014: Manchester United Defeats Arsenal While Chelsea Continues to Roll
Arsenal's woes continued this week with Manchester United defeating the Gunners 2-1 for their first road win of the season despite on only two shots on goal.
Things went down hill for Arsenal in the 56th minute after an own-goal by defender Kieran Gibbs, who not only failed to clear Antonio Valencia's ball out but ended up injuring keeper Wojciech Szczesny in the process.
Things would get worse as the Gunners kept pressing, attempting to tie the game but Arsenal turned over the ball to Marouane Fellaini, who found Angel Di Maria open to start a fast break that would end with Wayne Rooney blasting a shot past back-up Arsenal keeper Emiliano Martinez, who sealed the deal for Manchester United despite a late 90th-minute goal by Arsenal's Olivier Giroud.
Manchester United continue their dominance over Arsenal having beaten them in 11 of their last 15 matches, along with three draws and only one lose, finishing the day in fourth place in the English Premier League (EPL) standings.
"If Arsenal had scored in the first 20 minutes then it is a different game," said the Manchester United coach Louis van Gaal. "And then maybe I have to respond to all the questions asking why I chose the three center-backs. But now I can laugh."
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Liverpool also continues their downward spiral on Sunday. After finishing last season in second place in the EPL standings, Liverpool lost to 19th place Crystal Palace, getting thrashed on the road at Selhurt Park 3-1. Rickie Lambert struck early for Liverpool after Adam Lallana lobbed a beautiful pass to Lambert, in the second minute of the game, who drifted a shot past Crystal Palace Julian Speroni to put Liverpool up 1-0 early in the match.
But forward Dwight Gayle tied the game up in the 17h minute, rebounding Yannick Bolasie's shot that ricocheted off the post past Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet. Bolasie would assist in giving the Eagles the lead after bowling over the Liverpool defender covering him and finding Joe Ledley open in the box to put Crystal Palace up 2-1. Mile Jedinak sealed the game for Crystal Palace with a free kick that blew by a stunned Mignolet.
The victory moves Crystal Palace out of the relegation zone while Liverpool drops to 12th place in the standings.
"We need to find a solution quickly because this is very disappointing and we have no one but ourselves to blame," said Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers. "We had to make changes in the summer and are near enough entering a transition phase. But whatever phase, we have to be better than that. This is the worst run my team has been on and the only way out is working together. We have to improve and very, very quickly because the games come thick and fast."
Ricky Lambert Scores his 1st Liverpool Goal vs Crystal Palace
Chelsea, meanwhile, continues their dominance over the EPL, disposing of West Bromwich Albion at Stamford Bridge thanks to goals by Diego Costa, who scored his 11th goal of the season (currently second in the league in scoring behind Sergio Aguero) in the 11th minute of the match. Eden Hazard put the nail into West Brom's coffin after putting Cesc Fàbregas' corner kick in the 25th minute past keeper Ben Foster to give Chelsea a 2-0 victory at home.
Chelsea, still unbeaten in league action, ends the weekend with 32 points atop the EPL table, seven points ahead of second-place Southampton -- who plays Aston Villa on Monday -- and eight points ahead of third-place Manchester City. Manchester City, the defending league champion, needed to recover from an early Wilfried Bony goal to give Swansea City an early 1-0 lead in the ninth minute, thanks to goals from Stevan Jovetic in the 19th minute and Yaya Touré in the 62nd minute to defeat the Swans 2-1.
Man City head coach Manuel Pellegrini believes they can still chase down Chelsea despite Chelsea's hot start and big lead in the standings.
"We have to play seven games more before the end of December and we have to fight for all of them," said Pellegrini after the game.
Results from the weekend's EPL games:
Leicester City 0 - Sunderland 0
Stoke City 1 - Burnley FC 2
Everton 2 - West Ham United 0
Newcastle 1 - Queens Park Rangers 0
Hull City 1 - Tottenham 2
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