Arsenal in late win over Fulham

LONDON – Arsenal scored two goals in the last seven minutes to beat Fulham 2-1 in the Premier League yesterday and make up for an embarrassing blunder by goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.

Chelsea also conceded an early goal against Birmingham but hit back to win 3-2 and set a record 64 games unbeaten at home, moving ahead of the Liverpool team that went 63 unbeaten from 1978-81. After Lehmann’s mistake had allowed David Healy to score, Robin van Persie equalised from the penalty spot in the 84th and Alexander Hleb netted the winner in the 90th.The match at the Emirates Stadium was only 52 seconds old when Lehmann gave Fulham a goal.The Germany goalkeeper collected a back pass from Gael Clichy and failed to control the ball as he tried to pass it to the left back.The ball rolled to Healy who stabbed the ball into the net.Fulham continued to stifle Arsenal’s talented midfield, but the Gunners finally equalized when Carlos Bocanegra blocked Kolo Toure and conceded a penalty.Van Persie hit the spot kick into the roof of the net.There was a flare-up as Arsenal tried to retrieve the ball quickly from the back of the net and three players Fulham’s Tony Warner and Papa Bouba Diop and Arsenal’s Mathieu Flamini were shown the yellow card.Warner was only on the field because Fulham’s first-choice goalkeeper, Antti Niemi, injured his hand during the warmup.Arsenal chased the winner and it came from Hleb’s 12-meter shot in the final minute.Former Chelsea striker Mikael Forssell gave Birmingham the lead at Stamford Bridge in the 15th.The Finn’s header sent Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech the wrong way after Liam Ridgewell had flicked on a free kick by Gary McSheffrey.Signed from Bayern Munich, Peru striker Claudio Pizarro equalized in the 17th with a low shot from Shaun Wright-Phillips’ cross despite Birmingham goalkeeper Colin Doyle getting both hands to the ball.Florent Malouda, another of manager Jose Mourinho’s new signings, made it 2-1 in the 31st after Salomon Kalou put him clear of the defense.But Birmingham levelled five minutes later when Olivier Kapo easily beat Glenn Johnson and cut inside to hit a powerful rising shot inside the far post.Michael Essien made it 3-2 with a 20-meter shot in the 50th, although Doyle was again at fault.Back from injury, Didier Drogba replaced Pizarro midway through the second half and almost scored an amazing fourth goal.With Doyle caught well out of his area after a poor clearance, the Chelsea striker tried a shot from just inside the Birmingham half but the ball sailed wide.Later yesterday, Manchester United was at home to Reading.When the season kicked off Saturday, former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson marked his first game in the Premier League with a victory when Manchester City won 2-0 at West Ham.Sunderland upset Tottenham 1-0 at home after an injury-time goal by Michael Chopra, and Steven Gerrard’s 25-metre free kick earned Liverpool a 2-1 victory at Aston Villa.Sam Allardyce guided Newcastle to a 3-1 victory at former club Bolton, Everton edged Wigan 2-1, Blackburn won 2-1 at Middlesbrough, and promoted Derby drew 2-2 with Portsmouth.Nampa-APAfter Lehmann’s mistake had allowed David Healy to score, Robin van Persie equalised from the penalty spot in the 84th and Alexander Hleb netted the winner in the 90th.The match at the Emirates Stadium was only 52 seconds old when Lehmann gave Fulham a goal.The Germany goalkeeper collected a back pass from Gael Clichy and failed to control the ball as he tried to pass it to the left back.The ball rolled to Healy who stabbed the ball into the net.Fulham continued to stifle Arsenal’s talented midfield, but the Gunners finally equalized when Carlos Bocanegra blocked Kolo Toure and conceded a penalty.Van Persie hit the spot kick into the roof of the net.There was a flare-up as Arsenal tried to retrieve the ball quickly from the back of the net and three players Fulham’s Tony Warner and Papa Bouba Diop and Arsenal’s Mathieu Flamini were shown the yellow card.Warner was only on the field because Fulham’s first-choice goalkeeper, Antti Niemi, injured his hand during the warmup.Arsenal chased the winner and it came from Hleb’s 12-meter shot in the final minute.Former Chelsea striker Mikael Forssell gave Birmingham the lead at Stamford Bridge in the 15th.The Finn’s header sent Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech the wrong way after Liam Ridgewell had flicked on a free kick by Gary McSheffrey.Signed from Bayern Munich, Peru striker Claudio Pizarro equalized in the 17th with a low shot from Shaun Wright-Phillips’ cross despite Birmingham goalkeeper Colin Doyle getting both hands to the ball.Florent Malouda, another of manager Jose Mourinho’s new signings, made it 2-1 in the 31st after Salomon Kalou put him clear of the defense.But Birmingham levelled five minutes later when Olivier Kapo easily beat Glenn Johnson and cut inside to hit a powerful rising shot inside the far post.Michael Essien made it 3-2 with a 20-meter shot in the 50th, although Doyle was again at fault.Back from injury, Didier Drogba replaced Pizarro midway through the second half and almost scored an amazing fourth goal.With Doyle caught well out of his area after a poor clearance, the Chelsea striker tried a shot from just inside the Birmingham half but the ball sailed wide.Later yesterday, Manchester United was at home to Reading.When the season kicked off Saturday, former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson marked his first game in the Premier League with a victory when Manchester City won 2-0 at West Ham.Sunderland upset Tottenham 1-0 at home after an injury-time goal by Michael Chopra, and Steven Gerrard’s 25-metre free kick earned Liverpool a 2-1 victory at Aston Villa.Sam Allardyce guided Newcastle to a 3-1 victory at former club Bolton, Everton edged Wigan 2-1, Blackburn won 2-1 at Middlesbrough, and promoted Derby drew 2-2 with Portsmouth.Nampa-AP