Bent strike shoots down Arsenal
Sunderland score in last seconds to claim 1-1 draw as Arsenal denied top spot in table and Spurs fight back to win.
 |
| Van der Vaart equalised for Tottenham before the hosts scored two more late goals to beat Wolves 3-1 [EPA] |
Darren Bent scored in the fifth minute of added time to give Sunderland a 1-1 draw at home to 10-man Arsenal.
Gunners coach Arsene Wenger reacted furiously as the striker buried a deflected clearance from a panicked visiting defence, believing that referee Phil Dowd should have blown for time 15 seconds earlier.
“It was outside the four minutes,” Wenger told ESPN. “Nothing happened that justified the extension of the time.”
Earlier Tomas Rosicky missed a penalty that would have given Arsenal a 2-0 lead after Cesc Fabregas had opened the scoring when a clearance from Anton Ferdinand crazily cannoned off him and into the net from yards outside the box.
| Results & fixtures |
|
Saturday September 18 |
Alexandre Song was sent off for a second bookable offence but it looked as if Arsenal would hold onto their lead until Bent’s late intervention.
The Gunners fall a point behind Chelsea at the top of the table having played a game more.
Three goals in the last 13 minutes by Rafael van der Vaart, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Alan Hutton gave a relieved Tottenham Hotspur a 3-1 home victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Everton lost at home in the league for the first time since November as a superb 45th-minute strike by Newcastle’s new signing from Marseille, Hatem Ben Arfa, gave the Magpies a 1-0 win and left the hosts second-to-bottom with two points from five games.
Birmingham City’s unbeaten start to the season ended at The Hawthorns as West Bromwich Albion came from 1-0 down at half time with three goals in 10 minutes to win 3-1.
Aston Villa drew 1-1 Bolton Wanderers while Blackburn Rovers against Fulham also ended 1-1.
Bottom club West Ham United secured their first point of the season after five matches when they drew 1-1 at Stoke City.
Spurs, who made their Champions League debut with a draw against Werder Bremen on Tuesday, fell behind to a Steven Fletcher goal just before half time.
Played to perfection
But coach Harry Redkapp played his hand to perfection as Van der Vaart, his Dutch signing from Real Madrid, and replacements Pavlyuchenko and Hutton brought an impressive turnaround.
Full-back Hutton went on for the second half and earned the 77th-minute penalty that Van der Vaart converted.
 |
| Parker got the day’s scoring going in the EPL but West Ham couldn’t hang on against Stoke [GALLO/GETTY] |
Aaron Lennon joined the fray after 86 minutes and with virtually his first touch sent in the cross that led to 67th-minute sub Pavlyuchenko putting Spurs ahead three minutes from time with Hutton scrambling in a fortunate third.
“They are tough to break down, but we stuck at it, kept playing and got our just rewards,” Redknapp told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“It’s hard playing Tuesday and Saturday so you need people coming off the bench, you need strength in depth.
“Alan had a great second half, Pav came on, hadn’t touched the ball for 20 minutes but it fell to him and he rolled it in, Aaron came on and had a fantastic little spell for us.”
Newcastle maintained their unpredictable progress by becoming the first team to triumph in the league at Goodison Park since Liverpool won there last November.
Having beaten Villa 6-0 then lost 2-0 at home to Blackpool it was anyone’s guess what Chris Hughton’s side would do.
As it turned out they were the slightly more adventurous of two cautious teams and took the lead at the end of the first half when Ben Arfa, in his first start, unleashed a fierce shot from 25 metres.
Everton, who scored twice in stoppage time a week ago to draw 3-3 with Manchester United, almost produced another last-gasp equaliser but Ayegbeni Yakuba hit a post and Marouane Fellaini’s goal-bound shot was brilliantly deflected by Fabricio Coloccini.
Languishing
They are now languishing second from bottom of the table with two points.
At Stoke, Scott Parker opened the scoring for the east Londoners after 32 minutes of the early English Premier League kickoff on Saturday.
The former Chelsea and Newcastle player hooked in a bouncing ball after a scramble in the box.
West Ham manager Avram Grant was absent from the Britannia Stadium as he was celebrating the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.
He will return to work with one point to show for his campaign so far after Kenwyne Jones headed home an equaliser from a Jermaine Pennant cross just after half time.
The big game of the weekend is at Old Trafford on Sunday when Manchester United play Liverpool, with Chelsea also in action at home to Blackpool and Manchester City taking on Wigan Athletic.