(AFP) – London – Tottenham gained a point from a tense 2-2 draw with Arsenal, while Liverpool moved into second place in the Premier League with a 3-1 win against West Ham on Sunday.
Brighton ascended to third place after a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth, while Chelsea’s goal drought persisted with a 1-0 home loss to Aston Villa.
Despite Tottenham’s historical struggles in away league meetings with Arsenal, their optimism under Ange Postecoglou remained intact at the Emirates Stadium, even as they twice trailed in the North London derby.
Arsenal capitalized on a strong start, with Bukayo Saka’s strike deflecting off Cristian Romero into his own net.
However, Tottenham continued their trend of rallying from a goal down under Postecoglou, doing so for the fifth time in seven games.
David Raya, preferred as Arsenal’s goalkeeper by Mikel Arteta for the third consecutive match, justified the choice with a remarkable save to deny Brennan Johnson his debut Tottenham goal.
Nonetheless, the visitors quickly found the net when James Maddison’s cross was expertly converted by Son at the near post, just three minutes before halftime.
Romero’s day took a turn for the worse as he was harshly penalized for handball, leading to Saka converting the ensuing penalty to restore Arsenal’s lead.
The Gunners’ setback came at halftime when Declan Rice, their record signing, was forced off with an injury. This proved costly as Jorginho, his replacement, committed an error, gifting Tottenham an equalizer just one minute later.
Maddison was once again the instigator, as he dispossessed the Italian midfielder and set up Son for a composed finish into the far corner.
Liverpool’s fearsome firepower
Liverpool cut Manchester City’s lead at the top to two points as Jurgen Klopp’s men showed more promising signs of getting back to their best.
The Reds sank to fifth last season, but have the firepower that could make them the biggest threat to City’s throne as champions.
Mohamed Salah opened the scoring from the penalty spot after he was upended in the box by Nayef Aguerd.
West Ham’s only previous defeat this season came at home to City last weekend and they bounced back to fully merit their equaliser before half-time when Jarrod Bowen’s diving header found the far corner.
However, the Hammers were undone by a moment of magic when Alexis Mac Allister’s inch-perfect chip picked out Darwin Nunez, who volleyed into the far corner.
Diogo Jota then came off the bench to make it 3-1 five minutes from time.
Mitoma’s instant impact
Brighton moved up to third after coming from behind to defeat Bournemouth 3-1, taking advantage of missed points for both north London clubs.
Roberto De Zerbi made nine changes from the team that started the Seagulls’ first European game, a 3-2 loss to AEK Athens, and the Seagulls paid the price with a poor start.
Bournemouth took the lead thanks to a shocking blunder by Brighton custodian Bart Verbruggen.
Brighton drew level in first-half stoppage time thanks to Milos Kerkez’s own goal, but De Zerbi brought on Kaoru Mitoma at the interval.
Mitoma secured the points 14 minutes from time by heading home Pervis Estupinan’s cross after the Japanese winger required only 16 seconds to put Brighton ahead.
Chelsea’s terrible start to Pochettino’s reign continues, as the toothless Blues fail to score for the third game in a row.
Malo Gusto’s straight red card for a lunge on Lucas Digne on the hour mark gave the home side a mountain to climb at Stamford Bridge.
Villa made their man advantage count when Ollie Watkins’ powerful strike beat Robert Sanchez from a narrow angle
Despite spending more than any other Premier League club in the summer transfer window, Chelsea have taken just five points from Pochettino’s first six league games in charge.