The real first goal of 2022 in global men’s football fell on Saturday morning – Dutch time – in China, where Liuyu Duan opened the score for Shandong Taishan (final score 2-2). At 1.30 pm Arsenal and Manchester City started the hunt for the first goal of the year on European soil. City started well with that hunt, but Arsenal soon took over and that resulted in the 1-0 after half an hour. Bukayo Saka shot the opening goal against the ropes on a pass from Kieran Tierney.
After the break, however, things quickly went wrong for The Gunners. First Riyad Mahrez was allowed to moor from eleven meters after a foul on Bernardo Silva. The Algerian did that successfully. Gabriel was then booked twice in a few minutes. Still seemed The Citizens unable to bring Arsenal’s ten to their knees. But in the third minute of stoppage time it was finally Rodri who managed to get the winner on the scoreboard.
The late win put Manchester City now 11 points ahead of Chelsea and 12 points ahead of Liverpool. The competitors have played one and two games less respectively. At Arsenal, the Dutchman Albert Stuivenberg was on the bench as the trainer with ultimate responsibility because of a positive corona test from Spanish manager Mikel Arteta.
Spurs also win late
Without the injured Steven Bergwijn, Tottenham Hotspur seemed to be in trouble for a long time visiting Watford. The score in the match at Vicarage Road was 0-0 until the ninetieth minute. Both teams had had the necessary opportunities, but Hugo Lloris and Daniel Bachmann had an excellent start to their goalkeeper year. Still, Bachmann had to bow his head in the final phase, when former Ajax player Davinson Sanchez nodded in a free kick by Heung-min Son.
The match was stopped for some time in the final phase, because a supporter needed medical assistance.
West Ham just hold out at Palace
West Ham United played a great first half that ended their visit to Crystal Palace with a 3-0 lead, but in the final phase it was still a squeeze for the team of coach David Moyes. Nevertheless, the Hammers came out on top at Selhurst Park and took home three points with a 3-2 win.
Michail Antonio and Manuel Lanzini (twice, including a penalty) put West Ham in a seat before half-time. After Jairo Riedewald came on for Palace fifteen minutes before the end, the home team scored twice more via Odsonne Edouard and Michael Olise. In the end it was just not enough for a result. West Ham have come close as number 5 to Arsenal, Crystal Palace is firmly in the middle bracket.
View the results, standings and program in the Premier League here
