By Victor Kanayo
Everton gave Arsenal a bloody nose in their English Premier League title chase with a shock defeat against Mikel Arteta’s men on Saturday at Goodison Park.
It was an encounter which announced new coach Sean Dyche’s starting reign as Everton Manager, few weeks after Frank Lampard’s ouster with Nigerian international Alex Iwobi returning from injury in dazzling fashion.
Afterall, James Tarkowski’s second-half header made the difference as the gunners missed out on the chance to go eight points clear of second-placed Manchester City after losing only their second league game of the campaign.
The result also sees Everton climb out of the bottom three as they look to avoid being relegated from the Premier League for the first time in their history.
Tarkowski, who Dyche signed when he was at Burnley, said he hoped the win could help change the prospects for Everton, who had only won three league games all season before Saturday.
Later same day, Manchester United climbed up to third place in the Premier League table with a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace at Old Trafford
Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford scored a goal in each half but the hosts played the last 20 minutes with 10 men after Casemiro was shown a straight red card.
Meanwhile, Liverpool suffered another loss in the League after Woles lashed them 3-0 to climb out of the relegation zone in style.
Joel Matip’s own goal followed by Craig Dawson’s debut strike put Liverpool up against it early on.
Though the visitors pushed hard in the second half, it was Wolves captain Ruben Neves who sealed the victory for Julen Lopetegui’s men at a jubilant Molineux.
It is a fourth game without a Premier League win for Jorgen Klopp’s out-of-sorts team.
With the result, the Reds remained 10th in the table.
Elsewhere, rejuvenated Leicester City whipped Aston Villa 4-2 with Nigeria’s Kelechi Iheanacho scoring one of the goals, just as Newcastle beat West Ham 1-0.
On the other hand, Southampton lost 0-3 to Brentford despite engaging new players including Nigeria’s Paul Onuachu and Jordan Ayew of Ghana, shortly before winter transfer window shut on January 31, 2023.
