The Premier League title race took another turn on Saturday as Arsenal went top of the table with a 4-2 win at Aston Villa, while champions Manchester City only slipped to a draw at Nottingham Forest.
City’s win at Arsenal on Wednesday put them top on goal difference, but it was a short-lived rise as, despite Forest dominating, they conceded a late equalizer to draw 1–1.
Pep Guardiola’s side are now two points behind Arsenal, with a game more to play.
Newcastle United’s 17-match unbeaten league run came to an end as they lost 2–0 at home to Liverpool, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo scoring early for the visitors, while keeper Nick Pope was substituted after 22 minutes for Newcastle. Has been sent.
The pressure continues to mount on Chelsea manager Graham Potter as his side lose 1-0 at home to Southampton.
Everton and Bournemouth also claimed valuable victories in their quest to survive a tight relegation scrap.
Arsenal reinvigorated their bid for a first Premier League title in two decades with two stoppage-time goals to secure a thrilling win at Villa Park.
With a high-quality offensive play in extra-time at 2-2, Arsenal midfielder Jorginho saw a looping shot off the bar and lofted over Villa’s Argentine World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez for a ferocious goal.
Minutes later, as the final whistle was about to sound and Villa were headed forward – Martínez included – Arsenal went ahead again for Gabriel Martinelli to stroke into an empty net for London’s fourth in front of their rabid fans.
It was Arsenal’s first win in four Premier League matches.
“If you want to be at the top, you have to win games in many different ways,” said coach Mikel Arteta.
“Credit to the boys. The dressing room was absolutely bouncing. It was a massive effort to play less than 72 hours after the (City) game we had, and after the result that we had which was obviously morally touching.” Was.”
dropped points
Later on Saturday, City looked set to regain top spot against a team they had beaten 6–0 in the reverse fixture after Bernardo Silva had given them the lead at halftime.
They should have doubled their advantage midway through the second half, but the usually lethal Erling Haaland hit the crossbar from close range before blazing the rebound over.
That lapse proved crucial as, out of nowhere, Forest’s January signing Chris Wood tapped home at the far post to level six minutes from time.
Coach Pep Guardiola told the BBC, “We had great chances but this is football. We have to score. We did everything. You have to do it. There were a lot of clear [chances] to score.”
A trademark James Ward-Prowse free kick earned managerless Southampton three points in an embarrassing 1-0 win at Chelsea to put more pressure on manager Potter.
Chelsea made 17 attempts at goal, five on target, their highest shot tally without scoring at home in the Premier League since May 2021.
Despite spending around £300 million ($360 million) in the January transfer window, Chelsea sit 10th with 31 points from 23 games, 10 points behind the top four.
“Some people will think I’m the problem. I don’t think they’re right, but that doesn’t mean they can’t express their views,” Potter, whose side have scored only once in their last eight league games, said .
Newcastle had only lost once in the league before Saturday, against Liverpool in August, but Klopp’s side bounced back to upset Eddie Howe’s side.
Nunez fired past Trent Alexander-Arnold’s long pass after 10 minutes and Gakpo made it 2-0 seven minutes later with a pass from Mohamed Salah.
Pope was sent off shortly afterwards for deliberately handling the ball outside his area.
Liverpool have now improved to eighth, but are only six points behind fourth-placed Newcastle.
Everton defender Seamus Coleman’s goal secured a 1–0 win over struggling rivals Leeds United at Goodison Park and lifted them out of the relegation zone.
Bournemouth also moved out of the bottom three level on 21 points with Everton thanks to a second-half brace from Marcus Tavernier in a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Following their first win since the World Cup break, the south-coast club moved from 19th to 17th, one point above the drop zone.
Elsewhere, Fulham continued their good season with a 1–0 win at Brighton & Hove Albion, while Brentford and Crystal Palace drew 1–1.