Title Race: Arsenal and City Level on 21 Points After Split Results
Aston Villa ended Manchester City's unbeaten start while Arsenal beat Everton, leaving the top two tied after eight games.
By Pedro Salazar ·
Arsenal and Manchester City sit level at 21 points after eight Premier League matches, a convergence produced by two separate results on Saturday. Arsenal beat Everton 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium in heavy rain, while Aston Villa handed City its first league loss of the season, 2-1 at Villa Park. The three-point gap that separated the sides before kickoff no longer exists.
The standings shifted across a few hours. Arsenal moved first. Ezri Konsa converted from a yard out in the seventh minute after Martin Odegaard's corner caused trouble in the Everton box; Jordan Pickford saved the initial effort but the ball stayed live. It was Arsenal's first set-piece goal since May, ending a 13-game run without one across all competitions. Ben White, in his 200th Arsenal appearance, supplied a 68th-minute cross that Gabriel headed in on his 200th Premier League appearance.
At Villa Park, Nicolas Jackson put the hosts ahead in the sixth minute after a Marc Guehi touch fell to captain John McGinn, who set up the striker. Erling Haaland equalized after halftime, heading in Iliman Ndiaye's free-kick delivery. Jackson struck again in the 60th minute, finishing from Ibrahim Mbaye's cutback with a shot that slipped under goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Villa climbed to sixth on 11 points, recording a first home league win of the season and a third straight league victory over City. "We are champions and to be champions you've got to win games consistently," Konsa said.
The result leaves City without an unbeaten record and under the pending appeal of an independent commission's finding that the club committed 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules. City has denied wrongdoing throughout. Jackson, after his two goals, told TNT Sports: "It's just the beginning; we're trying to work game by game." Everton remain ninth.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Tottenham Hotspur won 2-0 at Chelsea, their second league victory at Stamford Bridge in 36 years. Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders, making his first league start, punched a corner into his own net in the 77th minute; Cole Palmer received a second yellow card in the 80th, and Mathys Tel scored in the 87th. Fulham beat Coventry City 1-0 on an 80th-minute goal from Oscar Bobb. Spurs are 12th, Fulham 13th, Coventry 19th.
Both Arsenal and City have played eight league matches. The next round of fixtures follows.
Source: Al Jazeera
