LONDON: Liverpool and Arsenal both failed to capitalise from Chelsea’s slip-up a day earlier when they both drew 1-1 in their Premier League matches on Sunday.

Wayne Rooney converted a 77th-minute penalty as Everton snatched a point at Liverpool in the Merseyside derby while Olivier Giroud’s last-gasp header salvaged a point for Arsenal at Southampton.

The results left Liverpool on fourth with 30 points, 13 adrift of leaders Manchester City and two points behind third-placed Chelsea, while Arsenal are in fifth, a further point adrift.

With the snow swirling at Anfield, Rooney sent the spot kick straight down the middle after Dominic Calvert-Lewin went down following a push in the back by Croatian defender Dejan Lovren.

Mohamed Salah had earlier fired Liverpool ahead with a 42nd-minute stunner that sent the Egyptian clear of Tottenham Hotspur’s England striker Harry Kane as the league’s top marksman with 13 goals this season.

Earlier, Giroud made the difference off the bench again for Arsenal as he directed Alexis Sanchez’s cross past Fraser Forster shortly after coming on as Arsene Wenger’s side avoided a second successive Premier League defeat.

Wenger’s team appeared destined to follow last weekend’s home loss to Manchester United with another setback when they trailed to Charlie Austin’s third minute goal but Giroud’s 17th goal as a substitute in the Premier League saw him match the record he now jointly holds with former Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

On Saturday, Chelsea manager Antonio Conte declared his side’s Premier League title defence over after Marko Arnautovic’s goal condemned the champions to a 1-0 loss at West Ham United.

“We have to consider that this is the fourth game we’ve lost in 16 games,” Conte told Sky Sports at the London Stadium. “In my previous experience, it won’t be possible to fight for the title.”

Tottenham Hotspur returned to form with a first win in five league games, thrashing Stoke City 5-1 with Harry Kane scoring twice as Spurs moved back into fifth place.

Burnley are level on 28 points with Tottenhamafter beating 10-man Watford 1-0 at a wintry Turf Moor thanks to Scott Arfield’s goal on the stroke of halftime.

Christian Benteke missed a stoppage-time penalty that would have given Crystal Palace victory over Bournemouth but they had to be content with a 2-2 draw as Jermain Defoe scored twice for the visitors at Selhurst Park.

Swansea City climbed off the bottom, above Palace, with a 1-0 home victory over West Bromwich Albion that ended a near two-month run without a victory.

With West Ham and Swansea winning only six points separate the bottom nine clubs with West Ham only in the bottom three because of an inferior goal difference to West Brom.

Huddersfield Town ended a four-game losing streak to ease into mid-table with a 2-0 victory over fellow promoted side Brighton and Hove Albion. In the day’s late kickoff, Leicester City recovered from conceding early at Newcastle United to triumph 3-2 with their late winner coming from an own goal by Ayoze Perez.

Published in Dawn, December 11th, 2017