Burnley v Arsenal (1-1)
It was a nightmareish result for Arsenal after they equalised their own score with an errant pass.
The Gunners were up 1-0 at the 6th minute, after an early goal from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. But six minutes to the half-time whistle things went horribly wrong, after a short pass from goal keeper Bernd Leno to Granit Xhaka ended in misery.
Xhaka attempted a sideways pass to David Luiz, but instead struck Burnley striker Wood’s body, resulting in the ball bouncing into Arsenal’s empty net.
To some, Xhaka’s avoidable error was reminiscent of the old Arsenal; the controversial midfielder took to social media afterwards to apologise, writing: “I hold my hands up for their goal and I’m sorry for the mistake. That’s football and right now I feel just as frustrated as all of you.”
Coach Mikel Arteta fully backed his player, however, attributing the mistake to Xhaka’s enthusiasm.
“It looks easy from the outside but it’s not that easy on here. If someone tries to make a mistake because they want to play, I will always support them. If someone is hiding and they don’t want to play and then makes a mistake I’m not gonna have that,” said Arteta.
However, that wasn’t the only drama of the night. In the second half, Arsenal had a chance at a penalty after a possible handball by Erik Pieters, but VAR ruled out the offence.
Aston Villa v Wolverhampton Wolves (0-0)
It was a night of astonishing errors as the Wolverhampton Wolves seemed to defend a ball rather than chip it in for a sure goal.
Romain Saiss will be kicking himself after last night’s egregious mistake. After Conor Coady’s header hit the crossbar and bounded back, the ball was inches from going over the clear goal-line with goalkeeper Emi Martinez otherwise engaged, but Saiss’ touch sent it flying vertically over the bar.
Saiss collapsed and covered his face after the bizarre misfire that some are calling the “miss of the season”.
Disappointingly for both sides, the match ended in a goalless draw.
Sheffield United v Southampton (2-0)
Southampton’s 2-0 win away against Sheffield United marked their first win in 10 games. Meanwhile, Sheffield United, who have lost four of their last five fixtures, remain firmly at the bottom of the table.
After a penalty from James Ward-Prowse in the first half, striker Che Adams netted his first goal for the team since December.
Southampton walked away with all three points while host team Sheffield United’s threat of relegation became more and more concrete.
Brighton & Hove Albion v Leicester City (2-1)
Brighton might have gotten comfortable with the 1-1 scoreline, after Kelechi Iheanacho (62’) canceled out Adam Lallana’s early goal (10’).
But it ended badly for the host team, as a late second goal from Daniel Amarty (87’) — his first this season — won the game for Leicester City.
No doubt that Brighton are more desperately in need of points. While Leicester City is sitting comfortable at second place on the EPL table (though first and third place, Man City and Man United respectively, both have a game in hand), Brighton are three points away from relegation zone at 16th place.
