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Arsenal held to home draw by Boro; Liverpool beat West Brom

By Wires
Sports News Arsenal held to home draw by Boro; Liverpool beat West Brom
OCT 22, 2016 LISTEN

Arsenal went top of the Premier League table but had to settle for a point as struggling Middlesbrough held them to a 0-0 draw at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners dominated the early exchanges, with Mesut Ozil curling a free kick over, but Boro began to take the game to their hosts and Petr Cech made a fine double save to deny Adama Traore and Alvaro Negredo.

Gaston Ramirez hit the angle with a free kick before Alexis Sanchez had a 30-yard set-piece tipped away well by Victor Valdes, with the former Barcelona goalkeeper repeating the trick from the same player after the break.

Boro defended superbly to keep Arsenal at bay and continued to cause problems on the counter, and Traore got away from two defenders before again making Cech work. As Arsenal battled for a late breakthrough, Ozil had a late goal ruled out for offside.

Liverpool missed the chance to top the Premier League after a dominant display brought them a 2-1 win at home to West Bromwich Albion -- but not the two-goal margin they had needed to reach the summit.

Jurgen Klopp's side had too much pace and movement for their opponents for large chunks of the game and were in front with 20 minutes played thanks to a superbly crafted goal.

A Philippe Coutinho dummy put Emre Can into space, and when he steered a pass to Roberto Firmino, his dinked cross evaded Allan Nyom and was sidefooted past Ben Foster by the unmarked Mane.

Coutinho added a second before half-time, sliding his finish inside the far post, but the Baggies gave Liverpool a scare when goalkeeper Loris Karius gave away a corner that was thumped in by the unmarked Gareth McAuley.

Tottenham Hotspur also missed an opportunity to hit the summit as they drew 0-0 at Bournemouth in a game of few clear chances.

In a bright opening on the south coast, the home side came close when Charlie Daniels shot from six yards only for Hugo Lloris to make a superb stop, diverting the divert the ball up onto the crossbar and away.

Erik Lamela hit the post for the visitors with a curling 25-yarder but Boruc was called into action within two minutes of the second half starting, diving to push away Alli's strike from outside the area.

Bournemouth substitute Benik Afobe then threw himself in vain at a late cross before glancing a header just over seconds later as the Cherries finished with a flourish.

Champions Leicester City coasted to a comfortable 3-1 win over Crystal Palace at the King Power Stadium to put their recent Premier League wobbles behind them.

The Foxes had an early chance when Palace keeper Steve Mandanda kicked the ball straight to Shinji Okazaki, but the Leicester man sent his lob wide of the target.

Palace hit the bar after 13 minutes when Christian Benteke met Martin Kelly's cross, but Leicester took the lead just before the break when Ahmed Musa drilled home, and Okazaki doubled the advantage after 63 minutes when Danny Drinkwater crossed and Damien Delaney's clearance fell to him to smash home.

Christian Fuchs smashed home a volley from the edge of the box before Yohan Cabaye got one back for the Londoners with five minutes remaining.

Scott Arfield grabbed a last-minute winner as Burnley beat Everton 2-1 at Turf Moor despite long periods of domination by the Merseysiders.

Everton were close to taking the lead in the opening seconds when a mix-up in the home defence enabled Kevin Mirallas to get a shot in -- but he sent his effort straight at home goalkeeper Kevin Mirallas.

But the home side broke through after 39 minutes when striker Sam Vokes prodded home after keeper Maarten Stekelenburg had fumbled Scott Arfield's tame effort.

Everton levelled after 58 minutes when Romelu Lukaku's strong run paved the way for Yannick Bolasie to fire into the bottom corner, but Arfield smashed home a rebound after the ball cannoned back off the bar with seconds remaining.

Winston Reid snatched the points for West Ham against winless Sunderland when his injury-time strike gave them a 1-0 triumph at the London Stadium.

The game had seemed destined to end goalless draw until defender Reid struck from the edge of the box after Dimitri Payet had worked the ball back to him.

Payet had been at the heart of things as the home side buzzed around their struggling visitors early on and was within a whisker of a breakthrough after 28 minutes, blasting a 20-yard effort against the Sunderland post with goalkeeper Jordon Pickford beaten.

The Black Cats began to seize more control after the break as West Ham failed to match their first-half intensity, but they were unable to crown that with a goal -- and Reid made them pay.

Xherdan Shaqiri was the star of the show as Stoke City deepened Hull City's problems with an easy 2-0 win at the KCOM Stadium.

After a quiet start, Hull wanted a penalty with 15 minutes gone as Will Keane's effort from a corner hit Ryan Shawcross, but the referee waved the appeals away.

Stoke broke through when Shaqiri picked up the pieces after a corner was cleared and whipped a spectacular effort high into the corner from an angle. And he struck again after the break, curling home a 20-yard free kick to condemn the Tigers to another defeat.

New Swansea City manager Bob Bradley was unable to celebrate victory in his first home game in charge as the Welsh side were held 0-0 by Watford at the Liberty Stadium.

Modou Barrow was bright in a lively start by the hosts, but although Watford soon began to exert some pressure of their own they were unable to find a telling final pass as Bradley's Swans defended well.

As the attacking tempo increased in the second half, Borja Baston steered an effort wide for Swansea and the Hornets responded when Odion Ighalo had an attempt blocked.

The hosts came closest to a late winner when Gylfi Sigurdsson hit the outside of the post from the edge of the box.

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