Lamela fires rabona tally, but Tottenham taken down by Arsenal anyway
London, Mar 14 (efe-epa).- A goal by Norway’s Martin Odegaard and another by France’s Alexandre Lacazette were the prescription for Arsenal’s 2-1 home turf victory over Tottenham on Sunday at Emirates Stadium in London.
Jose Mourinho’s squad wasn’t up to snuff in the contest although Lamela had gotten them on the board first in the 33rd minute and Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta had things his way, even though he had sidelined starting striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for “disciplinary problems.”
Tottenham fired only once at the Arsenal net during the first half, in fact during the first 70 minutes of play, but it was a spectacular shot and one of the prettiest rabona tallies in recent Premier League history that developed in a split second for Lamela after he came in for the injured Son Heung-Min and, in a beautiful display of footwork zeroed in on the ball and decisively fired it into the right corner past Bernd Leno for the visitors’ lone score.
Arsenal, on the other hand, tried many shots on goal, only to repeatedly fail – with Lacazette trying but unable to deliver – and yet Emil Smith Rowe seemingly was everywhere to set up Lacazette and firing a great shot-on-goal himself that, unfortunately, hit the crossbar.
It was a great play by Kieran Tierney that finally found Odegaard in the area to even things up just one minute before the intermission.
In the 64th minute, Lacazette made it 2-1 on a penalty kick after trying a shot that was cleared by Davinson Sanchez, resulting in the penalty call after VAR.
Lamela, however, went from near-hero to the reverse when he struck Tierney in the face with his hand for a second yellow card a few minutes later and had to leave the pitch.
With the win, Arsenal is in the Premier League’s 10th slot with 41 points, while Tottenham Hotspur is seventh with 45.
Meanwhile, Manchester United got back into second place by blanking West Ham United at Old Trafford 1-0. The match was decided after the break when Craig Dawson sent in a corner kick that Bruno Fernandes knocked into his own net.
Man United didn’t have to deal with a single shot on goal from their rivals during the first half, but West Ham’s best player on the pitch was goaltender Lukasz Fabianski, who effectively prevented a run-up in the score as the Hammers picked up the pace – fruitlessly, it turned out – after Dawson’s tally.
The winning squad is the main contender going after league leader Manchester City, although West Ham is in fifth with 58 points, three behind Chelsea.
Elsewhere in the British Isles, Brighton downed Southampton 2-1 on the road, thus moving three points above the relegation threshold, although the losers seem to have been unable to halt their own slide, losing their 10th match in 12 outings.
Defenseman Lewis Dunk’s header put Brighton on top in the 16th minute, but 11 minutes later Che Adams tied things up. After the break, it was Leandro Trossard who once again gave the visitors the lead in the 56th minute and his team its first Premier League victory over their rivals.
