Van Persie saves Man United

Sport
Robin van Persie’s 94th minute strike saw 10-man Chelsea pegged back to 1-1 against Manchester United. Didier Drogba’s near-post header had opened the scoring, but after Branislav Ivanovic’s sending off, Van Persie struck.

MANCHESTER — Robin van Persie’s 94th minute strike saw 10-man Chelsea pegged back to 1-1 against Manchester United. Didier Drogba’s near-post header had opened the scoring, but after Branislav Ivanovic’s sending off, Van Persie struck.

Star strikers Diego Costa and Falcao missed the game through injury, but the game still contained excellent chances for both teams and Robin van Persie’s effort when through on goal was blocked by Thibaut Courtois and David De Gea at the other end saved brilliantly from both Drogba and Eden Hazard.

However, just after De Gea had blocked Hazard’s effort in the second half, Drogba escaped his marker Rafael and rose at the near post to head home.

It was a fight to the finish though as, after Branislav Ivanovic was sent off for a second booking, Van Persie smashed home from close range to share the points.

Meanwhile, Alan Pardew’s half-time substitutions inspired Newcastle to a much-needed comeback 2-1 victory at Tottenham, where Ayoze Perez capped his full debut with the goal which secured back-to-back victories. Bouncing around the bottom three after a bruising start to the campaign, it had looked like the Magpies’ would struggle in north London.

However, Emmanuel Adebayor’s header was wiped out by half-time introduction Sammy Ameobi seconds after the restart, before fellow substitute Remy Cabella set-up Perez to secure Newcastle an unlikely win.

In another match, Romelu Lukaku answered his critics and Samuel Eto’o struck a brace as Everton made it back-to-back victories with a 3-1 win over Burnley.

— ESPNFC