Images from the Premier League matches played on Saturday, March 9.
Late Havertz header sends Arsenal top
Arsenal's Kai Havertz scored a late winner to put his team top of the Premier League despite keeper Aaron Ramsdale's calamitous first-half error in a 2-1 home win over Brentford on Saturday, as the Gunners recorded an eighth league victory in a row.
The hard-fought win put Arsenal in provisional top spot on 64 points, one point ahead of Liverpool and two in front of Manchester City – who meet at Anfield on Sunday.
Declan Rice's glancing header from a Ben White cross gave Arsenal the lead after 19 minutes as the hosts dominated possession from the start at The Emirates.
The Bees levelled against the run of play just before halftime as Ramsdale dawdled in his box and Yoane Wissa's sliding challenge sent an attempted clearance into the net.
The keeper, making his first league start since November in place of Brentford loanee David Raya who was ineligible, made amends with two good saves, clawing Ivan Toney's long-range effort wide and tipping Nathan Collins' header over.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta praised Ramsdale's performance after his error, hailing the England keeper's "huge personality and courage".
"An error is part of football, it is how to react to it (that matters)," he told reporters. "Especially for the keepers, it is probably the most difficult position."
Arsenal pressed for the winner and Rice rattled the woodwork 15 minutes from time with a curling effort from outside the box that left keeper Mark Flekken stranded.
Havertz headed home in the 86th minute from another superb delivery by White to give Arsenal a deserved win, which means the Gunners will end the weekend in at least second spot and could stay top on goal difference if Liverpool and City draw.
Brentford remained 15th, five points above 18th-placed Luton Town and the relegation zone having played a game more.
The Bees' manager Thomas Frank felt his side were unfortunate to lose after a great defensive performance.
"That's tough, oof that's tough," he told reporters. "I feel actually even more for the players. Unbelievable mentality, effort and determination."
Frank was especially frustrated that Havertz was the matchwinner after the German forward, on a yellow card, went down in the box in the 65th minute under minimal contact from Collins, which Frank said was a clear dive.
Fernandes, Rashford power United to victory
Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford fired in penalties to give Manchester United a 2-0 win over Everton on Saturday, their first Premier League victory in three games and one that will no doubt fan the embers of their top-four hopes.
Erik ten Hag's team remain sixth but with 47 points they crept closer to fourth-placed Aston Villa on 55 with a game in hand.
Fifth-placed Tottenham, who host Villa on Sunday, have 50 points and two games in hand.
"Every game we have to win, so every game is a must-need," Ten Hag said. "We could have scored three or four goals not just the two penalties. We could have been calmer and more composed on the ball."
Sean Dyche's Everton -- winless in 11 straight league games -- are 16th on 25 points, five points above the drop zone.
Both penalties came courtesy of clumsy tackles in the box on Alejandro Garnacho and both were against the run of play, with Everton the dominant team for long stretches against a United midfield that repeatedly gave away the ball.
"We have to win every single game," Garnacho told TNT Sports. "The manager wants me to go one V one, to shoot, to dribble. I won two penalties. It's important.
"It's like a dream with my age. A full Old Trafford stadium chanting my name is incredible. I am very proud and happy," he said.
Fernandes fired in the first from the spot in the 12th minute, and United's captain then handed the ball to Rashford to take the second in the 36th minute.
"We both kick the penalties. I asked Marcus if he wanted to take and he said he was confident," Fernandes said. "I felt I had my one, Rashy could get his goal from the penalty."
Rashford stutter-stepped before sending keeper Jordan Pickford the wrong way.
Fernandes became the club's all-time leading scorer from penalties with 29 conversions, ahead of former striker Ruud van Nistelrooy's 28.
The Portuguese international almost had a second goal with a beautiful free kick in the first half that Pickford had to leap high to bat away.
Garnacho almost had a goal of his own when Fernandes played him in in the second half, but the 19-year-old launched it just over the bar.
Everton had 23 shots to United's 15 but squandered their chances with poor finishing touches, including a terrific late chance that saw Lewis Dobbin send a pass across goal that a sliding Dominic Calvert-Lewin was just a step too slow to connect with.
United were coming off successive league losses, to Fulham and Manchester City, that had ended an unbeaten run of four league wins.
Bournemouth fight back to draw with Sheffield
Bournemouth denied Sheffield United their second victory of the year in the Premier League when they fought back from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
Gustavo Hamer gave United a first-half lead when he pounced on a rebound and struck with his right foot in the 27th minute, and defender Jack Robinson doubled the advantage minutes after half-time to give Chris Wilder's side hope of securing three points.
But substitute Dango Ouattara pulled one back for Bournemouth in the 74th minute before Enes Unal scored in second-half added time to secure a point for the home side.
The result was just enough to move United off the bottom of the table, up one spot to 19th - a point above Burnley who have a game in hand, while Bournemouth are 13th on 32 points.
Defenders earn Wolves 2-1 win over Fulham
Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Fulham 2-1 in the Premier League on Saturday thanks to a close-range goal by Rayan Ait-Nouri and a deflected shot from fellow defender Nelson Semedo.
The result moved Wolves up to eighth in the league on 41 points and kept intact their more than four-decade unbeaten streak at home to the Londoners.
The hosts' first goal came in the 52nd minute when Algerian international Ait-Nouri scooped the ball into the roof of the net after a Mario Lemina cutback from a free kick.
Semedo sealed the win 15 minutes later with a shot from just outside the area which hit Tom Cairney on the way in.
Fulham missed golden chances in the first half when Harry Wilson fluffed his shot in a one-on-one with Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa and Tosin Adarabioyo smacked the bar with a close-range effort.
Sa prevented a late comeback with two brilliant saves before Alex Iwobi hooked in from close range deep into stoppage time to give Fulham a late consolation goal.
Defeat left the visitors 12th in the table on 35 points.
The only sour note of the day for Wolves was seeing their best player, Pedro Neto, limp off with an injured hamstring towards the end of the first half.
Woodrow late show salvages draw for Luton at Palace
Cauley Woodrow's last-gasp goal salvaged a 1-1 draw for Luton Town at Crystal Palace on Saturday and earned them a lifeline in their Premier League survival bid.
Palace remained 14th in the table on 29 points with Luton still 18th on 21, three behind Nottingham Forest in the safety zone.
Palace struck in the 11th minute when Jean-Philippe Mateta back-heeled into the net and the hosts should have been further ahead at the break and were made to pay for their missed chances.
With Selhurst Park already celebrating a win Luton launched a late attack and Woodrow's goal in the 96th minute stunned the home fans and gave Luton an unlikely draw.
"It's frustrating, gutting to concede like that at the end of the game when we could have had three points," Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone told the BBC.
The opening goal came from a poor back pass by Alfie Doughty which set up Daniel Munoz to round the keeper and although he was forced wide, he cut the ball back for Mateta to give Palace the lead.
Mateta's quick thinking brought his fifth goal of the season and allowed him to replicate the matchday programme cover with his corner flag celebration.
Luton failed to get a shot on target in the opening half and Palace should have doubled their lead when another dreadful back pass, from Jordan Clark, put Mateta through and after taking it past the keeper he chipped his shot just wide.
Luton improved slightly after the break but their only real chance before the goal came when Carlton Morris volleyed into Johnstone's hands.
Thomas Kaminski saved Mateta's header with his foot and Eberechi Eze almost found the second goal when he spotted Kaminski off his line and shot just over from distance.
Odsonne Edouard hit the crossbar for Palace in the 94th minute, but the home fans, who have seen their side lose many leads this season, looked set to celebrate back-to back home wins under new manager Oliver Glasner until Woodrow's late intervention.
Former Palace player Andros Townsend, a late Luton substitute, floated a ball into the area and Woodrow directed his header into the far corner of the net to silence Selhurst Park.
"We had some good chances and their goalie made a couple of great saves. At 1-0 there's always a risk of a goal at the end," Johnstone added.
