Premier League: Brentford-Brighton Play Out 3-3 Thriller, Forrest-Wolves and Bournemouth-Fulham Also Draw

Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Alexis MacAllister fired home a 90th-minute penalty to snatch a 3-3 draw for his side against Brentford in a thrilling climax to their Premier League clash on Saturday.

The home side racked up 33 efforts on goal and dominated possession, but it took a late strike from the spot from the Argentinian World Cup winner to secure a point as Brentford made the most of their chances.

Brighton’s afternoon got off to a poor start when Pontus Jansson gave the visitors the lead in the 10th minute, meeting a brilliant inswinging cross form Mikkel Damsgaard with a powerful header that flew past Jason Steele.

Kaoru Mitoma levelled 11 minutes later, latching on to a long ball from Steele and deftly lobbing it over David Raya for his seventh goal in his last 13 games, but their joy was short-lived as Ivan Toney put The Bees back in front a minute later.

Again, the home side struck back quickly as Danny Welbeck headed home a Solly March cross at the back post to make it 2-2 in the 28th minute, but they were behind again four minutes into the second half as Ethan Pinnock volleyed home Bryan Mbeumo’s free kick.

Brentford barely made it out of their own half after that as Brighton created and then wasted chance after chance, and The Seagulls looked to be heading for defeat until a late handball by Aaron Hickey.

A lengthy VAR review led to the home side being awarded a penalty, and MacAllister smashed the spot kick into the net, much to the relief of the home fans.

Brighton rose to sixth in the table on 43 points, ahead of Brentford on goal difference and one point ahead of Liverpool, who lost 4-1 to Manchester City in the early kickoff.

Forrest and Wolves Draw

Nottingham Forest were denied a crucial win in their bid to stay clear of the Premier League relegation zone as Daniel Podence struck a late equaliser for Wolverhampton Wanderers in a 1-1 draw at the City Ground on Saturday.

Forest looked set for a first league win in seven games as Brennan Johnson gave them a deserved 38th-minute lead.

The hosts were left to rue not putting away several chances that would have made the game safe as Wolves replied late on when second-half substitute Podence curled a shot past Keylor Navas after Pedro Neto’s blocked shot fell into his path.

Wolves would have been happier with the draw as it kept them above Forest in 13th place with 28 points from 29 games.

Forest have 27 points but have a game in hand compared with Wolves.

Bournemouth Hold Fulham

Marcus Tavernier and Dominick Solanke were both on target as Bournemouth earned a vital 2-1 win over high-flying Fulham on Saturday to breathe life into the south-coast club’s fight for Premier League survival.

Solanke bundled home in the 79th minute to seal a remarkable comeback that lifted Bournemouth out of the relegation zone and dealt a blow to Fulham’s hopes of playing in Europe next season.

Andreas Pereira gave Fulham the lead in the 16th minute after running on to Harrison Reed’s layoff, but the visitors failed to build on that early momentum.

Tavernier, thrown on by manager Gary O’Neil as a halftime substitute after a dire opening 45 minutes for the home side, equalised with a curling left-footed shot from distance in the 50th minute following a corner.

Bournemouth struggled in the opening period, with Solanke only registering their first shot on target in the 42nd minute, and O’Neil rolled the dice at halftime, bringing on Ryan Christie as well as Tavernier.

The changes had an immediate effect, with Bournemouth carving out their equaliser after a spell of sustained pressure before Solanke sealed the three points with his first home Premier League goal of the season.

The victory lifted Bournemouth from second-bottom of the table to 15th place on 27 points, while Fulham stayed ninth.

Palace Beat Leicester

Roy Hodgson’s second stint as Crystal Palace manager began with a 2-1 Premier League win over Leicester City on Saturday, as the London side registered their first victory in 2023 thanks to a late winner from Jean-Philippe Mateta.

Palace, who had scored the fewest goals in the league this season, looked like a different team from the one that struggled under Patrick Vieira firing in 20 shots against Leicester — the most any Premier League side has managed in the same amount of time since 2015.

The change in style going forward gave the home fans reason to cheer but Palace could not find a way through a dogged Leicester defence, while Ivorian winger and Palace’s top scorer this season Wilfried Zaha was forced to limp off with a groin injury.

It was Leicester who struck first through Ricardo Pereira, who received the ball at the edge of the box before blasting a shot into the top corner past the despairing dive of Vicente Guaita.

Palace levelled from a free kick three minutes later when Eberechi Eze cleared the wall, saw his shot come off the crossbar and go in off goalkeeper Daniel Iversen for an own goal.

In added time in the second half, Jordan Ayew made a solo run into Leicester’s half and fed Mateta with a through-ball as the French striker finished with aplomb to lift the 12th-placed team up to 30 points. Leicester meanwhile dropped to 18th in the table.

(With inputs from Agencies)

Read all the Latest Sports News here