Arsenal strengthened its grip on the Premier League title race on the day its 16-year-old wonderkid, Max Dowman, scored a brilliant solo goal to become the competition’s youngest ever scorer.
After Arsenal relied on late goals by Viktor Gyokeres and Dowman to snatch a 2-0 home win over Everton, second-place Manchester City could only draw 1-1 at West Ham a few hours later Saturday.
The lead grew to nine points on what might prove to be a defining day in Arsenal’s bid for a first English league title since 2004.
It will certainly never be forgotten by Dowman, the school kid and surely a future superstar in English soccer.
At 16 years, 73 days, he changed the game after coming on in the second half for his third Premier League appearance in a breakthrough season that has already seen him become the youngest player in Champions League history.
It was his cross from the right that was missed by Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and struck the midriff of Arsenal substitute Piero Hincapie. The ball bounced across the goalmouth and Gyokeres applied the finishing touch from close range.
Then, in the seventh minute of stoppage time, Dowman collected the ball midway in his own half after a corner was cleared, dribbled around two players, and raced clear to tap into an empty net. Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was stranded upfield having gone up for the corner in search of an equalizer.
City couldn’t match Arsenal, surrendering the lead given to Pep Guardiola’s team by Bernardo Silva in the 31st minute. Four minutes later, Konstantinos Mavropanos headed home the equalizer at a corner.
It wraps up a tough week for City, which was beaten 3-0 by Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League’s round of 16 on Wednesday.
Across London, Chelsea lost 1-0 to Newcastle thanks to an 18th-minute goal by Anthony Gordon.
Chelsea stayed in fifth place but could be overtaken by Liverpool, which hosts struggling Tottenham on Sunday.
Burnley draws and facing relegation
Burnley is running out of time and hope in the Premier League.
A 0-0 home draw with Bournemouth on Saturday left next-to-last Burnley — one of the many U.S.-owned teams in England’s top division — eight points from safety with just eight games remaining this season and facing an immediate return to the Championship.
Burnley has won just four of its 30 league games.
Bizarre winner for Brighton
Sunderland, another promoted team, appears to be safe from relegation but is limping toward the end of the season after a third straight home loss – this time to Brighton 1-0.
The only goal was a bizarre one, with Yankuba Minteh’s mis-hit cross from the byline somehow squeezing in at the near post in the 58th minute at the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland hadn’t lost at home until a defeat to Liverpool on Feb. 11. Since then, it has lost to Fulham and now Brighton.
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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
