Brentford 1 (Wissa 45+4) Everton 1 (O’Brien 77)
Jake O’Brien’s first Everton goal stretched their unbeaten run to seven Premier League matches after a 1-1 draw at Brentford.
Yoane Wissa’s 13th goal of the season looked set to condemn boss David Moyes to only a second defeat in his eighth league match back in charge.
But Irish international defender O’Brien’s second-half header made it 15 points from a possible 24 since Moyes returned to the hot-seat.
The Toffees could have won it as well, had in-form striker Beto not come out on the wrong side of his personal duel with Bees goalkeeper Mark Flekken.
Liverpool go 13 points clear after Mac Allister completes cruise past Newcastle
Jake O’Brien’s diving header rescues a point for Everton at Brentford
Karen Duggan: Carla Ward set the team up wrong against Slovenia, but the players lacked desire, urgency and passion
Liverpool’s Arne Slot gets two-game ban after red card in chaotic Merseyside derby
Brentford had won their last two matches and their intent was clear from the off with Keane Lewis-Potter pinging a shot just wide of Jordan Pickford’s right-hand post with just 40 seconds on the clock.
Kevin Schade then curled in a cross to that far post which Wissa headed straight at Pickford.
The lively Schade almost embarrassed O’Brien by dispossessing the defender as he attempted to clear his lines, but Pickford was out quickly to collect the loose ball.
Beto, with five goals in his last four league matches, should have scored at least one more before half-time, first when Bees defender Ethan Pinnock slipped as he tried to deal with a long ball.
The Brazilian tripped over Pinnock but picked himself up and went through one-on-one with Flekken, but his shot was blocked by the Bees keeper.
Moments later a Charly Alcaraz header sent Beto through once more, but again Flekken was out quickly to make another fine save.
An injury to Alcaraz halted Everton’s momentum, and in the subsequent stoppage time Brentford struck.
Pickford had just tipped a Wissa shot wide, but moments later when Schade’s throw bounced in the Everton penalty area, Bryan Mbeumo’s header came back off the crossbar and Wissa was first to react to nod in the rebound.
After the break Wissa had the ball in the net again only to be flagged offside.
The Bees looked comfortable, but they are the only side without a home Premier League clean sheet this season.
They were breached again when Everton equalised in the 76th minute as, from a Brentford-style counter-attack, the ball was worked to Vitalii Mykolenko on the corner of the area.
Mykolenko launched a high cross to the far post where O’Brien lost his marker Paris Maghoma – who had come on as a substitute moments earlier – and dived forward to plant his header past Flekken.
Beto had another late chance to win it for the visitors, but he was foiled once again by Flekken as the Bees clung on for a point.
Nottingham Forest 0 Arsenal 0
Toothless Arsenal dropped more points in their increasingly futile chase of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League after being held to a 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest.
Boss Mikel Arteta said his side would concede the title “over my dead body” but he may have to accept his side’s challenge has died a death after this stalemate.
The Gunners, playing without a recognised striker, managed just one shot on target at the City Ground, with Riccardo Calafiori also hitting the post in the first half.
Forest’s surprise challenge for Champions League qualification has hit the buffers with just one win from their last five and they appear to be running out of steam, with Manchester City and Chelsea breathing down their necks.
Both sides felt each other out in an even opening 20 minutes where goalmouth action was at a premium.
The game came to life soon after when Forest wanted a penalty as Callum Hudson-Odoi went down under a challenge from Calafiori, though referee Andrew Madeley waved away protests.
And, moments later, the Italian was involved at the other end as he was within inches of giving his side the lead as he spun Nicolas Dominguez but saw his curling effort hit the post.
That was the closest side either came in a dull first half.
Arsenal registered their first effort on target six minutes after the restart as they threatened from a corner.
Mikel Merino arrived late from Declan Rice’s delivery but Matz Sels parried the header away.
The Gunners were camped in the Forest final third and threatened with more set-pieces as Kieran Tierney was off target from one corner while Sels did well to punch away another.
Forest have been used to not having much of the ball this season but they have been able to hit teams on the counter-attack.
But they struggled to hurt the Gunners at all, often failing on the transitions.
They finally forced David Raya into a meaningful save in the 70th minute when Morgan Gibbs-White slipped in Chris Wood but the striker fired straight at the goalkeeper.
Wood had another opening soon after as Dominguez’s cross-field ball was missed by Gabriel but the striker’s touch was poor and the Arsenal defender recovered with a crunching tackle.
Neither side had the quality to break the deadlock as another nail was hammered into the coffin of Arsenal’s title challenge.
Manchester United 3 (Morsy OG 22, De Ligt 26, Maguire 47) Ipswich Town 2 (Philogene 4, 45+2)
Harry Maguire’s header earned 10-man Manchester United a hard-fought 3-2 win against struggling Ipswich and saved Patrick Dorgu’s blushes after his part in a calamitous opener was compounded by a first-half red card.
Negativity around Old Trafford has scarcely been greater in recent decades thanks to an often wretched product on the field and problems off it, including Monday’s announcement of a second round of redundancies.
United lifted the mood somewhat and helped quell any talk of relegation by emerging victorious from Wednesday’s helter-skelter battle with promoted Ipswich as Maguire’s second-half header ended a three-match winless run in the Premier League.
Old Trafford roared after Ruben Amorim secured just his fifth league win in charge as his side fought back from a couple of big setbacks, including a disastrous mix up between Dorgu and Andre Onana that gifted Jaden Philogene an early opener.
Sam Morsy’s own goal and a Matthijs de Ligt effort had put United ahead before recent arrival Dorgu’s night got worse, with the 20-year-old’s high challenge on Omari Hutchinson earning a red card following a VAR review.
Philogene’s cross snuck home in first-half stoppage time as Kieran McKenna’s Tractor Boys immediately capitalised on their man advantage, only to be caught cold moments into the second half.
Maguire headed home a Bruno Fernandes corner and United dug deep to see out a much-needed victory and dent Ipswich’s survival hopes.
McKenna’s side will leave Old Trafford ruing what could have been, especially having seen the lively Liam Delap drag wide in the opening seconds of a match that was only four minutes old when United gifted them a goal.
Dorgu raced back to deal with a long ball from Ipswich skipper Morsy, only to prod past the inexplicably onrushing Onana just inside the 18-yard box and put Philogene through to tap into an empty net.
United looked susceptible defensively but were asking questions at the other end, with Maguire’s header from a corner saved by Alex Palmer before Fernandes’ free-kick brought a leveller.
The captain’s set pieces helped Amorim’s men escape with a 2-2 comeback draw at Everton on Saturday and his fizzing ball from the left was inadvertently headed into his own net by Morsy in the 22nd minute.
Delap saw penalty appeals fall on deaf ears before United scored another four minutes after levelling.
Palmer got down well to stop Maguire’s initial header from a Fernandes corner and did even better stop Diogo Dalot’s follow-up, only for De Ligt to stretch and stab into the net.
United looked emboldened by the turnaround and pushed for another, with Dorgu forcing Palmer into a stop shortly before his night came to a premature end.
The left wing-back’s challenge on Hutchinson could be heard from the stands and VAR Craig Pawson advised referee Darren England to review it on the pitchside monitor.
After several replays, England brandished a red card as Amorim sacrificed Alejandro Garnacho and brought on Noussair Mazraoui.
The 43rd-minute sending off was compounded in the second minute of stoppage time by an Ipswich equaliser.
Philogene sent in a teasing, low left-footed cross from the right that beat Onana, who was wrong-footed by Delap’s attempt to direct in from six yards.
There was a smattering of boos at the break from the Old Trafford faithful, whose side got the second period off to an ideal start.
Fernandes sent in a corner from the right and Maguire was allowed space to space to aim a header past Palmer.
United fans took to their feet calling for the club’s majority owners, the Glazer family, to sell as their side battled on the field. Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe was also subject of ire from the stands.
There were groans of frustration as out-of-sorts Rasmus Hojlund stepped over a pass after great work by Leny Yoro, with Amorim’s side digging deep as the clock wound down.
United fans screamed at Onana and his defence as Ipswich took a quick set piece that substitute Jack Taylor ended up slicing wide, with Fernandes exhausted by his lung-busting work as the team sat deep.
Amorim’s men held firm and the battling victory earned approval from their relieved supporters.
Tottenham 0 Manchester City 1 (Haaland 12)
Erling Haaland scored his 20th Premier League goal of the season as Manchester City got their push for Champions League qualification back on track with a 1-0 victory at Tottenham.
Pep Guardiola’s men bounced back from Sunday’s home defeat to leaders Liverpool to move back ahead of Chelsea and into fourth ahead of their FA Cup fifth-round clash with Plymouth on Saturday.
City dominated the ball in the opening stages and it seemed only a matter of time before they would breach Spurs’ backline.
Jeremy Doku received the ball out wide and after the Belgium international showed great feet to get a yard of space on Pedro Porro, his guided pass was met by the unmarked Haaland who found the bottom-left corner for 1-0.
Doku’s isolation of Porro on the left was the root of all of Tottenham’s issues.
The elusive winger stood the full-back up once again and used his weaker left foot to find the unmarked Savinho at the back post, with City’s opposite winger scuffing the chance for a second goal over the crossbar.
Spurs had little to show for themselves heading into the break.
Lucas Bergvall was Tottenham’s shining light in the second half with the teenager’s immense dribbling ability beating City’s press before their best chance of the evening.
After the Swede dragged his side up the pitch, Porro was released down the right and his perfect cross was touched wide by the unmarked Wilson Odobert as a huge chance went begging at Ederson’s far post.
A five-minute spell of Spurs promise saw City begin to lose control of the match.
However, a series of poor attempts from January loan signing Mathys Tel let the visitors off the hook before substitute Son Heung-min was denied by a quick-thinking Ederson, who got down low to keep City’s clean sheet intact late on.
Phil Foden made a cameo as England manager Thomas Tuchel watched on ahead of the Three Lions’ World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia next month.
City were denied a second during four added minutes after Haaland was deemed to have handled the ball before scoring before Pape Sarr’s skied header from six yards meant City held on.
