Premier League roundup: Arsenal hammer Leeds to restore eight point lead over City
Arsenal - Leeds 4-1
Table-topping Arsenal responded to Manchester City’s comeback victory over Liverpool by defeating a spirited Leeds United, extending the Gunners’ winning streak to seven Premier League (PL) games on the bounce.
Heading into the game, Leeds boss Javi Gracia had lost just once since taking charge, and that momentum seemingly continued early on at the Emirates Stadium. The visitors made the better start with Crysencio Summerville looking particularly lively, yet it was the league leaders who took the lead. Having headed over from an enticing Granit Xhaka cross, the returning Gabriel Jesus made amends when he was chopped down by Luke Ayling in the box, and in the absence of usual penalty-taker Bukayo Saka, he dusted himself off to score from the spot. With HT approaching, Illan Meslier was almost left red-faced after a poor clearance, but Ayling somewhat atoned for his foul, clearing Gabriel Martinelli’s effort away from the goal line.
The Gunners haven’t lost a league game in which they have led at HT this season, and an electric start to the second period quickly produced a second goal for the hosts, leaving Leeds with a mountain to climb. Martinelli weaved his way past Ayling down the left, finding space to deliver a tantalising ball for former Leeds man Ben White, who converted at the back post. By this stage, Mikel Arteta’s side were firmly in control, and with less than an hour played, the contest was practically put to bed. Leandro Trossard displayed terrific close control to find space in the box before picking out Jesus, who finished from close range, bagging a brace in the process.
Rasmus Kristensen’s heavily deflected effort deceived Aaron Ramsdale to make it 3-1 with less than 15 minutes to play, but Granit Xhaka’s header extinguished any distant hopes of a comeback soon after. Victory re-establishes Arsenal’s eight-point lead at the top of the PL table, albeit having played a game more than Manchester City. Meanwhile, Leeds sit precariously above the bottom-three on goal difference alone.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal)
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Bournemouth - Fulham 2-1
Bournemouth star Marcus Tavernier scored a second-half stunner at the Vitality Stadium to inspire a precious comeback victory over Fulham, with the weakened Cottagers falling to their fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions.
Cherries fans hoping to see signs of a revolution following the international break were left bitterly disappointed early in the game, with Fulham winning every 50-50 and the hosts failing to muster a shot of any description inside half an hour. The Cottagers had already inflicted plenty of damage by that time as Andreas Pereira made a bursting run into the box and slotted home in the 16th minute, before Antonee Robinson thumped the crossbar with a long-range thunderbolt.
The prospect of going two goals down seemed to spur something in Bournemouth, who came into the match with the Premier League’s worst goal difference, and the pendulum finally swung their way before the interval. Dango Ouattara was heavily involved but ruefully wasteful, dragging a left-footed shot wide before smashing the woodwork from all of five yards out, only for his blushes to be spared by the offside flag.
Gary O’Neil responded with a double substitution at the break, and Tavernier repaid the Bournemouth boss’ faith within five minutes as his spectacular left-footed curler made it eight goal contributions in his last five matches. The visitors were visibly rattled, and with the threat of relegation looming, the Cherries made the gutsy decision to go for the jugular. Jefferson Lerma fired the first warning shot as his deflected strike looped onto the roof of the net, but the crucial moment fell to Dominic Solanke, who got his reward for following in as Ryan Christie’s effort was palmed into his path for a simple finish.
With the bottom nine clubs separated by just four points heading into this weekend’s fixtures, each point is vital for Bournemouth, and adding three more to their tally puts daylight between them and the drop zone. Meanwhile, Fulham’s European hopes appear to be slipping away, with the suspended Willian and Aleksandar Mitrović proving a big miss on the south coast.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Dominic Solanke (Bournemouth)
See stats from the match at Flashscore
Brighton - Brentford 3-3
Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford played out a Premier League classic, and fittingly there was nothing to separate the sides as a late Alexis Mac Allister penalty earned the Seagulls a hard-fought point.
When Kaoru Mitoma burst clear on goal inside the opening five minutes, a last-ditch Ethan Pinnock challenge could claim an indirect assist for Brentford’s opener that arrived shortly after. Brighton were caught napping from a corner, with Pontus Jansson left unmarked to head home Mathias Jensen’s wicked delivery as the Bees stung early to take the lead. One of football’s stranger sights then ensued, when Jason Steele picked up a Pervis Estupiñán backpass, but Jensen’s subsequent strike was blocked by an 11-strong Brighton wall.
From zero to hero, Steele was then involved in Brighton’s equaliser with another rare sight - an assist from a goalkeeper. Steele’s hopeful joist forward evaded the Brentford backline and Mitoma was onto it like a flash to lift a sumptuous effort over the stranded David Raya. But as the ancient footballing proverb goes, you’re most vulnerable when you’ve just scored and that rang true for Brighton when Ivan Toney fired Brentford back in front just 80 seconds later, as the England international clinically finished after the Seagulls were caught out from their own throw-in.
It wasn’t just Brighton who succumbed to that though, as it was Brentford’s turn to concede shortly after scoring next, with Danny Welbeck heading Brighton level on his 400th league appearance a little under six minutes later. That turned out to be the final goal of a frantic half of football, though that was largely down to the heroics of Raya who produced a super stop to deny Mac Allister. The basketball-like nature of this game continued after the break, and inside five minutes of the restart Brentford took the lead for the third time of the afternoon, with Pinnock powering in at the back post to slam home Bryan Mbeumo’s delivery.
In keeping with the pattern of the game, the game then swung back in Brighton’s favour, but the Seagulls were wasteful in front of goal, encapsulated perfectly by Lewis Dunk’s glaring miss with a free header from six-yards out. Roberto de Zerbi’s men continued to probe in the face of adversity, and eventually bore the fruits of their labour when Aaron Hickey blocked Deniz Undav’s shot with his hand, and Mac Allister stepped up to send Raya the wrong way from the subsequent penalty and secure a precious point to ensure it’s ‘as you were’ as far as Brighton and Brentford’s respective European pushes go.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ethan Pinnock (Brentford)
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Palace - Leicester 2-1
Jean-Philippe Mateta’s late winner ensured returning Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson got off to a winning start as the Eagles ended their 12-match winless run in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory over Leicester.
The level-headed approach synonymous with the stewardship of Roy Hodgson, who broke his own record as the Premier League’s oldest-ever manager when returning to the Selhurst Park hotseat, gave Palace a fresh impetus in the early minutes. The Eagles flew out of the traps, and Cheick Doucouré’s low strike from the edge of the area was held by Leicester stopper Daniel Iversen. Winless in five and just one point above the drop zone, Leicester had to hold firm early on, but nearly led through fortuitous circumstances, as Victor Kristiansen’s mis-hit cross looped over Vicente Guaita and hit the post.
Palace soon regained control and seemed desperate to add to their league-low of 22 goals this season, as Eberechi Eze skipped past three players, before unleashing a powerful shot towards the top corner that a flying Iversen palmed away to keep Leicester’s hopes of a first post-World Cup clean sheet alive. Those hopes were also aided in sad circumstances shortly after, when a potential season-ending injury to Palace’s top-scorer Zaha on the stroke of HT hushed the once deafening home crowd.
Leicester inevitably sensed an opportunity to claw back into the game, and substitute Ricardo Pereira duly delivered as he cut in from the left flank, eventually lashing an unstoppable strike into the top corner past Vicente Guaita. However, Palace were level almost immediately with a stroke of luck to end their two-match goalless run at Selhurst Park, after Eberechi Eze’s free-kick clattered the crossbar. There were groans aplenty, but they turned to jubilant cheers as the ball bounced off Iversen’s back and rolled into the net.
Palace continued to probe for a winner late on, and it duly came in the seventh minute of added time, when Jordan Ayew’s attempted effort fell to Mateta. With the weight of South London on his shoulders, he sealed a victorious homecoming for Roy Hodgson with a cool finish, staking a great claim for the Eagles’ survival while leaving Leicester just one point above the relegation zone.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace)
See stats from the match at Flashscore
Forest - Wolves 1-1
Wolverhampton Wanderers nicked a late point away to Nottingham Forest, as their fight for Premier League survival continues in what is a hotly-contested relegation battle. Forest are now winless in seven and are just two points above the relegation places.
Both sides went into the match desperately needing points to create a gap between themselves and incredibly tight relegation places. Forest, whose run of nine unbeaten home games was ended by Newcastle last time out, started the better of the two sides as Morgan Gibbs-White saw his curling effort tipped over the bar by José Sá. The home side continued to apply pressure throughout the first half and were asking questions of Sá, who was keeping his Wolves team in the contest, making saves to deny Brennan Johnson and Emmanuel Dennis. Johnson finally broke Sá’s resolve before HT as he found himself in space and drilled the ball past the Portuguese goalkeeper from a tight angle giving Forest the goal their performance deserved
Wolves went into the HT break frustrated after a disappointing opening 45, especially with their defending in the goal, and their frustrations were further compounded by Rúben Neves receiving a 10th yellow card, meaning the midfielder will now be facing a two-game suspension. The visitors came flying out the blocks for the second half though with Daniel Podence and Pablo Sarabia introduced. Julen Lopetegui’s men thought they had a penalty when Adama Traoré was brought down in the box by Felipe but after a VAR review, a penalty was not given. This caused temperatures to flare in both dugouts, resulting in a red card being shown to members of the coaching staff for both teams.
Steve Cooper sensed the change in momentum in the second half and responded by moving to a back-five with just under 30 minutes to go. That move may have been done too early as the Forest players found themselves defending on the back foot, and faced waves of Wolves pressure. That paid dividends for the away side as substitute Podence fired into the top corner and salvaged what could be a vital point for Wolves in their fight for survival. Neither side could find a winning goal and had to settle for a point each, and remain with a slender gap over the relegation places.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Brennan Johnson (Nottingham Forest)