Arsenal woes; Reds, United win
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Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey has suffered a setback in his recovery from a thigh injury, manager Arsene Wenger told reporters after the English Premier League leader was held to a 2-2 draw at Southampton on Tuesday.
“Aaron Ramsey is out for longer than we expected because he had a little setback in training yesterday (Monday). So I couldn’t bring him here,” Wenger was quoted as saying on the club’s website.
“It’s the same muscle he did a bit again so we have to be cautious this time. Hopefully he’s not out too long but he won’t be available for Sunday’s game (at home to Crystal Palace).”
Wales international Ramsey, whose eight league goals earlier this season helped Arsenal reach the top of the table, hobbled off with the injury in the 3-1 victory at West Ham United on Boxing Day.
Arsenal must also cope without French midfielder Mathieu Flamini, who faces a four-match ban having already been banned this season, after being shown a red card by referee Lee Mason for a two-footed tackle on Morgan Schneiderlin.
Arsenal could have moved four points clear with a win at Southampton but was pegged back by Adam Lallana’s second-half equalizer after Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla had given the visitors the lead following Jose Fonte’s early strike.
The London side’s slip up opens the way for Manchester City and Chelsea, two and three points behind in second and third place, respectively, to take over at the top. Free-scoring City was visiting fellow in-form side Tottenham Hotspur while Chelsea was hosting West Ham.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers enjoyed a first ever victory over Everton with a thumping 4-0 triumph in the Merseyside derby but the former Swansea boss maintained the pursuit of a top-four finish meant more to him than regional superiority.
Long-term goal
Goals from skipper Steven Gerrard and striker Luis Suarez around a Daniel Sturridge brace secured victory over a subdued Everton to strengthen Liverpool’s hold on fourth place but Rodgers did not lose sight of the team’s long-term goal.
“We knew it was going to be a big match. I’m more delighted for the players and supporters,” Rodgers told the club’s website. “For me, it’s three points; I’ll be more delighted at the end of the season if we can arrive in the top four.”
The victory at Anfield was pretty close to what Rodgers has expected of his team despite a poor penalty miss from Sturridge that would have made it 5-0.
The victory moved Liverpool on to 46 points, six behind Arsenal, and while a title challenge appears too big an ask for his emerging side, nailing down a Champions League berth that goes with a top-four finish remains achievable.
Also, Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata did what he does best on his debut to inspire his new team to a convincing 2-0 win over Cardiff City.
The former Chelsea playmaker, signed for a club-record 37.1 million pounds (US$61.5 million) last week, probed and pushed in his usual understated way to fire the champion to an important victory before being substituted.
“We had chances to score more than two. The win was very important for the team,” Mata told the BBC.
United stayed seventh in the table, 12 points behind Arsenal and six points off Liverpool but it appeared revitalized after a poor start to the season under new manager David Moyes.
Mata was involved in the first United goal, spraying a fine pass out to the right from where Antonio Valencia sent in a cross for Robin van Persie to score on his return from injury after six minutes.
The Spaniard took responsibility for all its corners and free kicks in attacking positions and looked very comfortable on his first appearance in a United shirt at Old Trafford.
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