Palace fight back to draw against Arsenal after Aubameyang red card

LONDON: Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring at Crystal Palace on Saturday but was later sent off as the hosts fought back to draw 1-1 at Selhurst Park.

New Gunners boss Mikel Arteta was on course for a third straight win when his skipper made the breakthrough in the first half, but a deflected effort by Jordan Ayew cancelled it out early in the second period.

When Aubameyang received a red card with 23 minutes left, the experienced Roy Hodgson would have fancied his chances of gaining three points against the youngest manager in the league and but had to settle for a share of the spoils.

Arsenal’s difficulties this season were highlighted by the fact this was the first time Palace were facing the Gunners after Christmas in a top-flight match with the Eagles higher in the table.

Hodgson was boosted by the return of Wilfried Zaha after he missed the defeat to Derby with a knock but new loan signing Cenk Tosun was only named on the bench.

Captain Aubameyang was recalled by Arteta after sitting out the FA Cup win over Leeds and opened the scoring at Selhurst Park in the 12th minute.

Mesut Ozil’s licence to roam had already caused the hosts problems and he moved inside to combine with Alexandre Lacazette, who played in his fellow forward to curl into the bottom corner for his 16th goal of the season.

It was a breathtaking Arsenal move, which started with a brave through ball between the lines by David Luiz, and Palace struggled to gain possession during the opening 30 minutes.

Zaha cut a frustrated figure and this was highlighted when he shoved Nicolas Pepe into Lucas Torreira, with the visiting pair needing treatment.

The Eagles slowly settled into the London derby and Cheikhou Kouyate had their first effort of note shortly before half-time, which Bernd Leno unconvincingly parried.

Arteta introduced Matteo Guendouzi at half-time, with Torreira not returning but Palace continued to win free kicks in dangerous positions after the break.

Eventually they made one count, when Jairo Riedewald found Max Meyer in space down the right. His cross was poor, but Kouyate was first to it and set up Ayew, who saw his strike take a big deflection off Luiz and loop over Leno in the 54th minute.

Arsenal’s problems deepened when Aubameyang caught Meyer high on the ankle with a poor challenge by the touchline.

Referee Paul Tierney showed a yellow card but VAR had a look and after a two-and-a-half minute delay, the caution was upgraded to a sending off.

Aubameyang was distraught as he left the pitch in the 67th minute and Meyer had to follow him down the tunnel after failing to recover from the tackle.

That allowed Hodgson to introduce Tosun for his debut, while Arteta withdrew Ozil for Brazilian forward Gabriel Martinelli.

James Tomkins almost produced a winner 12 minutes from time, but his header was cleared off the line by Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Arsenal then almost stole it.

Vicente Guaita came to the rescue though, when he superbly tipped Pepe’s shot on to the post and saved Lacazette’s follow-up in the 83rd minute as it finished all square.-AFP

VAR HELPS SHEFFIELD

Oli McBurnie’s goal earned Sheffield United a 1-0 home win over West Ham United but they needed a stoppage-time VAR intervention to secure three points on Friday.

After a dismal opening period, the hosts were far livelier after the break and McBurnie tapped home after a mix-up between West Ham’s substitute keeper David Martin and defender Fabian Balbuena in the 53rd minute.

West Ham thought they had equalised in stoppage time when Robert Snodgrass fired home but a VAR check harshly ruled that Declan Rice had handled the ball in the build-up.

It was a let-off for Chris Wilder’s side as the ball was headed against the on-running Rice’s arm by a Sheffield’s John Egan before the midfielder played in substitute Snodgrass.

While West Ham, who lost keeper Lukasz Fabianski to injury early on, could feel hard done by, Sheffield United would have been kicking themselves if they had not won after failing to kill off the visitors having taken the lead.A flat first half was almost devoid of action, although Egan headed a chance over for the hosts and Felipe Anderson spurned a chance for West Ham after running on to a flick.

Sheffield United were far livelier after the break and John Fleck had a shot blocked by Pablo Zabaleta before firing a follow-up effort wide of a gaping goal.

West Ham then imploded. Keeper Martin played a pass out towards Balbuena who appeared to have his feet stuck in concrete, allowing Fleck to nip in before squaring for McBurnie whose shot went under Martin’s body and in.

Martin redeemed himself by saving well from Lys Mousset who failed to capitalise on other opportunities before West Ham belatedly began to threaten.