 "Football: Aston Villa stun Arsenal to spark Premier League title bid, Real Madrid stumbled to a draw at Betis")
Aston Villa closed to within two points of the top of the Premier League as John McGinn’s goal beat title rivals Arsenal 1-0 on Saturday. Unai Emery’s men have now won 15 consecutive Premier Leagues at Villa Park and back-to-back victories over Manchester City and the Gunners have sparked hopes of an unexpected challenge for their first title since 1981. The only goal came after just seven minutes when Villa captain McGinn span onto Leon Bailey’s cross and fired into the top corner. “What a monumental week it has been for us,” said McGinn. “That was actually a really tough spell for us we played Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday and I think it showed in our performance tonight, it wasn’t our best, but I’m certainly not complaining. “The second half was a bit of character, a bit of grit and fair play to the substitutes who’ve come on.” Arsenal’s second league defeat of the season leaves Mikel Arteta’s men one point behind Liverpool, who went top with a controversial 2-1 win at Crystal Palace earlier on Saturday. Arteta was forced to watch from the stands as he served a touchline ban and had to restrain himself after the game when asked about a couple of controversial incidents. Arsenal thought they should have had a penalty in the second half when Gabriel Jesus went down under a challenge from Douglas Luiz. And Kai Havertz had a late goal disallowed for handball. “I do (have a) big opinion, yes,” said Arteta. “(But) I prefer not to comment.”
A CLUB-RECORD FIFTEEN HOME LEAGUE WINS IN A ROW
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 9, 2023
Victory was sweet for Emery, who was sacked by Arsenal four years ago. The Spaniard has made a remarkable impact at Villa, since his return to England over a year ago. “It was a tough week and now after these three points we have to be happy but also keep balance,” said Emery. “I will speak again when we are in game 32 or 33. Today we are at game 16 and we are not a contender (for the title).” Arsenal rue lack of killer striker Arsenal were left to rue a number of big missed chances that raise fresh doubts over whether they can win a first Premier League title in 20 years without a natural goalscorer. “We were the better team, we didn’t deserve to lose but this is football,” said Arteta. “(Scoring is) the only thing we miss today. We created some really big chances.” Arsenal’s first big chance came even before Villa scored as Bukayo Saka failed to make contact with Gabriel Martinelli’s cross. Seconds later, they were behind as McGinn took a perfect touch from Bailey’s cross to tee up his fifth goal of the season. Emiliano Martinez ensured Villa’s lead lasted until the break as he denied Martin Odegaard and Jesus. Arteta endured a frustrating watch as Villa rode their luck in the second half. Ollie Watkins turned a corner onto his own post before Odegaard wasted another big chance by skewing wide. Saka did finally find a way past Martinez, only to be flagged offside. And there was late drama when Havertz outmuscled Matty Cash to bundle in at the back post. The ball appeared to come off both players’ hands as they battled for possession, but the referee’s decision to award handball against Havertz was confirmed after a lengthy VAR review. Arsenal’s defeat opens the door for fourth-placed City to close back to within four points of the top when the English and European champions visit Luton on Sunday. Real Madrid suffer 1-1 draw at Betis Leaders Real Madrid stumbled to a 1-1 draw at Real Betis as Aitor Ruibal’s brilliant strike cancelled out Jude Bellingham’s league-best 12th goal of the season. Bellingham slotted Madrid ahead at the Benito Villamarin early in the second half after combining magnificently with Brahim Diaz. But Ruibal drilled an angled shot into the top corner from outside the area to earn Betis a point and extend their unbeaten run in La Liga to 11 matches. “It was a good game, competitive and even, the result is a fair one,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti. “I’m satisfied because you’re not always going to be able to win every game.” Madrid pulled one point clear of Girona but could lose top spot on Sunday if the surprise challengers beat neighbours Barcelona in a Catalan derby. The visitors thought they had taken the lead when Diaz turned in from close range on 16 minutes after a superb exchange between Bellingham and Rodrygo. Bellingham backheeled the ball towards Rodrygo who slid the ball between the legs of a defender. An attempted clearance ricocheted off Rodrygo and left Diaz with a tap-in, but the Brazilian was offside in the build-up. Chasing a fifth successive home league win, Betis twice went close as Ayoze Perez saw an attempt well saved by Andriy Lunin before Willian Jose bent an effort narrowly wide of the far post. Betis goalkeeper Rui Silva clawed behind a long-range drive from Luka Modric, but he was powerless to stop Bellingham breaking the deadlock eight minutes after half-time. The England midfielder retrieved the ball deep in Betis territory near the touchline, finding Diaz and chesting down the scooped return pass as he strode into the box and stroked past Silva. Madrid’s lead lasted only 13 minutes as Ruibal was afforded far too much time and space before he rifled home from 20 metres, grabbing his first league goal in a two-and-a-half years. Both teams pushed for a winner and former Madrid attacker Isco nearly undid his old club when he headed against the post. Joselu dribbled an effort agonisingly wide in stoppage time at the other end before Lunin tipped over centre-back Chadi Riad’s header with the last touch of the game. “Nobody can say it’s a bad point against Real Madrid, but I think we deserved the three points,” said Betis coach Manuel Pellegrini.
🎙️ @MrAncelotti: "It was an even and hard-fought match."#RealBetisRealMadrid pic.twitter.com/iwwmqcWXN7
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) December 9, 2023
Real Sociedad ran out 3-0 winners at Villarreal with all three goals coming less than 10 minutes before half-time as they overtake Basque neighbours Athletic Bilbao in fifth spot. Mikel Merino opened the scoring on 38 minutes, before Martin Zubimendi doubled the lead three minutes later and Takefusa Kubo wrapped up the encounter in the fourth minute of additional time. Las Palmas continued their promising run on their return to the top flight, winning 1-0 at Alaves courtesy of Kirian Rodriguez’s goal that moved them back up to eighth place. Mallorca jumped two places following their 1-0 home win against Sevilla courtesy of Cyle Larin’s 11th minute goal. Barca could trim the gap to Madrid to two points if they beat Girona on Sunday, while Atletico Madrid will attempt to bounce back from last weekend’s defeat at Montjuic when they play bottom club Almeria. PSG secure late win over Nantes Paris Saint-Germain triumphed 2-1 thanks to a late Randal Kolo Muani winner against Nantes, with Monaco winning to go second. Bradley Barcola’s stylish finish just before the break gave PSG the lead, but a Mostafa Mohamed header in the second half made it look as if the points would be shared in the capital. However, Kolo Muani pounced in the six-yard box seven minutes from time to allow PSG to open up a six-point lead at the top of the table. “I think that before an important match like Wednesday’s (Borussia Dortmund), we were good right from the first minute,” said PSG coach Luis Enrique. “Nantes defended well and it was a match that allowed us to strengthen our position in the league.” Second-half strikes from Vanderson and Youssouf Fofana gave Monaco a 2-1 win away to Rennes with the principality side moving above Nice into second place. Calhanoglu guides Inter to Serie A top spot with Udinese win Turkey playmaker Hakan Calhanoglu set up a goal and scored another as Inter Milan moved back to the summit of Serie A with a comfortable 4-0 home win over Udinese. Inter had dropped to second in the table on Friday after Juventus’ 1-0 victory over champions Napoli. At the San Siro, midfielder Calhanoglu converted a penalty before setting up Federico Dimarco and Marcus Thuram scored a third for the 16-time champions before the break. Argentina’s Lautaro Martinez secured all three points with six minutes remaining to keep his spot as the league’s top scorer. “It’s important to respond to Juve who are behind us, it’s not easy to play after them,” Martinez said. “I’m proud and I hope to score many, the important thing is to help my teammates. “I care little about who scores, the important thing is to continue like this,” he added.
Ice in his veins 🥶 #ForzaInter #InterUdinese pic.twitter.com/hVorR6OKZm
— Inter ⭐⭐ (@Inter_en) December 9, 2023
Simone Inzaghi’s Inter are two points above Juve and remain unbeaten in Serie A and the Champions League since September 27. Earlier, Experienced Colombia striker Luis Muriel scored a 95th-minute winner with a backheel as Atalanta beat AC Milan. The three points send Atalanta a point off the fourth and final Champions League place and stopped Milan from keeping up pace with the top two in the table, leaders Juve and city rivals Inter. The defeat, just Milan’s fourth in the league this season, comes at a bad time before Wednesday’s crucial Champions League trip to Newcastle, where Stefano Pioli’s side have to win to keep their hopes of reaching the knock-out stages alive. Bayern thrashed by ‘merciless’ Frankfurt Bayern Munich suffered a jolt to their title defence, losing their first league game of the season 5-1 in Frankfurt while RB Leipzig triumphed 3-2 at 10-men Borussia Dortmund. In a wet and wild contest in Frankfurt, the hosts raced into an extraordinary 3-0 first-half lead, with Omar Marmoush, Junior Dina Ebimbe, and Hugo Larsson scoring the goals as Dino Toppmoeller’s side outmuscled a timid Bayern. Joshua Kimmich dragged Bayern back into the match just before half-time but French midfielder Ebimbe had other ideas, capping a scintillating counter-attack after a mistake by Dayot Upamecano to make it four. Ansgar Knauff added a fifth to put the game out of reach for Thomas Tuchel’s side to complete a memorable performance for Frankfurt, who become the first team to score five goals against Bayern in the first 60 minutes of a league game since Frankfurt themselves, in 1975.
All over.
— FC Bayern (@FCBayernEN) December 9, 2023
🔴⚪️ #SGEFCB 5-1 (FT) pic.twitter.com/4bDELzlO3E
A stunned Tuchel said after the game that his side were punished by a Frankfurt team who were callous in front of goal. “We didn’t defend consistently and were punished mercilessly today,” Tuchel told German broadcaster ARD. “That’s why this result is very difficult to digest on the scoreboard. We deserved to lose. Not 5-1, but we deserved to lose. That is the bottom line.” Leaders Bayer Leverkusen retain their three-point cushion and travel to third-place Stuttgart on Sunday on a weekend when six of the Bundesliga’s top seven face each other. In a game contested between two sides in the chasing pack, Leipzig beat Dortmund in an absorbing contest at Signal Iduna Park. Dortmund were dealt an early blow with Mats Hummels’ red card, which denied the visitors a penalty but they went on to take the lead in the 32nd minute through a Ramy Bensebaini own goal. Ten-man Dortmund clawed their way back into the contest through Niklas Suele’s close-range finish on the stroke of half-time - but Leipzig’s Austrian forward Christoph Baumgartner tapped in to put Leipzig back in front early in the second half. Yussuf Poulsen struck as the clock ticked into injury time to make it three goals and three points, keeping Leipzig fourth and opening a gap of four points to fifth-placed Dortmund, despite Niclas Fuellkrug’s late header briefly giving Dortmund hope. Union Berlin won their first game since August 26 with a 3-1 victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach ensuring a winning start in the Bundesliga under new coach Nenad Bjelica. The Croatian boss ran down the touchline to join the celebrations with his players as the team climbed to 15th. Elsewhere, Werder Bremen arrested a four-game winless slump with a 2-0 win over Augsburg, secured by Niklas Stark’s first-half strike and Marvin Ducksch’s, midway through the second Heidenheim edged out Darmstadt with a 3-2 win in a meeting of two of the newly-promoted strugglers. Jan Schoeppner scored twice for Heidenheim, which leaves Darmstadt winless in seven Bundesliga games. With AFP inputs
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