London: As Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League with a battling 1-0 win at Bournemouth, Saturday, the real drama came at Wembley where Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal included two dubious penalties, one of which was saved, and a late sending-off.
Tottenham’s first league draw of the season allowed Manchester United to make up ground with a 3-2 comeback win that included two goals from Romelu Lukaku and moved them one point above Arsenal into fourth place.
At Wembley, as the clock ticked down, referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot for the second time when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang went down softly under a challenge from Davinson Sanchez.
But the Arsenal striker’s spot-kick lacked power and direction and was easily parried by Hugo Lloris, with Jan Vertonghen preserving parity with a desperate follow-up clearance from Aubameyang.
There remained time for Taylor to send off Lucas Torreira in the final seconds for a reckless challenge on Danny Rose. The referee had earlier awarded Spurs a penalty for a contested Shkodran Mustafi foul on Harry Kane, who got up to equalise Aaron Ramsey’s breakaway opener.
With Liverpool playing Everton Sunday, Manchester City knew they had to win to keep up the pressure and move two points clear.
The outcome was never in doubt once substitute Riyad Mahrez put them in front early in the second half with a shot that Bournemouth keeper Artur Boruc would have been disappointed not to save.
But it was seldom easy for City and manager Pep Guardiola was forced to replace Kevin De Bruyne and John Stones with muscle injuries that are particularly unwelcome with many important games coming up.
Agencies