Premier League review: Southampton end winless run; Leicester come from behind to beat Brighton
Southampton ended their winless run with victory over Sheffield United while Brighton were left stunned again - this time by Leicester.
Results
Brighton 1-2 Leicester
Leicester ended their winless Premier League run as Daniel Amartey’s late goal saw them come from behind to beat Brighton 2-1.
The Foxes were looking to avoid making it four games without a win but went behind in the 10th minute through Adam Lallana’s first goal for the Seagulls.
Neal Maupay saw a second chalked off for offside and Leicester improved in the second half, with Kelechi Iheanacho finishing off Youri Tielemans’ fine pass to equalise.
The points looked set to be shared until the 87th minute, when goalkeeper Robert Sanchez came for a corner, completely missed it and Amartey nodded in.
The result lifted Leicester above Manchester United, at least until the derby against Premier League leaders City on Sunday.
Aston Villa 0-0 Wolves
Romain Saiss’ extraordinary miss forced Wolves to settle for a goalless derby draw at Aston Villa.
The defender fired over an open goal from a yard out after Conor Coady hit the post.
Emi Martinez also denied Coady in the second half at Villa Park as the hosts drew just their fourth game of the Premier League season.
Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa hit the woodwork for Villa during a dominant first half but they lost their way after the break and relied on Saiss’ howler to claim a point.
It kept Villa ninth in the Premier League, while Wolves remain 12th with both sides now in danger of seeing their seasons fade away in the final 10 games.
Defeat at Sheffield United in midweek dented Villa’s surprise European hopes and they tried to recover quickly.
Watkins had already hit the woodwork more times than any player in the top flight this season and he struck it for a seventh time when his 25-yard rocket rattled the crossbar after four minutes.
Sheffield United 0-2 Southampton
Goals from James Ward-Prowse and Che Adams gave Southampton a long-awaited and much-needed victory and plunged Sheffield United nearer to relegation from the Premier League.
A first win in 10 matches stopped Saints’ alarming slide and moved them 10 points clear of the bottom three, but the rock-bottom Blades look more unlikely by the week to pull off the greatest of escapes.
The 2-0 defeat leaves Chris Wilder’s side 12 points adrift of safety with just 10 matches remaining to save themselves.
It was an all so familiar story for the Blades – playing well, making chances, but shooting themselves in the foot at the other end with poor defending and individual mistakes.
They were given a boost after 12 minutes when Danny Ings went down injured off the ball and had to be replaced by former Blade Adams.
It was a blow for Southampton but they would have taken the lead shortly afterwards had Nathan Tella showed a little more composure in front of goal, slicing his first-time shot well wide when goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was out of position.
Tella was involved again when the visitors went ahead after 32 minutes. Referee Paul Tierney awarded the spot-kick after Ethan Ampadu brought down the 21-year-old with a challenge from behind. Ward-Prowse tucked away the resulting penalty.
The Blades should have equalised right at the end of the first half but David McGoldrick chose to try and chip Fraser Forster from the edge of the penalty area, making it an easy save for the giant goalkeeper when really he should have been given no chance.
Wilder made an attacking change for the start of the second half, introducing striker Oli McBurnie and taking off midfielder Oliver Norwood. But four minutes after the break his side were 2-0 down.
John Lundstram’s poor clearance was flicked into Adams’ path by Stuart Armstrong and the substitute hit the ball superbly on the half-volley, sending it into the top corner.
Burnley 1-1 Arsenal
Arsenal delivered another blow to their own hopes of playing European football next season as Granit Xhaka gifted Burnley a bizarre equaliser in an eventful 1-1 draw at Turf Moor.
For 38 minutes it seemed the only question was how many Arsenal might score as they poured forward following Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s sixth-minute opener, with Mikel Arteta’s side picking up where they left off in last week’s 3-1 win at Leicester.
But it all changed seven minutes before the break when Xhaka took a short pass from Bernd Leno while facing his own goal.
A pass to Calum Chambers looked on but the Swiss midfielder took a touch, looked up, then inexplicably kicked the ball against Burnley forward Chris Wood and watched in horror as it flew into the net.
The New Zealand striker looked as surprised as anyone as he wheeled away to celebrate, but Arsenal barely recovered until a frantic finish during which they had a penalty overturned by VAR before Dani Ceballos saw a stoppage-time shot rebound off the post.
The game landed an 11/8 winning tip for Tom Carnduff in his preview, while also correctly predicting a 1-1 draw at a price of 6/1.
It means this inconsistent Arsenal side have taken only eight points from their last seven games, leaving them firmly in mid-table as the fight for Europe rages above them.
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