Palace recovers to hold Newcastle

Reuters

LUKA Milivojevic’s second-half penalty secured a point for Crystal Palace as it recovered from a goal down to earn a 1-1 draw at home to fellow struggler Newcastle United yesterday.

Mohamed Diame gave Newcastle the lead from a corner midway through the first half when he slotted the ball in at the far post after Ayoze Perez’s cross from the right had gone through a packed goalmouth.

Palace equalized 10 minutes into the second half when it was awarded a penalty for Ciaran Clark’s foul on Christian Benteke and Milivojevic converted despite Karl Darlow getting a hand to the ball.

Newcastle might have been two goals up at halftime but Palace goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey made two good saves in quick succession, blocking Brazilian winger Kenedy’s shot with his chest then diving to his left to palm away Perez’s effort from the rebound.

Palace, which came close to a winner several times in a frantic final half hour, climbed to 14th on 27 points, three clear of the relegation zone and two ahead of Newcastle in 16th.

On Saturday, Manchester United’s new signing Alexis Sanchez scored on his home debut in a 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town as it took advantage of a slip by English Premier League leader Manchester City.

After City had been held 1-1 at Burnley, its daunting lead over United was reduced to 13 points when Jose Mourinho’s side eventually overcame a defensive Huddersfield side.

It took 55 minutes before Romelu Lukaku broke the deadlock after which Sanchez won a penalty, had it saved by Jonas Lossl, but tucked away the rebound in the 68th.

“We had to be patient but had to keep the intensity high and the pressure,” Mourinho told the BBC. “We had to break down the Berlin wall organized so well by David Wagner.”

City paid the price for missed chances as it drew at Turf Moor with Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s 82nd-minute equalizer earning Burnley a point. City had dominated possession but, after taking the lead with a fine strike from Brazilian Danilo in the 22nd, the visitors failed to press home their advantage.

“We are frustrated in terms of the result but the performance was outstanding,” said City manager Pep Guardiola.

City has 69 points, ahead of United on 56 with third-placed Liverpool (50) at home to Tottenham Hotspur (48), which is fifth, later yesterday, while Chelsea (50) visits Watford today.

Sixth-placed Arsenal (45) led Everton 4-0 at halftime and won 5-1 as Welsh international Aaron Ramsey scored the first hat-trick of his career. Record signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was also among the scorers.

Huddersfield’s defeat at Old Trafford dropped it into the bottom three for the first time since it was promoted as Southampton and Swansea City both moved above it.

Bottom club West Bromwich Albion lost 2-3 at home to Southampton while Swansea earned a valuable point with Federico Fernandez’s equalizer at Leicester City, for whom Jamie Vardy scored his 13th goal of the season in all competitions.