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Gabriel Martinelli returned with a bang as the Arsenal substitute’s deflected effort sealed a late, long-awaited victory against Premier League champions Manchester City. Last season the Gunners pushed City in the title race, only to eventually fall just short as Pep Guardiola’s side went on to become just the second English team to win the treble. Arsenal’s inability to win a point off City last term proved costly but things are already different this time around, with Martinelli’s deflected strike securing a last-gasp 1-0 win at an elated Emirates Stadium. The substitute’s first-time effort in the 86th minute flew in off Nathan Ake, ending a run of 12 straight league losses in this fixture as they beat City in the Premier League for the first time since 2015. Read More Jacksonville Jaguars clinch back-to-back London wins by beating Buffalo Bills Louis Rees-Zammit focused on Wales glory over bid to be World Cup top try-scorer Aberdeen held to goalless draw by bottom side St Johnstone at wet Pittodrie

Carlos Baleba finished his first Premier League start in tatters. The 19-year-old had given everything to Brighton’s cause, and in the final minutes, he could be seen bent double, gasping for breath, telling his goalkeeper to keep hold of the ball for a few seconds longer, like a man begging for mercy. By this point, he looked a little disheveled, with his socks fallen down and shorts rolled up. His final act was to chop down Liverpool’s galloping Ryan Gravenberch, for which he was rightly booked. And when the whistle blew on this wild 2-2 draw, he dropped to the grass in relief and stretched out the cramp coursing through his legs. Baleba hobbled over to shake the hands of various Liverpool players, most of whom wouldn’t have known anything about this Cameroonian teenager before their team meeting on Friday. But after a performance full of energy, guile, skill, outrageous confidence and physical dominance in midfield – one that sapped his body dry – they do now. Ask people inside Brighton who will be the next diamond in the rough, the player who will be sold for five times their asking price after doing wondrous things on this Amex Stadium pitch, then you might be pointed to Kaoru Mitoma or Evan Ferguson, Mahmoud Dahoud or Joao Pedro. But those really in the know will point to Baleba. That includes the manager, Roberto De Zerbi, who said without hesitation on Baleba’s signing this summer: “He will be the future of the club.” If that sounded like hyperbole, there was enough evidence in this 100-minute sample to suggest the Italian is right, as he has tended to be about most things in his short Brighton career. After a Carabao Cup start and a couple of league appearances off the bench, De Zerbi showed enormous faith in Baleba with this full Premier League debut against Liverpool, and that faith was repaid in spades. This was Baleba’s kind of match, stretched and full of holes, with little fires popping up all over the pitch that needed putting out. As the defensive shield, he rushed to cover off counter-attacks and snuff out threatening direct balls. He stood in front of his back four checking over his shoulder for Mohamed Salah’s movement, and then cut out the through ball when it came. When Lewis Dunk pressed so high up the pitch that he left a void in Brighton’s defence, Baleba instinctively slotted back and filled the space. In possession, he was calm and composed and occasionally he injected little jolts of energy, like early in the first half, in his own half, where he threw in a stepover before charging away from Liverpool’s midfield and setting Brighton’s attacking players away as the crowd urged him on. Or a few minutes after Brighton had scored their first goal, when he dribbled through the centre of the pitch from the halfway line, jinked away from a defender on the edge of Liverpool’s box and hit his shot just wide. Baleba was a source of calm in what was a wild game. The first half could have been the subject of an art installation simply titled: ‘Get rid’. All three goals were the result of kamikaze passing at the back that went disastrously wrong, enough to boil the blood of proper football men everywhere. First, it was Virgil van Dijk plodding a pass to Alexis Mac Allister, which Brighton’s Simon Adingra (like Baleba, the 21-year-old winger was exceptional) stole and quickly swept past an out-of-position Alisson Becker for Brighton’s opener. Liverpool hit back with two goals of their own, first when Dunk misplaced a pass and Salah finished off a flowing counterattack, and then just before the break when Pascal Gross lost the ball in his own box and hauled down Dominik Szoboszlai, and Salah scored from the penalty spot. Brighton went into the break 2-1 up, so it was a compliment to the Baleba-Gross partnership when Jurgen Klopp brought on Ryan Gravenberch at half-time to stabilise Liverpool’s overrun midfield. It worked, and for a period Liverpool took control, but they failed to score a third and Brighton went hunting for an equaliser, which came late through Dunk’s close-range volley. Baleba never stopped, and his defensive nous regularly kept counter-attacks at bay. “I have to congratulate the club on finding two more amazing players, in Adingra and Baleba,” De Zerbi said after the game. “Baleba is very young and I think this club needs the characteristics of Baleba. He is a great replacement for Caicedo. But we can’t forget Ansu Fati, Mahmoud Dahoud, Joao Pedro.” In other words, there is plenty more where that came from. Why give Baleba his first start now? “I gave him the right steps. He played a part of the game with Bournemouth, played 70 minutes in Stamford Bridge [in the League Cup] in a big stadium. I gave him time to understand the new style of play, the timing of when to receive the ball, the right line of passing: our idea. It is not so easy [to learn] because our style, in the defensive phase we can change depending on the opponent, our build-up play can change. “He’s very young, a very good player with incredible potential, and he can be one of the most important midfielders in Europe in the future.” De Zerbi believes. And after this performance, we’re all Balebas now. Read More Brighton v Liverpool LIVE: Premier League result and reaction Liverpool’s new double-act are surprising even Jurgen Klopp Rumours: Brazilian is Liverpool’s January target and City want Haaland renewal No need for a replay as Liverpool return to normality in Europa League Liverpool vs Union Saint-Gilloise LIVE: Latest Europa League updates PGMOL rejects Ben Foster’s claim that refs pressured Sky into VAR cover-up

The fall-out from Uefa’s plans to reinstate Russian underage teams to European competition is causing a huge split within the governing body, putting president Aleksander Ceferin under immense pressure to “revisit” the issue at this week’s Executive Committee meeting. The controversy has already caused the confederation vice-president Karl-Erik Nilsson to resign as boss of the Swedish Sports Confederation and led Denmark to become the latest association to say they will not play Russian sides to go with England, Ireland and Ukraine. The Independent has been told that there is tension within some national associations that didn’t immediately reject the idea out of hand. There is similarly huge dissatisfaction among other federations for the manner in which the issue was raised by Uefa at the last meeting, with Ceferin simply bringing it up under “any other business” – according to one source – with “no prior notice”. There was huge surprise at this, and it has been viewed with the context of Fifa’s decision to do the same. That has caused Uefa to bring it onto the agenda for Tuesday’s ExCo meeting, where it will also be confirmed that Euro 2028 is going to the United Kingdom and Ireland. Various sources have insisted the Russia decision could be amended, such is the strength of feeling around it. Senior national and club teams nevertheless remain banned regardless, as has been the case since February 2022. A statement on 26 September said: “Uefa was the first sports body to react to the war in Ukraine and took decisive action in February 2022 - suspending all Russian teams from its competitions, removing events scheduled in Russia like the Uefa Champions League final in Saint Petersburg and the Uefa Super Cup in Kazan, and cancelling its sponsorship contract with Gazprom. “However, Uefa is also aware that children should not be punished for actions whose responsibility lies exclusively with adults and is firmly convinced that football should never give up sending messages of peace and hope. “It is particularly aggrieving that, due to the enduring conflict, a generation of minors is deprived of its right to compete in international football. For these reasons, the Uefa Executive Committee has decided that Russian teams of minor players will be readmitted to its competitions in the course of this season. In this respect, the Executive Committee has asked the Uefa administration to propose a technical solution that would enable the reinstatement of the Russian U17 teams (both girls and boys) even when draws have already been held. “All matches of the Russian teams shall be played without the country flag, anthem, national playing kit and not on the Russian territory. “At the same time, the Executive Committee reiterated its condemnation of Russia’s illegal war and confirmed that the suspension of all other teams of Russia (clubs and national teams) will remain in force until the end of the conflict in Ukraine.” Read More FIFA set to approve letting Russian youth soccer national teams return to competition UK and Ireland set to host Euro 2028 after Turkey withdraw bid European soccer body UEFA's handling of Russia and Rubiales invites scrutiny on values and process

Aberdeen were held to a goalless draw by bottom-of-the-table St Johnstone in a Premiership contest which will not live long in the memory. The Dons were chasing a third straight league win, which would have propelled them into the top half of the standings for the first time this season. But they did not trouble Dimitar Mitov enough to merit maximum points as winless Saints picked up a deserved point at a wet, miserable Pittodrie. Aberdeen made two changes from the side that drew 1-1 with HJK Helsinki in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night, Connor Barron and Jonny Hayes coming in for Leighton Clarkson and Jack MacKenzie. St Johnstone were able to select skipper Liam Gordon after his red card against Livingston last weekend was downgraded to a yellow on appeal. But Gordon and his fellow defenders did not have much to do in an uninspiring first half, which produced next to nothing in the way of chances. Other than a Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes free-kick from distance, which Mitov fumbled before gathering at the second attempt, there was not an effort on target at either end, However, Aberdeen thought they had taken the lead on the stroke of half-time when their former stalwart Andrew Considine headed into his own net when trying to deal with Barron’s cross. But with Duk marginally offside and deemed to be interfering with play, the goal was chalked off following a VAR review – much to the annoyance of the home support. An inventive free-kick almost paid off for the Dons early in the second half as Hayes fed Barron to create a better crossing angle, but his delivery just evaded Richard Jensen. Reds boss Barry Robson made a double switch in the 56th minute in a bid to energise his midfield, with captain Graeme Shinnie and Jamie McGrath making way for Clarkson and Dante Polvara. The visitors were still comfortable, although Luke Robinson nearly put his team in trouble with a stray pass in a dangerous area, which Aberdeen should have made more of. Down the other end, Gordon unleashed a powerful 25-yard shot, which deflected narrowly wide for a corner as Saints sensed they could break their winless duck at the eighth attempt. It was the hosts who looked likeliest, though, as they upped the pressure in the closing stages. Bojan Miovski spurned their best opportunity in the 71st minute when he collected Barron’s pass and cut across the box to work a shooting chance on to his favoured left foot, only to blaze his shot harmlessly over from 12 yards. The North Macedonia international then flashed a stoppage-time header wide from a Hayes free-kick as the match ended in stalemate. Read More Gregor Townsend eager for Scotland’s old heads to prolong international careers David Moyes critical of referee Peter Bankes after draw with Newcastle Gary O’Neil plays down tension after Unai Emery walks away before handshake Kieran Hardy gets World Cup call as Wales look to boost scrum-half options Lewis Dunk’s goal denies Liverpool come-from-behind victory at Brighton Jake Jarman takes vault gold at World Gymnastics Championships

Wolves boss Gary O’Neil defused any tension after Unai Emery left without a handshake. The Aston Villa manager walked down the tunnel after Sunday’s 1-1 draw while O’Neil spoke to the fourth official at full time. Pau Torres had quickly cancelled out Hwang Hee-Chan’s second-half opener as Villa missed the chance to move into the Premier League’s top four. Ollie Watkins hit the post with the last touch of the game after Mario Lemina was dismissed in stoppage time for a second caution. They remain fifth after a scrappy derby at Molineux while Wolves built on their 2-1 victory at Manchester City last week and O’Neil dismissed any issue with Emery. He said: “It was a lot of nothing, I was moaning at the fourth about playing 114 minutes and Unai didn’t want to wait for the handshake so he went to walk down the tunnel. I just said: ‘No problem, go down the tunnel’. “I’ve waited ages for people (managers in the past), I understand that they want to talk with the fourth official. “My conversation with the fourth official was about eight seconds long so he wouldn’t have had to wait very long. But I understand if he doesn’t want to, no problem. I’ve got no problem with Unai at all. “I thought we edged it 11 v 11, apart from the start but a point is fairish I’d suggest. We looked comfortable, there wasn’t a huge gap between the sides. “Eight points is not a bad return, we’re managing to score goals and trying to improve.” Rayan Ait-Nouri steered Wolves’ best first-half chance wide and Jose Sa needed to be alert to divert Watkins’ effort over soon after the break. But Wolves struck first after 53 minutes when Neto’s pace took him past Torres to cross for Hwang to net his sixth goal of the season. The lead lasted just two minutes as Torres netted his first Villa goal when he turned in Watkins’ cross at the far post after Wolves were unable to clear Douglas Luiz’s free kick. With 12 minutes left Neto should have settled the game when Sasa Kalajdzic’s excellent cross found Wolves’ star man only for him to blaze over from 10 yards. Wolves then had to navigate eight of the 12 minutes of stoppage time with 10 men after Lemina was dismissed, earning a second yellow card for a tug on Nicolo Zaniolo. And Villa nearly cashed in with the last touch of the game when Watkins thumped the base of the post. Victory would have lifted Villa into the Champions League spots, after Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at Brighton. “It’s a derby and we felt it on the pitch. There are a lot of supporters with us, they are pushing, it was a great atmosphere,” said Emery, who also called leaving without a handshake ‘nothing’. “We tried to focus on the match. We reacted to the goal very quickly, it was key, and in 11 v 11 we created more chances but they had some very good transitions and chances. “When they had a red card it was the moment where we tried to get the advantage. “We are ambitious and very demanding. The first half we started very well but we lost a bit of control. We weren’t controlling the game and at that moment I was frustrated and upset.” Read More Kieran Hardy gets World Cup call as Wales look to boost scrum-half options Lewis Dunk’s goal denies Liverpool come-from-behind victory at Brighton Jake Jarman takes vault gold at World Gymnastics Championships Stuart McCloskey banishes retirement thoughts to enjoy memorable World Cup debut It’s some turnaround – Leigh Wood relishing late career resurgence Diogo Dalot urges Man United to make Brentford fightback a ‘turning point’

David Moyes was frustrated by some of the decisions made by referee Peter Bankes in the 2-2 draw with Newcastle. Mohammed Kudus climbed off the bench to score his first Premier League goal a minute from full-time as the Hammers snatched a point. But Moyes was fuming with Bankes for awarding a free-kick for Lucas Paqueta’s challenge on Sandro Tonali which led to Alexander Isak’s first goal. The Hammers boss also felt Bruno Guimaraes could have been shown a second yellow card, having been booked moments earlier, when he tripped James Ward-Prowse. “It might have got away from us a wee bit but I wouldn’t blame them with the referee’s decisions,” said Moyes. “That came from the free-kick that got the first goal back. I think on another day it wouldn’t have been given. “I thought that was pretty harsh on us, as was the decision early on which could have been a second yellow card. I’m not going to say something to get me into trouble. I just think it was a really close call.” Newcastle boss Eddie Howe defended his Brazilian midfielder. He said: “It’s one of those where he’s made two challenges in quick succession which probably makes them look worse than they are. I think it would’ve been incredibly harsh.” Tomas Soucek fired West Ham into the lead after eight minutes but Isak’s quickfire second-half double put Newcastle in control. Isak also hit a post from a tight angle before Ghana winger Kudus lashed in an equaliser from 20 yards. West Ham almost won it when Jarrod Bowen, on the day he signed a new long-term contract, fizzed the ball across goal and wide. “I’m pleased with a point,” added Moyes. “We played well in the first half against a top team, one of the best teams in Europe the way they’ve been playing. “It was tough, they played really well. We had difficult moments but we stuck at it. We could have gone 3-1 down but we could have won it 3-2. The game was very close,” Howe admitted Isak’s late miss after rounding Hammers keeper Alphonse Areola proved costly. “He’s played really well today, he’s gone round the keeper and done everything right, but the angle got too tight in the end. But when you’ve drawn that’s maybe a moment you’d like to replay again. “It was a really tough first half, we weren’t ourselves and probably deserved to be 1-0 down. It was totally different in the second half, we deserved to lead so it’s disappointing not to get over the line.” Read More Aberdeen held to goalless draw by bottom side St Johnstone at wet Pittodrie Gregor Townsend eager for Scotland’s old heads to prolong international careers Gary O’Neil plays down tension after Unai Emery walks away before handshake Kieran Hardy gets World Cup call as Wales look to boost scrum-half options Lewis Dunk’s goal denies Liverpool come-from-behind victory at Brighton Jake Jarman takes vault gold at World Gymnastics Championships

ROME The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) called on Sunday for the creation of humanitarian corridors to

The 2023/24 Premier League season is under way and you can follow every game and every goal right here with The Independent. This year sees Manchester City try to defend their crown and claim a historic fourth title in succession. Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering City, who also won the Champions League and FA Cup last season, will have to see off Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and the rest to claim an unprecedented sixth league title in seven years. Meanwhile Luton Town are making their first appearance in the Premier League, having risen from non-league in an incredible decade of progress. They followed Championship winners Burnley and second-placed Sheffield United in earning promotion to the top flight. Follow the latest action from the Premier League below.

Aston Villa missed the chance to climb into the Premier League’s top four after a 1-1 draw at Wolves. Pau Torres’ equaliser, just two minutes after Hwang-Hee Chan’s opener, saw them come from behind at Molineux. Mario Lemina was sent off in stoppage time for a second booking and Ollie Watkins hit the post with the final touch of the match. Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at Brighton opened the door for Villa to move into the Champions League spots but they never did enough for victory. Wolves earned another solid point following last week’s swashbuckling 2-1 win over Manchester City to continue their progress under Gary O’Neil. The manager would have been encouraged by another gritty performance and with better finishing from Pedro Neto it would have been another victory. It was Villa, though, who started the brighter as Torres miscued a header and Jose Sa turned Matty Cash’s angled effort behind before John McGinn twice fired off target. It preceded a good spell for Wolves, the hosts attempting to stamp their authority on the game without ever testing Emi Martinez. Their final ball continued to elude them until Hwang crossed for Rayan Ait-Nouri to steer wide after 33 minutes. Yet it was the hosts’ one decent chance of the half and they needed Lemina to rush out and block Douglas Luiz’s shot just before the break. Villa’s start to the season, which had lifted them to fifth, was their second best in the Premier League but there were signs of tiredness and the visitors’ decision to resort to gamesmanship early belied the quality they have. They emerged for the second half sharper, though, and Jose Sa turned over when Watkins directed McGinn’s pass goalwards. It was a brief spark from Villa but there was little surprise when Wolves grabbed the lead after 53 minutes. Douglas Luiz was caught by Hwang with the ball worked wide to Neto who ran at Torres. He engineered enough space to cross low for Hwang to poke in his fifth league goal of the season from close range. But the celebrations were cut short just two minutes later when Villa hit back. The hosts failed to clear from Douglas Luiz’s free kick and Watkins’ cute cross was turned in by Torres. It raised hopes the scrappy and, sometimes, ill-tempered game would take a step up in quality but neither side were able to ram home an advantage. Wolves wanted a penalty when Neto tumbled under pressure from Boubacar Kamara while Villa failed to threaten Sa again. With 12 minutes left, Neto should have settled the game when Sasa Kalajdzic’s excellent cross found Wolves’ star man, only for him to blaze over from 10 yards. The hosts then had to see out eight of the 12 minutes of stoppage time – during which Watkins, Douglas Luiz and Nicolo Zaniolo went close – with 10 men when Lemina was dismissed for a second yellow card, after tugging back the Italian forward. Watkins almost snatched it with the final touch of the game when his header smacked the base of the post. Read More Lewis Dunk’s goal denies Liverpool come-from-behind victory at Brighton Sub Mohammed Kudus earns West Ham a point with late equaliser against Newcastle Jake Jarman takes vault gold at World Gymnastics Championships Stuart McCloskey banishes retirement thoughts to enjoy memorable World Cup debut It’s some turnaround – Leigh Wood relishing late career resurgence Diogo Dalot urges Man United to make Brentford fightback a ‘turning point’

Lewis Dunk’s late equaliser earned Brighton a 2-2 Premier League draw with Liverpool at the Amex Stadium. Winger Simon Adingra took advantage of an error from Alisson in the visitors’ goal to give the Seagulls the lead midway through the first half. But the game turned on its head before the break, Mohamed Salah slotting home to level after being played in by Harvey Elliott, then firing the Reds in front with a penalty after Pascal Gross had hauled down Dominik Szoboszlai. Ryan Gravenberch spurned a golden chance to seal the win when he struck the bar with the goal at his mercy, before the final word went to the home side, Dunk volleying in 12 minutes from the end to keep Brighton sixth. Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi made six changes from the side that drew in Marseille, in keeping with the trend in the early weeks of their debut season in Europe. Yet in the first half they appeared to pick up where they left off in storming back from two down to draw in the Stade Velodrome on Thursday. The Seagulls’ first chance came after only four minutes. Dunk got free at the back post from a corner and nodded back across goal, the ball sitting up at a good height for Joao Pedro, whose shot deflected wide. The opening goal was a calamity of Liverpool’s own making. Alisson played a careless pass to the feet of Alexis Mac Allister, seemingly oblivious to the lurking Adingra. He stole in to nick the ball from the former Brighton player, and with quick thinking took the shot early and rolled it inside the post before goalkeeper Alisson could recover and set himself. Liverpool were shaken and Brighton began to take a hold of the game. Carlos Baleba exposed the visitors’ porous midfield when he collected inside his own half and drove through the heart of Jurgen Klopp’s side, carrying the ball to the edge of the box before checking back and dragging a left foot effort inches wide. Liverpool equalised against the run of play after 39 minutes. Dunk gave the ball away to Szoboszlai near halfway and the Hungarian fed it forward to Darwin Nunez. He moved it on to Luis Diaz, whose ball in to Elliott was perfectly weighted for him to set up Salah to slot home. Salah gave Liverpool the lead from the penalty spot in the 44th minute after Bart Verbruggen playing an awkward pass to Gross that put the midfielder under pressure. He was dispossessed by Szoboszlai and in a desperate attempt to recover the ball he yanked down the Liverpool midfielder, allowing Salah to step up and bag his second from the spot. The hosts almost restored parity in the first few minutes of the second half, Evan Ferguson finding Adingra with a reaching pass into the right channel. Adingra darted beyond Andy Robertson and feinted to shoot, instead cutting back inside and hitting a low effort that was well saved by Alisson. Gravenberch, on as a half-time substitute, wasted a glorious chance to extend the lead when he struck the crossbar with the goal gaping from Szoboszlai’s cross, before the Hungarian turned provider for Diaz who burst into the box and blasted wide. Karou Mitoma thought he had won Brighton a penalty after 69 minutes, cracking a shot at goal from six yards that appeared to ricochet onto the arm of Joel Matip. There was to be no spot-kick and furious De Zerbi was booked for remonstrating with the fourth official. Brighton’s equaliser was no more than their assured performance warranted. Solly March’s whipped free-kick from the left had pace and bend, and as Robertson missed it at the near post it was met first time by Dunk, who thumped home on the volley. Pedro should have won it when he was left unmarked from 10 yards out, instead the striker leaned back and ballooned a glorious chance over as an entertaining game finished level. Read More Wolves cling on to claim point against high-flying Aston Villa Sub Mohammed Kudus earns West Ham a point with late equaliser against Newcastle Jake Jarman takes vault gold at World Gymnastics Championships Stuart McCloskey banishes retirement thoughts to enjoy memorable World Cup debut It’s some turnaround – Leigh Wood relishing late career resurgence Diogo Dalot urges Man United to make Brentford fightback a ‘turning point’

Mohammed Kudus climbed off the bench to score his first Premier League goal as West Ham snatched a 2-2 draw against Newcastle. The Magpies looked set to follow up their memorable 4-1 Champions League win over Paris St Germain on Wednesday with a hard-earned three points on the road after Alexander Isak’s quickfire double cancelled out Tomas Soucek’s early opener. But Ghana winger Kudus, the £38million summer signing from Ajax, struck a minute from full-time to earn the hosts a deserved point. West Ham, who had their own continental exertions in the Europa League against Freiburg on Thursday, took the lead with the first attack of the match. Lucas Paqueta was the architect with an exquisite chip which sent Emerson Palmieri racing through on goal. The full-back knocked the ball past Nick Pope before unselfishly squaring it for Soucek to tuck into an empty net. Bruno Guimaraes, who signed a new contract at Newcastle this week, was lucky to escape an early red card when, seconds after being booked for fouling Emerson, he blatantly tripped James Ward-Prowse. Newcastle, as many teams do at West Ham, dominated possession – they had 72 per cent in the first half – yet all they had to show for it was a Miguel Almiron shot from 25 yards which flew wide and Dan Burn glancing a header the wrong side of the post. David Moyes revealed after Paqueta’s star turn in the 2-1 win in Freiburg that the Brazilian playmaker at times has him “tearing his hair out”. One such maddening moment came in first-half stoppage time when he tried one trick too many and was dispossessed inside the West Ham half, but Newcastle were unable to take advantage as the hosts eventually cleared their lines. After the break Edson Alvarez, West Ham’s Mexican midfield enforcer, was inches from his first goal for the club when he headed Ward-Prowse’s corner wide. Newcastle finally tested Hammers keeper Alphonse Areola, who made an incredible save to keep out Burn’s header from Isak’s cross. But moments later the visitors drew level, Isak reacting quickest after Alvarez inadvertently headed Kieran Trippier’s free-kick back across goal and firing home. And within five minutes Newcastle were leading when Trippier’s superb cushioned volley-cross was tucked away from close range by Isak. The Sweden striker went agonisingly close to claiming a hat-trick when he rounded Areola but, from a tight angle, could only hit the post. It proved costly when Kudus collected Vladimir Coufal’s pass 20 yards out and lashed the equaliser past Pope. The Hammers almost won it in stoppage time but Said Benrahma was just unable to convert Jarrod Bowen’s drive across goal.

Arsenal host Manchester City at the Emirates this afternoon, hoping to boost their Premier League title aspirations. In a game filled with tactical chess moves, Mikel Arteta’s side have lost the last 12 Premier League matches against the champions, but the fitness of Bukayo Saka is a big question mark heading into the contest. Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, will be forced into a big midfield decision, with Rodri suspended. “Having success against City is something you have to value, the way we played as well and it gave us confidence and a lift that we can beat them,” said Arteta. “One thing for certain is that we know we will have to be at our best in every department for 100 minutes and then we will have a chance.” Follow live updates from Arsenal vs Man City in the Premier League and get the latest match odds here. Read More The tactical conundrum behind Arsenal’s quest to end absurd Man City streak How do you replace the best holding midfielder in the world? Mikel Arteta gives Bukayo Saka injury update ahead of Arsenal vs Man City