Premier League: Arsenal fans throw bottles at Manchester City players after Rodri winner
Matt Dunham / AP
Manchester City’s Rodrigo, center, shoots to score his side’s second goal after Arsenal’s Rob Holding.
The hottest New Year’s Day ever in London, England saw Arsenal fans warm up after a collapse against Manchester City.
Arsenal fans threw plastic bottles and toilet paper rolls at City players after Rodrigo “Rodi” Cascante scored a stoppage at Emirates Stadium on Saturday as temperatures hit 16.2 degrees Celsius in the British capital.
City’s comeback to win 2-1 and secure an 11th consecutive Premier League victory ended in the third minute of stoppage time, prompting Rodri to rip his shirt off and slide onto the pitch just ahead of home support .
“We struggled a bit in the first half, the second half we played our game more,” said Rodri. “They had a great game, but luckily we showed our champion personality.”
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As City edged 11 points ahead of second-highest Chelsea, fourth-placed Arsenal lingered on their collapse.
City were following Bukayo Saka’s goal in an electrifying Arsenal game in the first half.
But the game tipped in City’s favor for a two-minute period after the break.
Matt Dunham / AP
Manchester City’s Rodrigo, left, runs to celebrate with his teammates after scoring his team’s second goal in the Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium, London, England
Granit Xhaka conceded a penalty for knocking Bernardo Silva down from a draw and Riyad Mahrez equalized on the spot in the 57th minute.
What also proved to be costly for Arsenal was that Gabriel received a warning for attempting to scratch the penalty spot before Mahrez kicked off.
Matt Dunham / AP
Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka, center right, challenges Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva for a penalty shot.
Within a minute, Arsenal had an immediate chance to regain the lead. But Nathan Ake’s hung and scrambled goal line clearance prevented a home goal from Aymeric Laporte after leading goaltender Ederson.
Then Gabriel got a warning again in the 59th and saw red for fouling Gabriel Jesus.
Arsenal’s attempts to grab onto point were thwarted by Laporte’s deflected shot reaching Rodri to score.
Matt Dunham / AP
Manchester City’s Rodrigo, bottom, challenges Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli in the Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium.
“We are very frustrated with the result if you play a game like this against one of the best teams in the world,” said Arsenal assistant manager Albert Stuivenberg, who was on the sideline while manager Mikel Arteta isolates himself with Covid-19. the end to have zero points is frustrating because we should have won the game.
Arsenal were frustrated in the first half at not receiving a penalty before Saka struck with a first connection from the well-placed pass from Kieran Tierney as City keeper Ederson escaped the action for knocking down Martin Odegaard.
“I’m looking for consistency,” Stuivenberg said. “We have VAR in place, so why not check you out as the referee?” It didn’t happen, so it’s disappointing.
Rui Vieira / AP
Davinson Sanchez of Tottenham comes home victorious against Watford.
Meanwhile, Davinson Sanchez’s stoppage goal secured Tottenham Hotspur a 1-0 win over Watford to improve Spurs’ pursuit of Champions League qualification.
The Colombian defender managed a free kick from Heung-min Son against goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann in the sixth minute of added time to hand Watford a sixth straight loss.
The match was temporarily interrupted for a few minutes in the final stages when a supporter in a grandstand fell ill.
Tottenham are two points behind fourth-placed Arsenal and Antonio Conte’s side have two games in hand against rivals north London.
Watford is two points above the drop zone after playing two more games than Burnley in the last relegation place.
Ian Walton / AP
Manuel Lanzini (C) of West Ham celebrates one of his two goals in a win against Crystal Palace.
Manuel Lanzini scored twice before West Ham resisted a late retaliation from Crystal Palace to win 3-2.
Two goals in three minutes in the first half helped West Ham take control of the London derby with Michail Antonio’s ninth goal of the season opening the scoring in the 22nd minute before Manuel Lanzini put in a fine finish.
Lanzini added a second from the penalty spot in the first half timeout, but the end of the game was tense after Odsonne Edouard pulled one out in the 83rd and Michael Olise scored in the 90th.
West Ham were keen to celebrate two years at the helm of David Moyes with a victory and are one point behind the top four.
