Football: Arsenal held by Liverpool in blow to Premier League title bid

LIVERPOOL --- Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta bemoaned the Gunners' lack of ruthlessness as they surrendered a two-goal lead in a pulsating 2-2 draw at Liverpool on Sunday to blow the Premier League title race wide open.

Arteta's men edge six points ahead of Manchester City at the top of the table, but the defending champions now have the destiny of the title in their own hands.

City have a game in hand and host the Gunners at the Etihad later this month.

Goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus appeared to have Arsenal cruising towards an eighth consecutive league win.

But Mohamed Salah pulled a goal back before half-time to spark a Liverpool fightback.

Salah missed a second-half penalty before Roberto Firmino headed in the equalizer three minutes from time.

Jurgen Klopp's men then missed a series of chances to complete the comeback as Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale salvaged a point for his side.

"We missed that ruthlessness to take the game," said Arteta. "The big lesson is we didn't play the way we did the first half.

"We didn't continue to play. We gave every ball away, allowed big spaces and big transition moments to the best team in the world in this."

The match will also live long in the memory for a remarkable incident just after the half-time whistle when assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis thrust an elbow into the face of Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson.

Arsenal remain without an away league win to Liverpool since 2012 as they stumbled over one of the major hurdles between them and the title despite a perfect start.

It took just eight minutes for the visitors to make the breakthrough as Bukayo Saka surged through the Liverpool defense and the ball broke kindly for Martinelli to prod past Alisson Becker.

Virgil van Dijk's slump in form has played a major role in Liverpool's collapse from the team that came close to an unprecedented quadruple last season to mid-table mediocrity.

The Dutch center-back was caught on his heels as Arsenal doubled their lead when Jesus was left unmarked to head in Martinelli's cross on 28 minutes.

- Ramsdale rescues a point -

But signs of a youthful side going for their first title finally showed once Salah halved the arrears three minutes before half-time.

That was just the start of the drama as Robertson was elbowed by assistant referee Hatzidakis as the players left the field for half-time.

Referees' governing body PGMOL have said they will review the incident.

It served to fire Liverpool up as they came flying out the blocks in the second half and had a golden opportunity to level when Rob Holding brought down Diogo Jota, but Salah slotted the penalty wide.

Salah nearly made amends moments later as Ramsdale produced a stunning save to keep his side in front and the England goalkeeper was needed again nine minutes from time to save a one-on-one with Darwin Nunez.

Firmino finally made Liverpool's pressure count when he headed home Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross to set up a grandstand finish.

Salah blazed over a glorious chance before Ramsdale made remarkable saves from the Egyptian and Ibrahima Konate to ensure Arsenal escaped just with a point.

"We reacted really well," said Klopp. "We didn't fall apart, which could have happened with everything that happened this year. We looked better, we looked more ready to fight back, which is what we did, and we should have turned the game around with the chances we had."

But Liverpool's rally may prove too little, too late both on the day and for their chances of Champions League football next season.

The Reds have failed to win any of their five games since a remarkable 7-0 win over Manchester United last month.

Liverpool remain down in eighth, 12 points adrift of the top four.

Agence France-Presse

Football: Brazil into Copa America final as Messi fails again

BRAZIL -- Gabriel Jesus and Roberto Firmino scored the goals as Brazil beat arch-rivals Argentina 2-0 on Tuesday to qualify for the Copa America final.

Played in a white-hot atmosphere and with tempers threatening to boil over, Argentina came close to scoring themselves but both Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi hit the woodwork.

Hosts Brazil will play the winners of Wednesday second semi-final between champions Chile and Peru in Sunday's final.

It was the first time these age-old rivals had met in a major competition since Brazil beat Argentina 3-0 in the 2007 Copa final.

English-based Jesus and Firmino were the stars, each creating the other's goal, although captain Dani Alves had a major say in the opener.

Defeat meant Barcelona great Messi's hopes of landing a major international honour with Argentina became even more remote.

He will get another opportunity next year, though, with the fourth Copa America in the last five years, due to be played in Argentina and Colombia.

- Tackles flying -

In what was always expected to be a feisty affair there were some wild early tackles flying in, and Argentina's Nicolas Tagliafico was first to be booked for a lunge at Jesus.

The pitch looked like it had been trampled by a herd of wildebeest before kick-off and both sides struggled to play flowing football.

Brazil's Casemiro was even jeered after sending a long crossfield ball straight out of play.

The first chance came when Argentina's Leandro Paredes let fly from 30 yards but the ball whistled just over the top of goalkeeper Alisson's goal.

Brazil took the lead on 19 minutes after a piece of individual brilliance from Alves.

He beat three players on a mazy run before sending Firmino clear down the right with a no-look pass, the Liverpool forward crossing for the unmarked Jesus to tap home.

Two-footed lunges were flying in as the match threatened to descend from niggly to dirty.

Argentina almost levelled on the half hour when Aguero headed Messi's free-kick onto the bar, the ball bouncing down just in front of the line before Brazil scrambled it clear.

Messi then burst into life, driving at heart of the Brazil defense and playing in Aguero, who took advantage of a Thiago Silva slip to make space for himself but Marquinhos was quickly across to block the Manchester City striker's shot.

Moments later, Messi beat two men on the right, won back the ball with a sliding tackle after overrunning it, but then wastefully shot high and wide.

At the other end, Arthur shot powerfully, but straight at goalkeeper Franco Armani.

- Pirouetting Jesus -

Argentina pushed Brazil back at the start of the second half and Aguero picked out Lautaro Martinez in the box but he didn't catch his left-foot volley cleanly and Alisson gathered comfortably.

Another promising attacking move ended with Rodrigo de Paul blazing over from 20 yards.

But Jesus produced a beautiful piece of skill, including a pirouetting drag-back, before teeing up Philippe Coutinho who should have done better than shooting over.

Moments later, though, a blocked shot from Martinez looped over to Messi who lashed a shot from an angle against the post, with Alisson beaten.

Alisson was alert to clutch a Messi free-kick on 66 minutes that looked destined for the top corner.

By then, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni had already gone for broke, bringing off midfielder Marcos Acuna and sending on speedy winger Angel Di Maria, with Messi dropping into a deeper role.

Just as Argentina looked capable of finding a way back into the match, Brazil stung them on the counter-attack with Manchester City's Jesus getting away from two defenders and teeing up the unmarked Liverpool striker Firmino for a tap in on 71 minutes.

Scaloni threw on another forward in Paulo Dybala but there was no way back for Argentina.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Brazil held goalless in exciting opener

RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazil failed to make a winning start despite home advantage, a multi-million dollar strike force and a man advantage as they were held 0-0 by South Africa in their opening soccer match at the Rio Olympics on Thursday.

Brazil, who have never won the Olympic gold, started with a highly rated front three of Neymar, new Manchester City signing Gabriel Jesus, and 19-year-old Gabriel Barbosa, the Santos striker expected to head to Europe in this transfer window.

But the little-known South Africans matched them until they had Mothobi Mvala sent off just before the hour. Brazil pinned their opponents down after that but just could not score.

"That's football," Barbosa said in a TV interview after some fans in the 69,000 crowd had booed the team as they left the field. "Sometimes the ball doesn't go in the net."

Barcelona striker Neymar had two of Brazil's best chances, forcing keeper Itumeleng Khune to make diving saves to thwart two rasping drives from outside the box.

Jesus smacked the ball off the post from two yards out when it looked easier to score, while Barbosa should have done better when he scuffed a shot with only the keeper to beat.

But a big crowd in the National Stadium in Brasilia went home unhappy after the second game of the day ended goalless.

That result was not the only surprise as their great rivals Argentina lost 2-0 to Portugal. It was the South Americans' first Olympics reverse in 13 games. Argentina were unbeaten in winning gold during their last two appearances in 2004 and 2008.

Holders Mexico drew 2-2 with Germany in Salvador, with all four goals coming in the second half.

Later in the day, South Korea put eight goals past debutants Fiji. Ryu Seungwoo got a hat trick in the demolition in Salvador, with seven of the eight goals coming in the second half.

The goals also came in the second half at the same venue earlier in the evening, when Mexico drew 2-2 with Germany.

In Thursday's final match, Nigeria beat Japan 5-4 with Oghenekaro Etebo grabbing four goals.

Earlier on Thursday, Iraq and Denmark kicked the tournament off with a 0-0 draw at a mostly empty National Stadium.

The first goals in the competition came soon after in Rio, where Honduras beat Algeria 3-2 in an enthralling match.

The opening ceremony for the Rio Games takes place on Friday but the men's soccer tournament began 24 hours earlier, a day after the women's soccer teams began their quest for gold. Twelve women's teams are in Brazil, along with 16 men's sides.

The competition is being played in Rio and six other cities.

(Editing by Ed Osmond, Ken Ferris and Frank Pingue)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com