HAMMERS Nail Liverpool West BROM Defeat Stoke
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SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 2015 SPORTS Coloccini gifts Arsenal victory old’s reputation appears to have gone before him in a contest that saw McClaren’s Newcastle 0 side pick up six other cautions. Arsenal, who saw Mesut Ozil (knee) join fellow- German international Per Mertesacker (chest infection) on the sidelines, should Arsenal 1 have made their numerical superiority pay before half-time. Theo Walcott, however, was guilty of a glaring miss, spooning the NEWCASTLE: Arsenal had to work hard to rebound over the bar from close range after find a way past 10-man Newcastle as a sec- Tim Krul beat out an Alexis Sanchez shot ond-half own goal from Fabricio Coloccini from distance into the path of the England secured a narrow 1-0 Premier League victory forward, who should have scored as he fol- yesterday. Arsene Wenger’s side maintained lowed up inside the six-yard box. their 100 per cent away record but struggled Arsenal’s territorial dominance had to make the most of their 74-minute numer- already seen their strong penalty appeals go ical advantage following an early red card unanswered, when Newcastle midfielder for Newcastle striker Aleksandar Mitrovic at Florian Thauvin barged into Hector Bellerin St James’ Park. in the area to bring an abrupt halt to a 20- They finally broke the deadlock when an pass move from the visitors. angled drive from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Krul had to be alert to smother at the feet deflected in off Coloccini seven minutes of Walcott, while an angled drive narrowly after the restart to secure a second win of wide from Moussa Sissoko, Newcastle’s main the season for the north London club going attacking threat in the absence of Mitrovic, into the international break. was the only moment of concern before or The hosts remain without a league win after the break for Arsenal keeper Petr Cech. so far, leaving them on two points from their The pressure eventually told as the Gunners opening four games as they succumbed to broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute with an eighth consecutive defeat to Wenger’s the first opportunity of the second half. men. Even in defeat, Steve McClaren’s team Santi Cazorla’s shot from the edge of the ANFIELD: Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel (below) and West Ham United’s Cheikhou Kouyate battle for the during the ball English Premier League soc- emerged with credit for a dogged rearguard area was blocked, and when Krul parried the cer match. — AP display fuelled by a sense of injustice follow- rebound from Aaron Ramsey, Oxlade- ing what they felt was a harsh sending-off Chamberlain found the bottom corner from for their Serbian international. In only his a narrow angle with the aid of a deflection Hammers nail Liverpool second Premier League start since a £14 mil- off Newcastle skipper Coloccini. lion ($21.5 million, 19.2 million euros) move A fine reaction save from Krul denied from Belgian side Anderlecht, Mitrovic was Sanchez a second goal for the visitors short- After just three minutes Skrtel’s defensive clear- But the half ended in costly fashion for ordered off for a 16th-minute challenge on ly afterwards as the exertions of playing for ing header was inaccurate and not particularly Liverpool with Coutinho booked for refusing to Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin, whose so long with a man down began to take its Liverpool 0 powerful, the centre-half clearing Dimitri Payet’s retreat at a free-kick, a decision by referee Kevin overly-dramatic reaction appeared to play a toll on Newcastle. McClaren’s side remained centre directly to Aaron Cresswell, who intelli- Friend which put the official in an awkward posi- part in referee Andre Marriner’s decision to in the contest while the deficit still stood at a gently picked out Lanzini for a routine finish on tion six minutes after the restart when he decid- brandish a straight red card. It was a clumsy single goal, but hopes of a comeback the edge of the six-yard area. ed the same Liverpool man was the guilty party attempt to win the ball, seemingly worthy of remained largely theoretical as they strug- West Ham 3 Worse was to follow, on 29 minutes, after in a collision with Payet, forcing him to reach for a yellow card. But having been booked on gled to produce any sustained forward pres- Lovren attempted to shepherd the ball out of a second yellow and dismiss him. two previous occasions this season shortly sure and Arsenal saw out the second half play near the right-hand corner flag but simply Coutinho had just cleared the West Ham bar after coming on as a substitute, the 20-year- without alarm. — AFP LIVERPOOL: West Ham handed Liverpool their turned it over to Lanzini, who worked his way with a 20-yard shot and, without his creativity, it first defeat of the new Premier League season down the by-line and crossed for Noble to score was hard to imagine his side regaining a with a 3-0 win yesterday that ended the east after an attempted block by Nathaniel Clyne. foothold in the game, a fact acknowledged by London club’s 52-year wait for success at Anfield. Liverpool had responded to the opening goal Rodgers who brought on close-season signing Goals from Manuel Lanzini and Mark Noble with confidence but lacked the necessary poise Danny Ings after the hour. put Slaven Bilic’s side firmly in control of a fixture and cutting edge once inside the Hammers box. James Milner failed with a low shot from dis- in which they had not tasted victory since a 2-1 Coutinho flashed a wild shot over, Roberto tance, Ings tried to combine with Benteke but triumph in September 1963 before Diafra Firmino switched feet neatly outside the area to was crowded off the return pass and the Sakho’s late effort completed the rout. make room for a 20-yard shot which struck the Hammers responded with Kouyate sending a The dismissal of Liverpool’s midfielder Hammers woodwork and Christian Benteke shot skidding just off the mark and Cresswell’s Philippe Coutinho early in the second half left went down under slight defensive contact and near-post shot being saved by Simon Mignolet. the home side with a mountain to climb, appealed in vain for a penalty. Winston Reid headed wide from a corner as although Noble’s own sending off evened the But West Ham looked just as capable of West Ham sought an implausible third goal teams up for the final 11 minutes. The two first adding to their tally as they played an effective although the visitors seemed to dampen their half goals, created inside the opening half hour, counter-attacking tactic through the pace and ambition after Noble went into a challenge with were a consequence of poor Liverpool defend- trickery of Lanzini. Ings with his studs showing and was shown a ing, a trait which Reds boss Brendan Rodgers After 15 minutes, the West Ham midfielder straight red. seemed to have corrected with his team having picked up a loose ball in midfield and ran at the Nevertheless, they did manage to find that not conceded in their opening three league retreating defence before shooting just wide, third goal in stoppage-time as Sakho took a pass games. while Payet and Cheikhou Kouyate combined in deflected into his path off Alberto Moreno and Central defenders Martin Skrtel and Dejan another attack which ended with Cresswell find- shrugged off two challenges before scoring Lovren shared responsibility for the two goals. ing space for a shot that cleared the far post. from 16 yards. — AFP West Brom defeat Stoke Stoke 0 LONDON: Newcastle United’s Massadio Haidara (right) vies for the ball with Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin (left) during their English Premier League soccer match. — AP Lens salvages draw for West Brom 1 STOKE-ON-TRENT: Tony Pulis celebrated his rock bottom Sunderland return to the Britannia Stadium as West Bromwich Albion won for the first time this sea- into the left-hand side of the net. son with a 1-0 victory over nine-man Stoke yes- Villa were in the ascendancy and terday. Aston Villa 2 Sinclair went close again before Ashley Pulis, who was in charge of the Potters for Westwood’s first-time shot from the right some 464 matches during two spells between side of the area flew just wide. Tim 2002 and 2013, received an emotional ovation Sherwood’s team made their pressure pay from the home fans as the 59-year-old returned Sunderland 2 four minutes before half-time when Idrissa to a hero’s welcome. The match was decided by Gueye set Jordan Amavi free down the left a headed goal on the stroke of half-time by new and Sinclair got between two defenders to Venezuelan signing Salomon Rondon following BIRMINGHAM: Sunderland slumped to the divert his low cross into the roof of the net. a deft cross from former Southampton and bottom of the Premier League despite bat- At half-time, Advocaat replaced Danny Liverpool striker Rickie Lambert. Pulis, who led tling back for a 2-2 draw at Aston Villa Graham and Cattermole with Steven Stoke back into the Premier League in 2008 and thanks to Jeremain Lens’s equaliser yester- Fletcher and Ola Toivonen, on for his debut also guided the club to the 2011 FA Cup final day. Dick Advocaat’s side led through Yann following his loan arrival this week from where they were beaten by Manchester City, M’Vila’s superb free-kick but a Scott Sinclair Rennes.