Manchester City remain top of the Premier League on goal-difference despite being held to a stalemate with rock-bottom Aston Villa. It was honours even in the North London derby as Arsenal fought back from 1-0 down to earn a point and Jurgen Klopp suffered his first defeat as Liverpool manager as they were beaten 2-1 by Crystal Palace at Anfield.
So all this means after game week 12, City and Arsenal are joint-top of the table on 26 points while Leicester and Manchester United occupy the other Champions League places. Tottenham remain unbeaten since the opening day defeat to United and rise to 5th but despite Remi Garde earning a point in his first game, it was not enough to life Villa off bottom.
Aston Villa 0-0 Manchester City
Not the outcome many would have expected but a much improved Aston Villa earned a credible draw against top side City in Garde’s first match. City dominated possession and had the best chances in front of goal, with Villa keeper Brad Guzan, getting lucky on more than one occasion.
Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne missed guilt-edge opportunities to win the game for Manuel Pellegrini’s men and Fernando also saw his header crash off the bar in the dying minutes. Fabian Delph made his first appearance back at Villa Park since his summer transfer away from the Midlands and received a hostile reception.
Overall, Pellegrini will be disappointed not to extend their lead at the top of the table but a solid defensive performance by Aston Villa will have pleased Garde, and given the Frenchman optimism they can avoid being relegated from the Premier League for the first time in their history.
Arsenal 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
The second North London derby this season ended all square as Arsenal missed the chance to go two points ahead of City. England striker Harry Kane gave Spurs the lead on 32 minutes and were good value for their half-time lead.
Arsene Wenger then made a substitution which changed the course of the game on 74 minutes, as he replace Joel Campbell with Kieran Gibbs and it was indeed the England left-back who got the equaliser just three minutes after coming on.
Petr Cech made a string of second-half saves to deny Christian Eriksen and Toby Alderwiereld which proved to be crucial. Mesut Ozil continued his scintillating season with the assist for the equaliser and therefore became the first player to assist 10 goals in his opening 11 Premier League games.
Liverpool 1-2 Crystal Palace
The final game of Super Sunday saw Crystal Palace deliver Jurgen Klopp’s first defeat as Liverpool manager as the Eagles won 2-1 at Anfield. Yannick Bolasie gave the visitors the lead on 21 minutes but Philippe Coutinho equalised minutes before the interval.
The match was decided in the 82nd minutes when defender Scott Dann nodded in the winner and was also his second goal of the season. It seems Palace have become the Reds’ bogey team having made it three straight Premier League victories over Liverpool and have continued their incredible away form in 2015, winning their tenth game on their travels.
The result sees Palace rise to 8th in the table, just five points off a Champions League place while Liverpool go into the international break in 10th position having accumulated 17 points from 12 games.
Written by Tom Sutton – T0MSUTT0N
