Man City, Spurs stumble as Arsenal advance

Gunners leapfrog their north London rivals into second place

LONDON: Manchester City twice missed penalties in a 1-1 draw with Everton on Saturday as 10-man Arsenal went level with them on points at the top of the Premier League table after seeing off Swansea 3-2.

Arsenal leapfrogged Tottenham Hotspur into second place after their north London rivals also dropped points in a 1-1 draw away to West Bromwich Albion.

Everton goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg saved penalties from Kevin de Bruyne and Sergio Aguero -- his second spot-kick failure this week after he was off target in Argentina's World Cup qualifying defeat by Paraguay.

Romelu Lukaku then fired the visitors ahead in the 64th minute at Eastlands before substitute Aguero's miss.



But City, who've now gone three games without a win in all competitions, equalised in the 72nd minute when Nolito headed in Silva's cross as former Barcelona teammates turned managers Pep Guardiola (City) and Ronald Koeman (Everton) had to settle for a point apiece.

"We did absolutely everything -- Everton created just one chance which was a goal," said Guardiola. "The players have all the qualities to score penalties, but we missed a lot. Hopefully we will score more of them in future."

At the Emirates, Theo Walcott scored twice in seven first-half minutes as Arsenal defeated Swansea for a sixth straight win in all competitions.

Swansea, in former United States manager Bob Bradley's first game in charge, saw Gylfi Sigurdsson score in his 100th appearance for the Welsh club with a 38th-minute curling shot.



But Mesut Ozil marked his 28th birthday by restoring Arsenal's two-goal advantage with a 57th minute-volley.

Borja Baston pulled a goal back for Swansea and Arsenal had to play the final 20 minutes a man down after Granit Xhaka received a straight red card for a challenge on Modou Barrow.

"We could never capitalise on the two-goal cushion but at least we got the three points," said Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager.

Tottenham dominated possession at The Hawthorns only for former Spurs star Nacer Chadli to put the Baggies ahead eight minutes from time. But Dele Alli's 89th-minute equaliser preserved Spurs' unbeaten league record.



Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said: "We missed the opportunity to achieve three points but in the same way it was a difficult game."

Elsewhere, Bournemouth thrashed Hull 6-1 as Mike Phelan's first game in full-time charge of the Tigers ended in an a thumping defeat.

Charlie Daniels put Bournemouth 1-0 up as early as the fifth minute. Hull's Ryan Moses equalised in the 34th minute but from then on it was one-way traffic as Steve Cook and Junior Stanislas (two goals), Callum Wilson and Dan Gosling also scoring for the Cherries.

Phelan, who took caretaker charge of Hull after former manager Steve Bruce left in pre-season, was scathing about his side's display.

"I feel very embarrassed," he said. "We've got to grow up...What we've done today is not good enough."