Arsenal lose, Villa win

Arsenal’s miserable week continued with a loss to Liverpool, while Aston Villa beat Blackburn in Alex McLeish’s first home game.

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London – Arsenal suffered more misery on Saturday as Liverpool won 2-0 at the Emirates thanks to an own goal and a late Luis Suarez strike, with the London side reduced to 10 men for the second successive Premier League game.

There was a change in fortunes for newcomers Queens Park Rangers, who seemed to have learned their lessons from last week's 4-0 drubbing by Bolton Wanderers as they beat Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park thanks to Tommy Smith's first-half winner.

The first Premier League match to take place in Wales ended 0-0, as lively Swansea City held firm in the face of a late Wigan Athletic onslaught, while Aston Villa marked manager Alex McLeish's first home game with a 3-1 win over Blackburn Rovers.

While Villa's result will have done much to win over home fans who were less than keen on McLeish's arrival from bitter city rivals Birmingham City, the scoreline at the Emirates triggered boos from Arsenal fans after the final whistle.

Arsene Wenger's team, still reeling from the departure this week of former captain Cesc Fabregas and gripped by injuries and suspensions, got off to a bad start when they lost defender Laurent Koscielny to injury after a quarter of an hour.

It got worse when Emmanuel Frimpong, one of their better players on his first Premier League start, was sent off after receiving a second yellow card following a dangerous tackle on Lucas with 20 minutes to go.

An own goal by Aaron Ramsey, the ball coming off his chest, handed Liverpool the lead in the 78th minute before Uruguay striker Suarez ensured his team would record their first win at the Emirates with a stoppage-time effort.

“I believe the (Suarez) goal was offside today and that is absolutely scandalous,” Wenger told the BBC. “It's very difficult to take on the chin that defeat, because with the effort we put in I don't think we deserved to lose the game.”

“We cannot say at the moment we are very lucky.”

Earlier, Newcastle United won the northeast derby with Ryan Taylor's 62nd-minute free kick securing a 1-0 victory over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, where the hosts finished with 10 men after Phil Bardsley was sent off.

Chelsea host West Bromwich Albion later on Saturday (6.30pm), while fellow title hopefuls Manchester City travel to Bolton Wanderers on Sunday and champions Manchester United entertain Tottenham Hotspur on Monday.

After a terrible week for Arsenal, in which Fabregas left for Barcelona and manager Arsene Wenger got himself into hot water with Uefa for breaking the rules of a touchline ban, things showed no sign of improvement.

From the moment Koscielny pulled up holding his lower back and left the field in agony, unable to walk unassisted, to the departure of Frimpong, who walked off the pitch with his head in his hands, it was clear luck was not on Arsenal's side.

Samir Nasri, whose anticipated transfer to Manchester City has provided Arsenal fans with another concern, was named in the starting line-up and showed plenty of commitment to his current team with some good runs.

His best chance came towards the end of the first half, when he surged from near the halfway line and darted past two Liverpool defenders before his final touch let him down as his right-footed shot from the edge of the area flew wide.

Arsenal were unable to find their trademark passing game and found themselves coming out second best in terms of possession as Liverpool went close when Andy Carroll's powerful header was well saved by Wojciech Szczesny in the 20th minute.

Charlie Adam tried his luck from long range a couple of times, while Martin Kelly struck the post early in the second half before Arsenal helped Liverpool's cause with some sloppy defending.

Ramsey could not get out of the way when Koscielny's replacement, teenager Ignasi Miquel, attempted to clear the ball after a move involving Suarez and Raul Meireles, and watched helplessly as the ball bounced off him and into the net.

Suarez made sure of the points late on when he tapped in a square ball from Meireles to deal the final blow to Arsenal, who left the field to boos as the rain poured down. – Reuters

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/arsenal-lose-villa-win-1.1121850

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