Arsenal knew beating arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the North London would see them leapfrog Manchester City, who they still trail on goal difference, at the top of the table with a victory at the Emirates Stadium, but instead had to make do with a 1-1 draw.
Meanwhile Liverpool suffered their first defeat in seven games under new manager Jurgen Klopp with a 2-1 loss at home to Crystal Palace.
Arsenal fell behind to a 32nd-minute goal from Spurs’ Harry Kane, who got on the end of a clever ball over the top from Danny Rose and went past Laurent Koscielny, mistakenly trying to play the England forward offside, before rolling a shot across Petr Cech.
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At that stage, Arsenal hadn’t managed a single shot on target and they had to wait until the 77th minute to draw level when substitute Kieran Gibbs bundled in a volley at the far post from Mesut Ozil’s cross, although Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris ought to have saved the shot.
“I thought we played very well. We’re disappointed — that shows the level we’re at now,” said Kane, who has scored six goals in his last four games. “I thought we played very well. It was a bit of an end-to-end game, an open game. Arsenal kept coming and they got their goal in the end.”
In the mid-table clash at Anfield, not only did Palace inflict Klopp’s first loss, after three wins and three draws, but they also ended Liverpool’s longest unbeaten run – 12 matches – since September 2013.
Visitors Palace went ahead when Yannick Bolasie scored from 12 yards in the 21st minute.
Liverpool, however, were level shortly before the interval through Brazil playmaker Philippe Coutinho’s close-range effort.
London club Palace bounced back to score the winner eight minutes from time when Liverpool-born Scott Dann saw his header from a corner blocked by Reds goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, only for the Eagles defender to nod in the rebound.
At the end Palace fans were chanting “You must be sick of us” and “Can we play you every week?”.