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EPL PIX: Spurs beat Crystal Palace 1-0; Watford deny Saints

Last updated on: November 11, 2018 10:38 IST

IMAGES from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday

Tottenham's Juan Foyth celebrates after the match against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in London

IMAGE: Tottenham's Juan Foyth celebrates after the match as as Crystal Palace's Jordan Ayew looks dejected at Selhurst Park in London. Photograph: David Klein/Reuters

Juan Foyth banished the memory of his nightmare Premier League debut to score Tottenham Hotspur's only goal in a 1-0 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

One week after the 20-year-old Argentine defender conceded two penalties in the 3-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, he bravely headed home a rebound in the 66th minute as Spurs registered a seventh successive league win over Palace.

 

"The first half was difficult but the most important thing is we win," said Foyth.

"I think the two penalties I conceded against Wolves, I have to learn from. I've worked in training but these two penalties helped me with experience."

Manager Mauricio Pochettino was delighted with Foyth's performance after keeping faith with his centre half despite his unfortunate start.

"It's fantastic for Foyth," he said.

"His performance today was fantastic. He played so well. He needs to learn and keep improving but he is a very good prospect for us."

Serge Aurier provided the brightest moment of a poor first half with a dangerous cross that Dele Alli and Lucas both failed to convert.

Spurs upped the tempo in the second half although they created few chances beyond Foyth's winner and suffered another injury when Erik Lamela left the field streaming with blood after being accidentally kicked in the face.

Palace should have equalised in injury time when Alexander Sorloth found space in the area but could only shoot straight at Hugo Lloris.

The defeat means Palace, who have had a punishing run of fixtures, are experiencing their worst home start to a season for 21 years, with only goal difference keeping them out of the drop zone.

The win moved fourth-placed Spurs level on points with Chelsea and Liverpool, who both play on Sunday.

Watford's Holebas strikes late to deny Saints victory

Southampton's Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Maya Yoshida challenge Watford's Jose Holebas(centre) during their match at St Mary's Stadium

IMAGE: Southampton's Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Maya Yoshida challenge Watford's Jose Holebas(centre) during their match at St Mary's Stadium. Photograph: Matthew Childs/Action Images via Reuters

A late strike from Jose Holebas earned Watford a 1-1 draw at a rain-soaked Southampton on Saturday and extended the home side's winless run to eight Premier games, increasing the pressure on manager Mark Hughes.

Manolo Gabbiadini gave the Saints the lead with a smart turn and finish in the 20th minute, profiting from good work by Danny Ings, who picked Roberto Pereyra's pocket inside the penalty area and played in his fellow striker following a corner.

The goal was the Italian's first of the season but Holebas equalised in the 82nd to deny the Saints a much-needed victory and leave them one place above the relegation zone by virtue of goal difference ahead of the international break.

The ball broke to Watford's Greek defender just outside the Southampton area after bouncing off Gerard Deulofeu and he advanced into the box before unleashing a left-foot strike that flew past keeper Alex McCarthy after taking a deflection.

Watford had started stronger, and McCarthy was forced into a sharp save by the lively Deulofeu in the fourth minute, getting down well to keep out the Spaniard's shot from a tight angle.

Deulofeu also shot high and wide from outside the box four minutes later after Kiko Femenia pounced on a loose ball and played in the former Barcelona man.

Saints defender Wesley Hoedt was then forced into a last-ditch tackle to deny Isaac Success, stretching out a foot to deflect the Nigerian's shot away from goal.

Watford soon paid the price for their wastefulness.

Hoedt headed straight at Ben Foster in the Watford goal from six yards before Holebas scrambled the ball to safety.

Gabbiadini scored from the resulting corner to lift Southampton's spirits and the hosts almost grabbed a second through their Japanese defender Maya Yoshida, who looped a header wide in the 34th minute.

His confidence boosted by the goal, Gabbiadini nearly extended the home side's lead with their first attack after the restart but his stunning strike from distance fizzed over.

Watford appealed for a penalty just before the hour when Nathaniel Chalobah went down under a Ryan Bertrand challenge, but referee Simon Hooper waved away the claims before Saints were denied by a controversial decision in the 68th minute.

Nathan Redmond skipped between two defenders and played in substitute Charlie Austin, who put the ball in the net.

However the striker's celebrations were cut short by the linesman, who ruled that the marginally offside Yoshida was in the keeper's line of sight, even though the Japanese made no effort to play the ball.

It looked like the Saints would cling on until Holebas pounced in the closing stages to earn a hard-won point.

The draw lifted Watford into provisional seventh place with 20 points from 12 games above Manchester United, who face Manchester City in Sunday's derby clash, on goal difference while Southampton have eight points.

Late Bamba strike gives Cardiff win over 10-man Brighton

Cardiff City's Sol Bamba celebrates on scoring the late winner against 10-man Brighton & Hove Albion during their EPL match on Saturday

IMAGE: Cardiff City's Sol Bamba celebrates on scoring the late winner against 10-man Brighton & Hove Albion during their EPL match on Saturday. Photograph: John Sibley/Action Images via Reuters

Cardiff City's Sol Bamba netted a dramatic late goal after a goalmouth scramble as they snatched a 2-1 win over 10-man Brighton & Hove Albion to move out of the Premier League relegation zone on Saturday.

With seconds left Bamba's overhead kick come back off the post and the rebound fell to Callum Paterson whose effort cannoned off the bar. But Bamba made no mistake third time round when he fired the ball into the roof of the net.

 

It completed a day to remember for Neil Warnock, who was celebrating 100 games in charge of Cardiff, as the Welsh club recorded their second top-flight victory of the season after Brighton's Dale Stephens was sent off in the first half.

The hosts did it the hard way after Brighton went in front in the sixth minute when England defender Lewis Dunk was left unmarked at the far post to head into the corner of the net after Solly March delivered a perfect free-kick from the left.

Cardiff showed their fighting qualities when they drew level after 28 minutes. Kadeem Harris weaved into the penalty box and chipped the ball into the path of Paterson whose header took a slight deflection as it flew past keeper Mathew Ryan.

Their cause was helped when mid-table Brighton went down to 10 men in the 34th. Stephens took a heavy touch and in trying to win back the ball he flew into a challenge with Greg Cunningham and was shown a red card by referee Martin Atkinson.

Huddersfield and West Ham battle to lively draw

Huddersfield Town missed a chance to climb out of the Premier League relegation zone when they were held to a 1-1 home draw by West Ham United in an entertaining clash on Saturday.

The result left Huddersfield second-bottom on seven points from 12 games, a point behind Cardiff City, Southampton and Crystal Palace, who were later hosting Tottenham Hotspur.

Alex Pritchard gave Huddersfield a sixth-minute lead with a scuffed shot from 16 metres which somehow trickled past West Ham keeper Lukasz Fabianski before Felipe Anderson levelled for the London side with a fine 74th-minute goal.

Pritchard rued allowing West Ham to get back into the match.

"It’s probably two points dropped," he told the BBC. "It’s very disappointing, especially off the back of a win against Fulham.

"The first half was a much better performance than the whole Fulham game. But in the second half we dropped off and let them back into the game.

"It’s difficult to take but we just have to pick ourselves up. We will keep going until the very last minute."

The match got off to a flying start as Fabianski kept out a Steve Mounie header and Marko Arnautovic missed a gilt-edged chance at the other end before Pritchard took advantage of a defensive error to delight the home fans.

West Ham were fortunate not to fall two goals behind in the first half as Philip Billing's swerving cross-turned-shot came off the inside of the post and Mounie forced another good save from the busy Fabianski.

West Ham dominated after the break and almost turned the match on its head after the equaliser, when Issa Diop saw his thumping header cleared off the line by Aaron Mooy.

Midfielder Robert Snodgrass was pleased with a point.

"We believed we could win the game but we didn’t start well enough. The manager (Manuel Pellegrini) made changes, we got the equaliser and had a few chances to win it," said the Scot.

"It’s a great finish from Felipe Anderson, what we want is to see him doing regularly. It’s up to us now to help and support him. We’ve shown that spirit that maybe wasn’t there over the last few years. A draw is probably a fair result."

Rondon double earns Newcastle second straight win

Salomon Rondon netted an impressive brace for Newcastle United as they claimed consecutive wins in the Premier League for the first time since April to move a point clear of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win over Bournemouth.

Newcastle, full of confidence following their previous victory over Watford, got off to the perfect start when Rondon opened the scoring after seven minutes following a fine build-up from DeAndre Yedlin.

Bournemouth's Adam Smith suffered what appeared to be a serious injury and play was suspended for eight minutes while he received treatment before being carried off with suspected knee ligament damage.

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe said later that Smith was in a lot of discomfort in the dressing room and the long delay had affected his team.

"Adam Smith looks like he’s got a knee injury; it looks quite serious, he’s in quite a bit of pain in the dressing room,” Howe said.

“It did disrupt the flow of the game, the long delay, and obviously the players were concerned so that didn’t help.”

Rondon grabbed his second goal five minutes before the break when he met Kenedy's cross and directed a powerful header past Asmir Begovic.

Bournemouth refused to lie down and made the most of eight added minutes at the end of the first half when Jefferson Lerma headed home a cross from Ryan Fraser to net his first goal for the club.

Eddie Howe's side were unfortunate not to come away with a point in the second half as Jordan Ibe fired over when clean through on goal and Dan Gosling's 84th-minute effort was ruled out for offside.

Source: REUTERS
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