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Finally , Arsenal crashes, loses 2-1 to Aston Villa after 18-match unbeaten
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Emi Buendia with the last kick of the game saw Arsenal lose to Aston Villa at Villa Park as their 18-match unbeaten record collapsed.
Matty Cash gave the hosts the lead at half-time thanks to a well-taken finish on 36 minutes, but after the break we came out firing and swiftly responded through substitute Leandro Trossard who netted for the third successive league game having returned from injury.
Both sides had numerous good chances to snatch the win but found David Raya and Emiliano Martinez in good form, who made a string of top saves between them, but in the last action of the game, Buendia managed to find the net after a goalmouth scramble to secure a fifth-straight win for the in-form Villans.
The teams went into this game sitting first and third in the table, and with confidence high in both camps, chances were quick to come.
Martin Odegaard shot straight at Martinez when he won back possession in a dangerous area, and then a minute later Raya saved smartly from Ollie Watkins after the Villa frontman wriggled his way past our centre-back pairing of Piero Hincapie and Jurrien Timber.
Bukayo Saka then became involved in the thick of the action, firstly driving the ball goalwards which forced Martinez to push his blast away, and then heading over Odegaard’s resulting cross. But just before the midway point of the half, Saka slipped in behind the Villa backline to square for Ebere Eze to tap into the net, but was ruled offside.
However when the ball next went into the net, unfortunately, it was ours that was rippled on 35 minutes. Pau Torres fired a cross that flicked off the head of Jurrien Timber and spun towards the back post, dropping invitingly to Cash to thump between Raya’s legs and hand the hosts the lead.
The better of the chances kept coming our way though, but we were lacking the execution needed to force Martinez into any real action. Ben White and Declan Rice both scuffed efforts at the former Gunner towards the end of the half as we went into the changing room behind.
Trossard again
Arteta responded by sending on Viktor Gyokeres and Leandro Trossard at the break, and the latter nearly made an immediate impact when he connected well with an Odegaard cross but his volley flashed just wide, however on 52 minutes our super sub once again came up with the goods.
Saka won possession on the halfway line and, after exchanging passes with Odegaard, drove into the area. His cross-shot was palmed away by Martinez, but only into the path of Trossard who squeezed the ball over the line to score his 50th Premier League goal and, more importantly, restore parity.
But the momentum refused to swing our way as Villa showed why they’d lost just one of their previous 25 league encounters on their own turf since we defeated them 2-0 last August, and after a sustained period of pressure Raya did well to get down low and deny Watkins again as we struggled to clear our lines.
However Martinez was then forced to be at his best when Odegaard found himself with time and space to aim for the top corner and looked set to celebrate, but the Villa shot-stopper got the faintest of fingertips to just divert it over the crossbar.
Late heartbreak
The game was on a real knife-edge at this point and another former Gunner in Donyell Marlen dragged the ball just wide of the far upright after capitalising on a miskick by Riccardo Calafiori, while in the second of four minutes of injury time Noni Madueke struck the sidenetting.
But just as it seemed as though we were returning south with a useful point, with seconds left a goalmouth scramble ensued that saw Raya make another good save, but we couldn’t clear our lines, with Buendia eventually given the chance to guide the ball into the net and condemn us to our first loss since August.
Alexander Isak struck twice inside the opening nine minutes as Liverpool secured their first English Premier League victory of the season with a 2-0 win over Ipswich Town on Friday.
The Swedish forward put the visitors in control almost immediately, ending a tense opening spell with two clinical finishes that gave Liverpool a comfortable cushion before the hosts could settle.
Liverpool needed only six minutes to break the deadlock. Cody Gakpo created the opportunity with his effort forcing a save, but Isak reacted quickest to the rebound and fired home.
Three minutes later, Gakpo again turned provider, picking out Isak on the left. The striker made no mistake, sending a low effort into the bottom corner to double Liverpool’s advantage.
The two goals took Isak’s season tally to three in as many league appearances, already matching the number he managed throughout the whole of the previous campaign.
With the visitors firmly in command, Ipswich struggled to create clear-cut opportunities, while Liverpool concentrated on protecting their advantage after the interval.
The Reds appeared to have earned a chance to extend their lead when they appealed for a penalty in the second half, but the decision was overturned after a VAR review found an offside in the build-up.
Ipswich pushed forward late in search of a way back into the contest, but Liverpool’s defence held firm and the hosts were unable to produce the finishing touch required to trouble the visitors.
The victory extended Liverpool’s unbeaten run at Portman Road to seven matches and delivered their first clean sheet of the campaign.
The result also gave coach Andoni Iraola his first clean sheet since taking charge during the summer.
Liverpool’s three points moved them into fifth position in the Premier League standings with five points from three matches.
An F-4 Phantom military aircraft crashed Saturday at a base outside Athens during an airshow, Greek news agency ANA reported.
The circumstances of the crash were unclear, as was the fate of the two pilots aboard, local media said.
The aircraft had just taken off when it suddenly lost altitude and crashed, said a journalist from public broadcaster ERT who was at the scene.
There was an explosion immediately after the crash, which happened before thousands of visitors watching the annual “Athens Flying Week”.
A fire service helicopter was dispatched to the scene to extinguish the blaze caused by the crash, ERT reported.
Defence Minister Nikos Dendias cancelled a trip to Thessaloniki’s International Fair to visit the scene of the accident.
Serena and Venus Williams electrified Arthur Ashe Stadium but fell to Chan Hao-ching and Maya Joint in three thrilling sets in their return to the US Open women’s doubles on Friday.
The superstar sisters, whose 14 Grand Slam doubles titles include two US Opens, rallied from a break down in the third set and led the deciding 10-point tiebreaker 5-0 but fell 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (10/7).
Venus, 46, and Serena, 44, hadn’t played Grand Slam doubles since the 2022 US Open and last won a title together at Roland Garros in 2018.
They showed flashes of their brilliant best, Serena proving particularly dangerous patrolling the net but struggling with her serve.
After recovering from losing the first set to level the match in the second-set tiebreaker.
They belted no fewer than 20 winners in the set, holding serve throughout, and leveled the match when Joint smacked an overhead long to roars from the crowd.
Chan and Joint regrouped to seize a 4-2 lead in the third. The sisters rallied, but get to the finish line as Taiwan’s Chan and Joint fought back superbly to clinch the victory.
The 44-year-old had returned to major singles play as a Wimbledon wild card four years after “evolving away” from the game.
At the All-England club, she lost to Joint in a Centre Court clash that captured the imagination of both diehard and casual tennis fans.
Even that experience didn’t prepare Joint for the atmosphere on the cavernous Ashe Stadium.
The sisters received a thunderous ovation when they took court, all business in understated white outfits.
Every blistering volley and overhead smash from the Americans received raucous cheers, and when they sprinted to the lead in the decisive 10-point tiebreaker, the noise was deafening
“The atmosphere was surreal,” Joint said. “Being able to play against such legends of the game is super special.”
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