LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane scored his ninth Premier League goal of the season but Jeffrey Schlupp’s late equaliser left the leaders frustrated in a 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Kane struck in the 23rd minute with a low long-range shot that deceived Palace keeper Vicente Guaita as Tottenham began in confident fashion in the Selhurst Park drizzle.
But Palace responded impressively to dominate after the break and Schlupp grabbed a deserved leveller from close range in the 81st minute.
Ben Davies struck the crossbar and Guaita made stunning saves from Kane and Eric Dier as Tottenham sparked back into life late on but they had to be content with a draw.
Tottenham moved to 25 points from 12 games, one ahead of second-placed Liverpool who play at Fulham later.
Southampton striker Che Adams scored against his former club, and midfielders Stuart Armstrong and Nathan Redmond struck after the interval as they beat Sheffield United 3-0 at St Mary’s Stadium to go third in the table.
Southampton dominated possession and went ahead on 34 minutes as the Blades failed to properly deal with a James Ward-Prowse free kick and Adams reacted quickest to tap home his fourth league goal of the season in front of 2,000 supporters.
Armstrong doubled the home side’s lead in the second half with a low shot, while substitute Redmond scored his first goal of the season seven minutes from time.
Chelsea’s 17-match unbeaten run came to an end with a 1-0 defeat at Everton, while the Manchester derby between United and City ended goalless on Saturday.
Chelsea hoped to grab first place but a first-half penalty by Iceland’s Gylfi Sigurdsson gave Everton victory on the return of 2,000 fans at Goodison Park.
The home side went ahead in the 22nd minute when Dominic Calvert-Lewin was brought down in the box by Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and Sigurdsson stroked home the spot kick.
Everton moved up to seventh in the standings on 20 points while Chelsea remain third on 22 after 12 games.
The Manchester derby at an empty Old Trafford lacked its usual excitement with both sides cautious and few chances.
The only major incident saw United awarded a penalty in the 48th minute when Kyle Walker kicked Marcus Rashford’s foot in the box but the decision was overruled after VAR found the England striker had been in an offside position.
The nearest an unusually flat City came to scoring was a first half effort from Riyad Mahrez that was well saved by David De Gea, with Kevin De Bruyne unable to make the most of the loose ball.
Newcastle United shook off the effects of a Covid-19 outbreak at the club when Miguel Almiron netted the fastest Premier League goal this season and Dwight Gayle scored a late winner in a 2-1 home victory over West Bromwich Albion.
Almiron fired Newcastle ahead after 20 seconds when a mistake by defender Branislav Ivanovic allowed the hosts to counter-attack and Joelinton found the Paraguayan midfielder unmarked in the box as West Brom scrambled to recover.
The visitors equalised five minutes after the restart when Matt Phillipss cross was met by Darnell Furlong who stretched to volley into the bottom corner.
Gayle grabbed the winner against his former club in the 82nd minute when he connected with fellow substitute Jacob Murphy’s cross and his bullet header crashed in off the bar.
