Premier League talking points

Arsenal consolidated their position at the top of the table with a solid 2-0 win over north London rivals Tottenham thanks to a fine all-round team effort and an outstanding afternoon between the posts by goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

The keeper seemed to be “attacked” by a Spurs supporter at the end of the game. Another player to be “attacked” at the weekend was Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford who was deemed to be offside when United scored the equaliser against Manchester City at Old Trafford.

City defender Manuel Akanji called the goal a “joke”, saying Rashford “was clearly offside”.

These and other talking points from the latest round of Premier League games.

Ramsdale helps keep Gunners on track: Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale has had his critics at Arsenal but the 24-year-old proved his worth in the league leaders’ 2-0 victory at rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, making a string of fine saves to keep Spurs at bay.

Ramsdale made seven saves in total in the match, before the gloss was taken off his man-of-the-match performance after he appeared to be kicked by a Spurs fan after the final whistle.

“We showed the other face when we had to dig in, we needed some big moments from Aaron,” coach Mikel Arteta said. “He was the difference when we needed him.”

Was Rashford not interfering in Fernandes equaliser? Manchester United’s dramatic 2-1 comeback victory over rivals Manchester City on Saturday was not without its fair share of controversy.

With champions City leading 1-0 at Old Trafford until 12 minutes before the end, Bruno Fernandes’ equaliser was initially ruled out for offside against Marcus Rashford, the target of Casemiro’s through pass, before VAR intervened.

Rashford was deemed not to have interfered and the goal stood, before the in-form England forward went on to score the winner. City were adamant they had been wronged by the officials.

“The first goal is a joke,” City defender Manuel Akanji told the BBC. “I understand he [Rashford] doesn’t touch the ball but he's running for 30m until the last second. It is clearly offside.”

Lamentable Liverpool risk missing out on Europe
Liverpool’s lamentable season went from bad to worse as they were hammered 3-0 by Brighton & Hove Albion, and Juergen Klopp’s side are now in danger of missing out on European football.

Brighton used the win over a rudderless Liverpool to leapfrog the Reds and move up towards the Europa League places, and few teams will have anything to fear from Klopp’s toothless attack, which was missing the injured Darwin Nunez.

Not that his absence mattered — new signing Cody Gakpo started up front but Liverpool were so completely overrun in midfield that they barely threatened Brighton at all.

Klopp chose to blame a lack of organisation in his team for the result, a tacit admission that both he and his players have a lot of work to do if they are to make it into the top six by the end of the season.

Where to now for Everton?
Everton’s season continues to stumble from one dismal defeat to the next and amid fan protests inside Goodison Park after Saturday’s 2-1 loss to bottom side Southampton, the question for the club is “where to now”?

Manager Frank Lampard admitted in the wake of the defeat that this was a must-win game for his team, as was the loss by the same scoreline to Wolverhampton Wanderers a few weeks back when the latter were also bottom of the league.

Fan frustration for now is focused mostly on the board, especially as rival clubs close to the relegation zone bring in fresh talent to help their survival bid, while Everton remain silent in the transfer market.

There was a promise from the club’s board that last year’s flirtation with relegation would not be repeated, but if anything the situation looks more dire this time round. It is a famous name in English football that appears on an irreversible slide.

Reuters