Aston Villa end scoring drought; Newcastle held to third straight away draw; Arsenal snatches 1-1 draw

Sunderland, England: Aston Villa finally ended their Premier League goal drought but remain without a win after being held to a 1-1 draw against 10-man Sunderland on Sunday.

Unai Emery’s side had been the only team across England’s top seven divisions yet to score this season and were looking to avoid becoming just the third top-flight club in history to go five games without a goal.

Matty Cash is put under pressure by Noah Sadiki.Credit: Getty Images

That wait ended in the 67th minute when Matty Cash struck with a swerving effort from distance.

Sunderland, however, despite playing with 10 men after Reinildo’s 33rd-minute red card, created the better chances and equalised just eight minutes later. Granit Xhaka headed the ball into the path of Wilson Isidor, who finished clinically.

Villa pressed for a late winner, with Harvey Elliott missing one chance and Ollie Watkins squandering another from Jadon Sancho’s cross, but Sunderland held firm for a deserved point.

The result lifts Sunderland to seventh place on eight points. Villa, with just three points from five matches, remain in the bottom three, albeit up one place to 18th.

Wilson Isidor of Sunderland celebrates scoring his team’s first goal against Aston Villa.Credit: Getty Images

Emery, who guided Villa into last season’s Champions League, admitted he is concerned.

“We are disappointed not because of the result but because of how we played,” he said. “We need to recover our identity, our confidence, and the style we want. I’m a little worried, not because of the table but because we are not playing with our identity.”

Arsenal snatches 1-1 draw with defensive Man City

Arsenal equalised in the third minute of stoppage time through Gabriel Martinelli to snatch a 1-1 draw with Manchester City, whose rare ultra-defensive performance under Pep Guardiola narrowly failed to deliver a win in the English Premier League on Sunday.

Erling Haaland scored a ninth-minute goal on the counterattack and City went on to frustrate Arsenal with a defensive master class that was so unlike a team coached by Guardiola, who is famed for cherishing possession.

Erling Haaland scored a ninth-minute goal on the counterattack.Credit: Getty Images

There was a late twist for Guardiola, however, when Eberechi Eze played a ball over City’s packed defence and Martinelli latched onto it before lobbing goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

It left Liverpool, the defending champion, with a five-point lead after just five games, with Arsenal in second place on goal difference over Tottenham and Bournemouth.

Newcastle held to third straight away draw at Bournemouth

Newcastle United’s away-day blues deepened on Sunday when Bournemouth held them to a third consecutive 0-0 draw on the road in a Premier League encounter that failed to spark into life.

Although Newcastle kept a third straight clean sheet on the road, they remain winless away from home this season, with their latest stalemate leaving Eddie Howe’s side languishing in 13th place with just six points from five games.

Newcastle United’s Harvey Barnes, left, and Bournemouth’s James Hill battle for the ball.Credit: AP

Bournemouth, meanwhile, climbed provisionally to third on 10 points as Howe failed to beat his former side in the league once again in a winless run stretching to seven games, with his team not having a single shot on target in the second half.

“I haven’t given it too much thought in terms of who deserves what. We know Bournemouth are a really good team. We limited them to long shots and Nick (Pope) made some good saves. We didn’t get our attacking game going,” Howe told BBC.

“It’s not good. You want to create chances and clear-cut chances. I didn’t feel that in our performance. We are going through one of those phases where it’s hard to score away from home.”

Reuters, AP

News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.

Most Viewed in Sport

Loading