LONDON: Tottenham missed the chance to move into the Premier League’s top four after a 1-1 draw at West Ham, while Newcastle were also held 1-1 by Everton on Tuesday.
Spurs have made a habit of recovering from slow starts to win in recent months, but this time they failed to capitalize on scoring after just five minutes.
Brennan Johnson was left with the simple task of tapping into an empty net from Timo Werner’s cross.
West Ham were under pressure to respond after collapsing from 3-1 up to lose 4-3 at Newcastle on Saturday.
The Hammers were quickly level as Jarrod Bowen’s corner flew in off the back of Kurt Zouma.
A draw kept West Ham one point ahead of Newcastle in seventh, but they missed the best chance to take all three points when Michail Antonio fired straight at Guglielmo Vicario.
Tottenham close to within two points of Aston Villa in fourth and extend their lead over sixth-placed Manchester United to nine points.
“Disappointed not to get a better outcome, but a tough game,” said Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou.
“There’s a lot of games to go still. I will be very surprised if all games aren’t tight. Everyone is fighting for something. We have to maintain our levels.”
Injury-hit Newcastle’s hopes of European football next season were dented by Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s late equalizer for Everton from the penalty spot.
Alexander Isak netted for the fifth consecutive game at St. James’ Park to open the scoring.
The Swede took his tally for the season to 19 as he cut inside Jarrad Branthwaite and slotted into the far corner on 15 minutes.
“Alexander Isak is an outstanding technician,” said Newcastle manager Eddie Howe. “He looks like he will score in every game at the moment.”
How Sean Dyche longs for a striker of Isak’s quality. But Calvert-Lewin ended a near six-month goal drought from the spot after Ashley Young was hauled down inside the box by Paul Dummett.
Everton set a new club record winless run of 13 Premier League games to leave their 70-year stay in the top flight still at risk.
The Toffees edge four points above the relegation zone but have the threat of a second points deduction for breaches of financial rules hanging over them.
Nottingham Forest pulled three points clear of the relegation zone with a first-half blitz of Fulham to win 3-1.
The home side sped out of the blocks at the City Ground as Callum Hudson-Odoi and Chris Wood smashed home inside the first 19 minutes.
Fulham boss Marco Silva showed his disgust by making a triple substitution after just half an hour.
However, even that did not halt Forest’s momentum as Morgan Gibbs-White made it 3-0 in first-half stoppage time.
“It’s important but it can not distract us because we have a long way to go,” said Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo.
“We’ve had good performances before and not been able to sustain them so let’s take that into this game and try to sustain the performance.”
Fulham pulled one back through Tosin Adarabioyo in the second half but it was too little, too late for the Cottagers.
Second-bottom Burnley are now unbeaten in four but slip six points adrift of safety after a 1-1 draw at home to Wolves.
Jacob Bruun Larsen put the Clarets in front, but Rayan Ait-Nouri’s header secured Wolves a point.
Bournemouth climbed above Chelsea into 11th thanks to Justin Kluivert’s winner as they beat Crystal Palace 1-0.
Arsenal can leapfrog Liverpool to go top of the table when they host Luton, while Manchester City take on Aston Villa in the pick of Wednesday’s action.
Liverpool are expected to ease past bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United when they visit Anfield on Thursday.
Tottenham held by West Ham, Everton hit back at Newcastle
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Tottenham held by West Ham, Everton hit back at Newcastle
- “Disappointed not to get a better outcome, but a tough game,” said Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou
- A draw kept West Ham one point ahead of Newcastle in seventh
Hosts Morocco face Mane’s Senegal for AFCON glory
- Final kicks off at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, where almost all the 69,000 spectators will be backing Morocco
- Senegal are appearing in their third final in four editions and are targeting a second title to follow their 2022 triumph
RABAT: The Africa Cup of Nations reaches its climax on Sunday with a showdown between host nation Morocco, looking to win the title for the first time in 50 years, and Sadio Mane’s powerful Senegal side.
The final kicks off at 1900 GMT at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, where almost all the 69,000 spectators will be backing Morocco, captained by African player of the year Achraf Hakimi.
The first AFCON ever to start in one year and end in another could be the second in a row to be won by the host nation, with the Atlas Lions aiming to follow in the footsteps of Ivory Coast, crowned champions on home soil in 2024.
Walid Regragui’s Morocco have established themselves in recent years as Africa’s pre-eminent national team, becoming the first from the continent to reach a World Cup semifinal, in 2022, and climbing to 11th place in the world rankings.
However, they have long been AFCON underachievers, with their only title to date coming in 1976. This will be their first final since 2004, when they lost to Tunisia when Regragui was part of the team.
Senegal, meanwhile, are appearing in their third final in four editions and are targeting a second title to follow their 2022 triumph, when Mane scored the decisive shoot-out penalty against Egypt in Yaounde.
“We dreamt of being here and now we have done it,” Regragui told reporters on Saturday.
He has been under suffocating pressure to deliver the title for the football-mad nation, and would possibly not have kept his job through to the approaching World Cup in North America had he not reached the final.
“I hope this is just the beginning and not our last AFCON final,” he added.
“Big football nations want to be up there on a regular basis. Tomorrow we want to try to make history.”
He added: “Senegal will need to be really strong to beat us at home, although they are capable.”
Morocco’s success over the last four weeks has been based around the attacking threat of Real Madrid winger Brahim Diaz, the tournament’s top scorer with five goals, and a defense which has conceded only once.
Security concerns
Being at home brings extra pressure, but can also be a huge advantage, and Senegal have complained about the conditions in which they were welcomed to Rabat ahead of the game.
The Lions of Teranga were based in the northern port city of Tangiers until they arrived in Rabat by train on Friday.
The Senegalese Football Federation complained about a “lack of adequate security” for the team’s arrival amid a crowd of fans “which put the players and staff at risk.”
It also complained about their hotel, the fact that their supporters were given fewer than 3,000 tickets for the final, and about being asked to train at the Moroccan team’s base in nearby Sale.
“What happened was not normal,” said Senegal coach Pape Thiaw.
“Given the number there, anything could have happened. My players could have been in danger.
“That type of thing should not happen between two brother countries.”
Mane, a two-time winner of the African player of the year award, said after netting the winner in the semifinal against Egypt that Sunday’s game would be his last ever AFCON appearance.
But Thiaw insisted on the eve of the game that the former Liverpool forward may have to rethink that decision.
“I think he made his decision in the heat of the moment and the country does not agree, and I as coach of the national team do not agree,” said Thiaw.
“We would like to keep him for as long as possible,” added the coach, who is without center-back and captain Kalidou Koulibaly due to suspension.
Off the pitch this edition of Africa’s premier sports event has demonstrated that Morocco is determined to be a successful co-host of the 2030 World Cup.
The tournament has been free of the problems that have plagued earlier AFCONs, the stadiums and pitches have generally been of a high quality and high-speed rail links show a country significantly upgrading its infrastructure.
