Manchester City Penalty Woes Allow Arsenal to Join Them at the Top
Manchester City Penalty Woes Allow Arsenal to Join Them at the Top
Arsenal joined Manchester City at the top of the Premier League on Saturday after leaders City suffered another afternoon of penalty woes in a 1-1 draw with Everton that ended their 100 percent home record this season.

Arsenal joined Manchester City at the top of the Premier League on Saturday after leaders City suffered another afternoon of penalty woes in a 1-1 draw with Everton that ended their 100 percent home record this season.

Arsenal's 3-2 win over Swansea City, featuring a double from Theo Walcott, put them level with City on 19 points but Pep Guardiola's side remained as leaders on goal difference.

Tottenham Hotspur, who had started the day in second place, missed a chance to go top, needing an 89th-minute goal from Dele Alli to rescue a 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion and protect their record as the only unbeaten side in the league.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola saw his side's perfect record disappear at the Etihad after Kevin de Bruyne and Sergio Aguero both had poor penalties saved by Maarten Stekelenburg in a game the leaders dominated.

"I don't have time to practice everything I want to practice," Guardiola conceded ruefully at the end of an international week. "Penalties you can practice in training, but training there is no one there."

City have now missed four of their eight penalties this season.

Romelu Lukaku made City pay in between the missed-spot kicks with his sixth goal of the season for Everton before Nolito headed the equaliser.

Arsenal introduced Swansea's new manager Bob Bradley, the first American to take charge of a top-flight English side, to the harsh realities of Premier League life as Arsene Wenger's men won a sixth consecutive league match.

Walcott struck twice in the space of seven minutes in the first half and came perilously close to a hat-trick while Mesut Ozil also scored on his 28th birthday.

Tottenham were dominant at the Hawthorns but looked set to lose when their former player Nacer Chadli put West Brom ahead in the 82nd minute.

England international Alli, however, ensured Spurs remained unbeaten after the opening eight league matches of the season for the first time since 1990.

They are now one point behind City and Arsenal in third place but Liverpool, who are two points further back, can leapfrog them with a win over Manchester United on Monday.

Chelsea hammered the team that succeeded them as Premier League winners as champions Leicester capitulated 3-0 at Stamford Bridge, their fourth defeat of the season coming after Diego Costa, Eden Hazard and Victor Moses all found the net.

The battle of the bottom two sides saw Stoke City leave Sunderland stranded at the foot of the table with a 2-0 victory thanks to the in-form Joe Allen, who struck twice in the first half.

Performance of the day came from Bournemouth, who enjoyed their biggest Premier League win with a 6-1 thrashing of struggling Hull City.

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