Premier League wrap: Arsenal fume over Lewis-Skelly red card

Despite a nervy win, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was furious after a controversial refereeing call. Meanwhile, Liverpool and Manchester City both registered big wins.

Despite a nervy 1-0 win, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was left fuming by a controversial refereeing call. Meanwhile, Liverpool are a step closer to Premier League glory, and Manchester City has returned to the top four.

All that and more in our Premier League wrap.

ARSENAL FUME AFTER OVERCOMING BRUTAL RED

Mikel Arteta urged the Football Association to overturn Arsenal defender Myles Lewis-Skelly’s controversial red card in Saturday’s 1-0 win at Wolves.

Lewis-Skelly, 18, became the third youngest player to be dismissed in Premier League history when he was shown a straight red by Michael Oliver in the first half for clipping Matt Doherty.

It was a hugely contentious decision as the offence took place deep inside Arsenal’s own half and was clearly not reckless.

Former England captain Alan Shearer called it “one of the worst decisions that I’ve seen in a long time”.

Myles Lewis-Skelly got his marching orders early against Wolverhampton. Picture: Darren Staples/AFP

Furious Gunners boss Arteta wants the decision overturned in the same way Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes was let off following a red card against Tottenham earlier in the season.

“I am absolutely fuming but I leave it with you,” Arteta said. “I think it is that obvious that we don’t need any comment today and hopefully the right thing will happen.

“Hopefully we don’t need to (appeal the decision) and if we have to, there is a really good precedent, what happened with Bruno this season as well.

“OK, we were in a position that we shouldn’t be in, at least let’s be in a position that we should be in for the next few weeks and allow that player to continue to his job.”

Mikel Arteta was left fuming despite the 1-0 win. Picture: Naomi Baker/Getty Images

Arsenal overcame adversity to win the game through Riccardo Calafiori’s 74th-minute goal, four minutes after the hosts had also been reduced to 10 men when Joao Gomes was sent off.

That kept their title hopes alive as they cling on to Liverpool’s coat-tails, six points behind having played a game more.

“I’m extremely proud of the players,” Arteta added. “I mean, you can talk about our courage, you can talk about spirit, but as well about intelligence, the way they managed the game emotionally, it was unbelievable, especially with what we had to face and how they felt about it.

“All of them just faced the situation. We went to a second half and the only message was to go out there to win the game. That’s it.

“If somebody doesn’t feel it, don’t go and they certainly did it in a really convincing way.”

Riccardo Calafiori won it late for Arsenal. Picture: Darren Staples/AFP

REDS A STEP CLOSER AFTER DOMINANT WIN

Arne Slot hailed Liverpool’s “almost perfect” 4-1 demolition of Ipswich as the Premier League leaders moved a step closer to the title on Saturday.

Cody Gakpo struck twice after Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah netted at Anfield in a dominant performance that kept Liverpool six points clear of Arsenal with a game in hand.

Just a second league title in 35 years and a 20th overall to match Manchester United’s English record now seems just a matter of time in Slot’s first season in charge.

“It’s been a few times we have played a home game and conceded a goal at the start. Today is the way you want to start a game,” Slot said.

“We were aggressive, dominant for 85 minutes, they had hardly been in our half. “At the end, we are all disappointed conceding from a corner, the first one this season, but for 85 minutes it was almost a perfect performance against a team that plays a low block.

“That’s not always easy but the way we did it was really good.”

Dominik Szoboszlai had Dara O'Shea on toast 🍞

The Liverpool midfielder opens the scoring for Liverpool against Ipswich Town.

Watch 📲 https://t.co/rp8R38hVB4pic.twitter.com/QnW5DgZZUf

— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) January 25, 2025

The Dutchman was able to make five changes from Tuesday’s 2-1 win over Lille that also secured direct passage to the last 16 of the Champions League in a sparkling season for the six-time European champions.

By contrast, Ipswich are finding the step up to the Premier League a bridge too far after back-to-back promotions.

Kieran McKenna’s men were thrashed 6-0 at home by Manchester City last weekend and could easily have suffered the same margin or more on their first trip to Anfield since 2002.

Slot has been keen for Szoboszlai to up his scoring contribution from midfield and the Hungarian led the way with a fine low strike for his fourth goal of the campaign after just 11 minutes.

Salah had been made to wait to usurp Thierry Henry as the Premier League’s seventh highest goalscorer of all time after blanking away at Nottingham Forest and Brentford.

The Egyptian made sure normal service was resumed by firing in high from Gakpo’s cross for his 176th Premier League goal and 19th of the season to move two clear of Erling Haaland and Alexander Isak in the race for the golden boot.

Mo Salah scores and 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗛𝗲𝗻𝗿𝘆 🤯😮‍💨

The Liverpool forward now has 176 Premier League goals and moves into seventh on the all-time goalscoring leaderboard.

Watch 📲 https://t.co/rp8R38hVB4
Watch along with us 🛋️ https://t.co/eDWgMDC4pupic.twitter.com/8DrzrqFjtk

— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) January 25, 2025

Salah’s Liverpool future remains in doubt after his hints that he could leave when his contract expires at the end of this season.

Despite the contract negotiation impasse, Slot praised Salah’s commitment to Liverpool.

“Mostly about Mo it’s his contract or his goals and now it’s his defensive work rate. I think that stood out,” Slot said.

“But if you look at almost all the times we have lost the ball, I saw a reaction off many players.

“It’s so difficult to control a counter-attack and the only way to do so is what Mo did in this moment.”

Szoboszlai’s forward runs were a constant threat for the Ipswich defence and the source of the third goal as Gakpo turned home the rebound after Christian Walton saved the midfielder’s initial effort.

Cody Gakpo (right), scored two goals, with the second set up by Trent Alexander-Arnold (left). Picture: Gareth Copley/Getty Images

Liverpool unsurprisingly eased off in the second half amid a gruelling schedule as they remain in the hunt for four competitions.

Gakpo headed in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s inviting cross for his 14th goal of the season.

Ipswich did at least get a consolation in the final minute when Jacob Greaves headed in from Julio Enciso’s corner.

However, the real test of their survival hopes comes next weekend when bottom-of-the-table Southampton visit Portman Road in a must-win clash for the Tractor Boys.

Ipswich remain in the relegation zone but only on goal difference behind Wolves.

HAALAND HAILS MARMOUSH AFTER CITY WIN

Erling Haaland believes his new strike partner Omar Marmoush will be a “fantastic” signing for Manchester City after an impressive debut in the English champions’ 3-1 win over Chelsea on Saturday.

Haaland was the difference maker as City leapfrogged the Blues into fourth in the Premier League despite a nightmare start for another new signing Abdukodir Khusanov.

The Uzbek’s error gifted Chelsea the lead inside three minutes through Noni Madueke.

Marmoush had a goal ruled out for offside before Josko Gvardiol levelled for the home side before half-time.

IT’S A DISASTER ON DEBUT 😰

Just two minutes into his Manchester City career, Abdukodir Khusanov misplaces two headers and Noni Madueke capitalises to put Chelsea in front.

Watch 📲 https://t.co/Gx15wKQvv9pic.twitter.com/5ONH2ID2Du

— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) January 25, 2025

The tactic of hitting Haaland’s physical presence with long balls from goalkeeper Ederson then turned the game decisively in the favour of Pep Guardiola’s men.

Haaland shrugged off Trevoh Chalobah to chip in his 24th goal of the season before teeing up Phil Foden for City’s third.

Marmoush scored 20 goals in 26 appearances for Eintracht Frankfurt this season before making the move to Manchester for a £59 million ($72.6 million) fee this week.

“I think in the first half you could see he has something special. That is obviously the reason Manchester City bought him,” said Haaland.

“It’s about giving him confidence. He’s going to be a fantastic player for us. “He had an amazing first half of the season for Eintracht Frankfurt. Hopefully he’s going to have the same second half of the season for us.”

Robert Sanchez is caught in no-mans-land, and Erling Haaland does the rest 😭

Chelsea's shot-stopper commits another error leading to goal. It's head-in-hand stuff for the Blues 🤦🏻‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/lAolKsZTVj

— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) January 25, 2025

City face a huge week ahead as they must beat Club Brugge at home on Wednesday to avoid an early exit from the Champions League before travelling to second-placed Arsenal in the Premier League next weekend.

Haaland is hoping they can kick on after a fourth win in five league games. “When we had the start like we did it is difficult but we played really well and we kept on going and kept on going,” added Haaland.

“We kept pushing and second half was the same. In the end it is what we need to do.”

MOYES CELEBRATES GAME 700 IN STYLE

David Moyes was a proud man after he celebrated his 700th Premier League game as a manager by overseeing Everton’s 1-0 win at Brighton on Saturday, a landmark he described as “quite an achievement”.

Iliman Ndiaye’s controversial first-half penalty, which moved the Everton seven points clear of the relegation zone, helped Moyes mark his milestone match in style.

Moyes is only the third manger to reach the landmark in Premier League history behind former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger (828 games) and Manchester United great Alex Ferguson (810).

This was Moyes’ second straight win in his second spell as Everton manager following last week’s 3-2 defeat of Tottenham.

Iliman Ndiaye scores his penalty and celebrates like a seagull in front of the Brighton fans 🐧😭

He was handed a yellow card for it, too! pic.twitter.com/8qzczMclfM

— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) January 25, 2025

The 61-year-old has also managed Manchester United, Sunderland and West Ham in English football’s top flight after initially joining Everton from Preston in 2002.

“I hope I’m not in any way boastful, but 700 games is quite an achievement in the Premier League,” said Moyes.

“We’re probably talking about managing in the best league in the world which entertains most of the best managers in the world at sometime in their career.

“And I’ve got 700, behind probably the two best -- maybe you could put Jose Mourinho in it and Pep (Guardiola) certainly if you’re talking about the best -- but to be just below Arsene and Alex is quite pleasing.” The match turned on a VAR intervention that saw Brighton defender Joel Veltman punished for handball.

Brighton players and fans felt Veltman was fouled as he brushed the ball behind with his right arm while going to ground under pressure from Everton substitute Beto.

David Moyes was a happy man after his 700th Premier League game in charge. Picture: Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

Moyes, who is the Premier League’s oldest manager, and Brighton counterpart Fabian Hurzeler, the youngest in the division at 31, unsurprisingly disagreed on the decision.

“I actually think it’s a definite penalty -- he uses his hand,” said Moyes.

“I can understand that maybe they think there was pressure from Beto, but Beto’s job is to get pressure; the defender’s job is to find a way of clearing the ball or releasing it.”

But Hurzeler, whose side are still ninth in the table despite this loss, said: “The VAR can’t get into this situation.

“If the referee decides like this then you should play on and then the VAR is not necessary for this. It’s not a clear handball.”

Originally published as Premier League wrap: Arsenal fume over Lewis-Skelly red card