Arsenal rocked by West Ham, Man Utd rescue Everton draw

Arsenal's Premier League title bid suffered a huge blow as West Ham earned a shock 1-0 win over the 10-man Gunners, while troubled Manchester United rallied from two goals down in a 2-2 draw at Everton on Saturday.

- Agencies

LONDON:

With leaders Liverpool not in action until Sunday's trip to Manchester City, Arsenal had a chance to close the gap in the title race with victory at the Emirates Stadium.

But Mikel Arteta's side stumbled to a first loss in 16 league games as Jarrod Bowen netted West Ham's first-half winner before the Gunners had Myles Lewis-Skelly sent off after the interval.

Second-placed Arsenal, whose last top-flight defeat came at Newcastle in November, are eight points behind Liverpool, who would move a massive 11 points clear if they beat spluttering City.

After coming off the bench to score twice in the closing stages of last weekend's win at Leicester, Spain midfielder Mikel Merino started for injury-hit Arsenal as a makeshift striker.