Real Madrid’s Bellingham banned for two matches after dissent

LONDON: Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge was dented by an unexpected 1-0 home loss to West Ham on Saturday that featured a fifth red card of the season for Mikel Arteta’s team.
Second-place Arsenal squandered a chance to trim the gap to Liverpool to five points as Jarrod Bowen’s first-half header secured a win for West Ham, which arrived at Emirates Stadium with just one victory in their last eight games.
There was worse to come for Arsenal, with left back Myles Lewis-Skelly handed a red card following a video review for his foul as the last man. The team’s disciplinary record under Arteta has come under scrutiny this season — and might yet cost the Gunners the title, along with key injuries to their attack.
With the likes of Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus out injured, Arsenal had only two shots on target against West Ham.
It leaves Liverpool with an eight-point cushion, having played the same number of games as Arsenal, and that advantage could grow when the leaders play Manchester City away on Sunday.
Fifth-place Bournemouth lost 1-0 at home to Wolverhampton to damage their bid for a finish in the Champions League qualification positions.
Bournemouth defender Illya Zabarnyi’s 31st-minute red card was quickly followed by the winning goal by Matheus Cunha for Wolves.
Tottenham won 4-1 at Ipswich to further ease the pressure on manager Ange Postecoglou, last-place Southampton lost 4-0 at home to Brighton, and Crystal Palace won 2-0 at Fulham.

LIVERPOOL: Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim described his side as "soft" despite fighting back from 2-0 down to salvage a 2-2 draw at Everton on Saturday.
United looked destined for a ninth defeat in 13 Premier League games when goals from Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure gave Everton a deserved half-time lead.
However, captain Bruno Fernandes inspired a fightback from the visitors to at least prevent another defeat for Amorim's men.
Fernandes curled in a free-kick with United's first shot on target on 72 minutes.
Manuel Ugarte levelled shortly afterwards after another Fernandes set-piece delivery was only partially cleared.
United, though, were fortunate to escape Goodison Park with a point as Everton had a penalty controversially ruled out after a VAR review in stoppage time.
The Red Devils remain down in 15th, but are 13 points clear of the bottom three and should be safe from the embarrassment of relegation.
"The worst part is that we are losing the ball without pressure and we are not doing what we need to do. We were soft", said Amorim, who has taken just 15 points from a possible 45 since taking charge in November.
"In this moment, we need to focus on day-by-day. We need to survive this season and then we can think ahead.
"I don't want to just say the negative part. In the second half, we were close to winning this game."
In contrast to United's struggles under new management, David Moyes' return has propelled Everton towards safety.
The Toffees were in a relegation battle when the former United boss returned last month, but they have taken 14 points from the last six games to surge up to 12th.
Moyes was disappointed not to take all three points after a dominant first half but gave credit for the manner in which Fernandes helped turned the tide after the break.
"We should have been probably three up, I think if we'd been three up we wouldn't be shamed by that at all," said the Scot.
"To go 2-0 up was great, but 2-0 is always a dangerous position to be in as a manager. Manchester United have got nothing to lose but to come in and have a go.
"I don't think it was as much as what we lacked, I thought Bruno played well. They dropped him deeper and he got on the ball much more and we found that a bit more difficult to deal with at the time."
Moyes, though, was left baffled at the late decision to instruct referee Andy Madley to review his on-field award of a penalty when Ashley Young was pulled back by a combination of Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt.
"I thought the on-field decision looked the correct decision," added Moyes.
"I'm a bit surprised he was asked to go to VAR because I thought that it looked difficult to change your mind on that.
"But I think when they go to VAR you very rarely get them to change their mind. It's as if they think on-pitch, the people who are seeing it on the television see much more and understand more."