Arsenal strengthened their position at the top of the Premier League on Wednesday night, seeing off Brentford 2-0 at the Emirates, while Chelsea stumbled badly in a 3-1 loss to relegation-threatened Leeds United. Liverpool, meanwhile, needed a late slice of luck to avoid another home defeat as Aston Villa mounted an impressive comeback to climb into third place after edging Brighton 4-3.
Arsenal stay in control
The league leaders were far from explosive, but Mikel Arteta’s men still collected another valuable victory thanks to goals from Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka. Arteta shuffled his pack, giving Martin Ødegaard his first start since October and resting Saka, Eberechi Eze and Jurrien Timber. Even so, Merino justified his spot up front, meeting Ben White’s cross with a powerful header for his 11th goal of the campaign.
Brentford, who also rotated heavily under Keith Andrews, created problems of their own and almost levelled through Kevin Schade, only to be denied by a sharp stop from former Bee David Raya. Saka came on in the second half and wrapped up the win deep into stoppage time with a crisp strike that Caoimhin Kelleher couldn’t keep out.
Leeds punish limp Chelsea
Reports suggested Daniel Farke was under pressure ahead of Chelsea’s visit, but his Leeds side responded brilliantly, lifting themselves out of the relegation places with a committed performance. Jaka Bijol headed in Anton Stach’s corner after six minutes, and Ao Tanaka doubled the advantage before the break with a powerful effort from the edge of the box.
Pedro Neto reduced the deficit for Chelsea early in the second half, but a costly error from Tosin Adarabioyo handed Dominic Calvert-Lewin the chance to seal the result, which he calmly took.
Liverpool escape, but frustrations remain
Anfield endured another frustrating night as Arne Slot’s team were held to a 1-1 draw by Sunderland. Chemsdine Talbi punished Virgil van Dijk’s misplaced pass with a strike from distance to give the visitors the lead. Florian Wirtz looked to have scored his first Liverpool goal since arriving from Bayer Leverkusen, but it took a heavy deflection and was later ruled as a Nordi Mukiele own-goal.
Sunderland nearly completed a historic win when Wilson Isidor broke clear in added time, but Federico Chiesa raced back to clear off the line and spare Liverpool from defeat.
Villa’s stunning comeback shakes up the table
At the Amex Stadium, Aston Villa produced one of the performances of the evening. Brighton raced into a 2-0 lead through Jan Paul van Hecke’s close-range finish and Pau Torres’ unfortunate own-goal, but Villa responded with fire. Ollie Watkins, who had netted only once in his previous 19 appearances, dragged his team back into the contest with two quick goals before halftime. Amadou Onana completed the turnaround with a back-post header, and Donyell Malen added a fourth to cap an inspired show.
Brighton gave themselves hope when Van Hecke curled in his second of the night, but Villa held firm to hand the Seagulls their first home defeat of the season.
Elsewhere
Nottingham Forest edged Wolves 1-0 thanks to Igor Jesus’ header, extending Wolves’ losing run to eight matches. Crystal Palace climbed to sixth after Daniel Muñoz scored the only goal in a narrow win against Burnley.
Arsenal continue to set the pace, and the chasing pack are struggling to keep up.
Should we send you latest update about your favourite sports and team?
Enter you email in the box below and hit the subscribe button to join our teaming 876+ sports community.
