Weekend Review: Stones breaches Arsenal’s brick wall in feisty clash
Title contenders share the spoils while Anthony Joshua’s career is in the balance as the British heavyweight is knocked out in front of 96,000 fans at Wembley
The bookmakers came out ahead on Sunday after Manchester City (4/5) and Arsenal (4/1) played out a gripping 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium.
In the ninth minute, Erling Haaland burst through Arsenal’s defence to give City the lead with his 10th goal of the season, and his 100th for Manchester club in just 105 games.
Summer signing Ricardo Calafiori levelled up proceedings with a precise, long-range finish, before a towering Gabriel header gave the away side the lead.
Leandro Trossard’s sending off before half time led to 45 minutes of backs-against-the-wall defending from Arteta’s side, whose rearguard resistance was finally broken by a 98th-minute John Stones equaliser.
Kindred Group’s Ali Gill noted that the action-packed game had something for punters and the bookmaker alike.
He said: “No surprise City versus Arsenal topped the turnover charts as the now arch-rivals produced a thriller.
“A draw is usually a great result for us in these kind of games, but four goals, Haaland on the score sheet, shots, cards, the lot, meant we did finish just about ahead.”
Across the rest of the Premier League, Chelsea (19/20) kicked off the weekend’s action with a 3-0 win away at West Ham courtesy of two goals from Nicholas Jackson and one from Cole Palmer.
Tottenham (1/2), Aston Villa (13/20) and Fulham (7/4) enjoyed 3-1 home wins against Brentford, Wolves and Newcastle, respectively, while Liverpool (1/4) got back to winning ways with a 3-0 home win against Bournemouth.
There were score draws for Brighton at home to Nottingham Forest, Southampton and Ipswich, and Leicester and Everton, while Crystal Palace and Manchester Unted played out a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park.
Across Europe, Bayer Leverkusen (1/4) produced yet another late show to beat Wolfsburg 4-3 at home, while Bayern Munich (1/4) ran out dominant 5-0 winners way at Werder Bremen.
In Spain, Kylian Mbpappe netted another penalty to seal Real Madrid (1/10) a 4-1 victory at home to Espanyol.
Robert Lewandowski hit a double en route to Barcelona’s (17/20) 5-1 away win at Villarreal, while England international Conor Gallagher rescued a point for Atletico Madrid away at Rayo Vallecano.
A 90th-minute winner settled Italy’s Milan derby in favour of AC (4/1), while Juventus and Napoli played out a 0-0 draw.
Bet365’s Steve Freeth reported that the bookmaker came out just ahead from the weekend’s European football fixtures.
“You’ll win no prizes for guessing our two worst results in Europe – Real Madrid 4 Espanyol 1 and Werder Bremen 0 Bayern Munich 5, with the usual suspects helping themselves to goals and assists,” he said.
“On Sunday we had Bayer Leverkusen up to their usual antics of winning in injury time. Wolfsburg led twice, but punters, and hopefully our traders, know by now that Xabi Alonso’s men should never been written off, as they touched 3/1 in play.”
Freeth added: “Celtic drifting from 1/16 to 6/4 before Adam Idah’s brace in the space of two minutes also stung a bit but not as much as Barcelona smashing Villarreal 5-1.
“But the tide turned at the end of the night with 8/13 Leipzig riding to the rescue for a second week running, 8/11 Atletico Madrid’s 1-1 with Rayo Vallecano and 4/6 Inter losing the Milan derby as we ended the weekend with our noses in front after fearing the worst a few hours earlier.”
Meanwhile, in boxing, 1/5 favourite Anthony Joshua suffered a shock defeat in front of 96,000 fans packed inside Wembley Stadium, getting knocked out by Daniel Dubois, who was 7/2 in places, in the fifth round.
The 27-year-old IBF heavyweight champion dominated the fight, hitting Joshua to the canvas four times before delivering a devastating knockout punch in the fifth round.
There are now questions over whether Joshua will push for a rematch with Dubois or if he will decide to retire from the sport once he reflects on the manner of the loss.
Freeth said: “We generally like to see the favourite win on a big fight night, but it was 10/3-chance Daniel Dubois that landed the spoils against 2/9 Anthony Joshua with a knockout blow in round 5 (40/1). We also saw money for Dubois by TKO/KO at 9/2 in a busy night at Wembley.”
In horseracing, Not So Sleepy (10/1) signed off in style before retirement by winning the Dubai Duty Free Autumn Cup Handicap at Newbury, with 7/2-favourite Waxing Gibbous coming in fifth.
At Chester, legendary jockey Franny Norton, 54, called time on his career in the perfect way, with the King of Chester winning on 1/3 favourite Raneenn in the EBF ‘Confined’ Fillies’ Novice Stakes.
Meanwhile, it was the perfect result for trainer Karl Burke at Ayr as he trained first, second and third home in the Virgin Bet Ayr Gold Cup Handicap – all at big prices.
Lethal Levi was first at 20/1, while Silky Wilkie (66/1) and Korker (40/1) filled the places. The Tricast paid almost £40,000 to a £1 stake, and just over £60,000 on the Tote Trifecta.
Betfred’s Alan Firkins revealed one lucky punter took home over £10,000 from the race from a combination Tricast.
He said: “Trainer Karl Burke incredibly had the first three home in the Ayr Gold Cup, with 20/1-shot Lethal Levi winning cosily.
“Stablemates Silky Wilkie and Korker were 66/1 and 40/1, respectively, in second and third, and a Betfred punter won over £10,000 courtesy of a combination tricast costing just £1.50.”