PREMIER LEAGUE: Last-gasp penalty earns Leicester point, Arsenal held

LONDON - Premier League leaders Leicester City salvaged a point from Leonardo Ulloa's penalty with the last kick of the game to draw 2-2 in a thriller with West Ham United and open an eight-point gap over chasing Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

Ulloa struck five minutes into added time to earn a draw for the Foxes, who had looked headed for defeat after West Ham scored twice in three minutes through Andy Carroll's 84th minute spot kick and Aaron Cresswell's fine strike to lead 2-1.

Although Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri praised what he called his team's fantastic performance built on "blood, heart and soul", the match proved costly for the hosts as they chase a first top-flight title.

Their first-half scorer Jamie Vardy was sent off early in the second and will be suspended for the match at home to Swansea City next Sunday and they dropped points for the first time after five straight wins.

Leicester lead the standings with 73 points from 34 matches, followed by Spurs, who have 65 from 33 and play their game in hand at Stoke City on Monday.

Arsenal, who drew 1-1 with visiting Crystal Palace on Sunday, remain fourth on 60 points, behind Manchester City, 3-0 winners at last season's champions Chelsea on Saturday, on goal difference.

FANTASTIC ATMOSPHERE
A victory over West Ham and defeat for Spurs on Monday would have left Leicester 10 points clear with four games to play and there was a fantastic atmosphere at the King Power Stadium with thousands of fans arriving in the sunshine hours before kickoff.

West Ham almost scored in the second minute when Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel saved a header from Cheikhou Kouyate, tipping the ball on to his left-hand post before it rolled across the line and hit the other upright.

Leicester took the lead through Vardy after 18 minutes with the striker grabbing his 22nd goal of the season to join Tottenham's Harry Kane as the league's leading scorer.

But Vardy was dismissed for a second yellow by referee Jon Moss and, although Leicester's 10 men coped well with West Ham's constant pressure, they wilted in the 84th minute when Wes Morgan fouled Winston Reid and Carroll equalised from the spot.

Two minutes later the visitors were ahead thanks to a fierce shot from the edge of the penalty area from Cresswell, before Carroll fouled Jeffrey Schlupp and Moss awarded Leicester a penalty which Ulloa calmly converted.

"The sending off changed our match," Ranieri said. "But I never speak about the referee.

"Our performance was fantastic, this is our soul, we play every match with this blood, heart and soul, it was magnificent. This point is very important psychologically."

West Ham remained sixth on 53 points, three behind Manchester United as the pair chase a European spot.

BAD RESULT

Arsenal's lingering title hopes appeared to all but end after they were held by lowly Palace, who equalised eight minutes from time when Yannick Bolasie sent a low shot from the edge of the box past Petr Cech at the near post.

Alexis Sanchez headed Arsenal ahead just before halftime.

"That was a bad result for us," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "...we had a lot of possession but could not turn that into real clear-cut goal chances.

"We lacked a change of pace today, our passing was slow and maybe we lacked complete confidence to go for it."

Eighth-placed Liverpool, with 10 changes from the side that beat Borussia Dortmund 4-3 to reach the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday, won 2-1 at Bournemouth with goals at the end of the first half from Roberto Firmino and Daniel Sturridge.

Josh King scored a late consolation for the hosts.

(Editing by Ed Osmond and Ken Ferris)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Arsenal optimism checked as West Ham claim shock win

LONDON - West Ham United capitalized on mistakes by new Arsenal new goalkeeper Petr Cech to secure a surprise 2-0 Premier League victory at the Emirates and leave the Gunners deflated on Sunday.

Philippe Coutinho's stunning late strike gave Liverpool a 1-0 victory at Stoke City to avenge their 6-1 defeat at the Britannia Stadium on the final day of last season.

Steve McClaren's reign as Newcastle United manager began with a 2-2 home draw against Southampton.

Arsenal, full of opening-weekend optimism, knew the importance of a good start to the season after five draws and a defeat in the first eight games of the last campaign left them too far behind eventual champions Chelsea.

Victory over Chelsea in the Community Shield fuelled hopes that Arsene Wenger's side could improve on last season's third place but goals from Cheikhou Kouyate and Mauro Zarate earned West Ham victory in Slaven Bilic's first league game in charge.

Arsenal were booed off at the final whistle with Cech culpable in both West Ham goals.

The former Chelsea keeper was signed during the close season to shore Arsenal up defensively but the experienced Czech had a day to forget in the north London sunshine.

Just before halftime he came flying out to punch Dimitri Payet's free kick but was beaten to the ball by the head of Kouyate. Twelve minutes after the restart Zarate's low strike sneaked past him at the near post.

West Ham, who gave a Premier League debut to 16-year-old midfielder Reece Oxford, were deserved winners.

"We are all very pleased and it is great start for us. Not only for the three points but points against a team that are the title contenders," former West Ham player Bilic said.

"If you add to that a London derby, it makes it an even bigger win. This is very special."

Wenger described the result as an accident.

"We know fitness-wise West Ham were ahead of us, they had already played competitive games (in the Europa League). You never get the same intensity," the Frenchman said.

"Today we have been hurt mentally and it is a good opportunity to respond."

COUTINHO MAGIC

Humiliated by Mark Hughes's side in their last Premier League outing, Liverpool's return to Stoke was a much calmer affair.

Brendan Rodgers came under fire from fans after finishing sixth last term and the Liverpool boss invested heavily in a wealth of attacking options tasked with increasing the number of goals scored from last season's paltry 52.

Striker Christian Benteke, the pick of the bunch as a 32.5 million-pounds ($50.4 million) signing from Aston Villa, was starved of service but Coutinho came to Liverpool's rescue in a match of few chances.

The little Brazilian eased past two Stoke players in the 86th minute before unleashing an unstoppable drive past the Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland.

MISSING KOEMAN

As Newcastle boss McClaren stepped foot in a dugout as a Premier League manager for the first time since 2006, his opposite number Ronald Koeman was nowhere to be seen after undergoing an operation for a ruptured Achilles this week.

The Saints seemed unaffected by their manager's absence and took the lead in the 24th minute when Italian striker Graziano Pelle rose highest to plant a header past Tim Krul but Newcastle equalised just before halftime through Papiss Cisse.

New signing Georginio Wijnaldum headed in Gabriel Obertan's perfectly-weighted cross to swing the advantage in Newcastle's favour but Shane Long equalised in the 79th minute with another headed goal.

($1 = 0.6454 pounds) (Editing by Martyn Herman and Ed Osmond)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com