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Arsenal have thrashed Nottingham Forest 5-0 to return to the top of the Premier League, but the win may have come at a cost after Bukayo Saka limped off midway through the first half.
There was also a victory for Manchester United with Marcus Rashford scoring the only goal at home to West Ham United.
At the Emirates, Saka’s replacement Reiss Nelson scored a brace to go with goals from Gabriel Martinelli, Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard.
But the injury to the winger will be a major concern for manager Mikel Arteta – and his England counterpart Gareth Southgate three weeks ahead of the start of the World Cup in Qatar.
“Hopefully it is not [serious],” said Arteta. “It was a bad kick. He was limping but I don’t see it further than that. Both the foot and ankle, he got kicked a few times.”
Saka was excellent in Sunday’s opening minutes and it was his cross that was headed into the net by Martinelli for the opener. But he went down after a heavy challenge from Forest’s Renan Lodi and eventually came off after 27 minutes.
Arsenal should have been further ahead at halftime but made sure of the points within the first 15 minutes of the second period as Nelson scored twice in quick succession.
“I’m happy for him, he’s a player that is really trying hard,” Arteta said. “He has changed and evolved a lot, even though he has not had minutes.
After their first goal, the players came together to show support for teammate Pablo Mari who was stabbed during a knife attack in an Italian supermarket earlier this week.
Partey, set up by Nelson, netted a stunning fourth with a curling shot from outside the box. Odegaard then finished the five-star display by blasting into the top corner from close-range.
“It couldn’t have got gone much better than that for me after coming on,” said Nelson, who spent last season on loan at Feyenoord.
“Once the goals started going in it was a great game to play in. I have been working so hard in training waiting for my chance and I’m delighted to get it.”
The performance was a tonic for Arsenal after two jaded performances at Southampton last weekend, when they drew, and in the Netherlands in midweek when they lost to PSV Eindhoven.
“It’s always a difficult to win in this league and today we had a tricky game after travelling and playing in Europe and I think the team responded really well, said Arteta.”
With victory Arsenal moved to 31 points, two ahead of Manchester City, while an outclassed Forest remain rooted to the bottom of the table.
Manchester United moved into fifth, eight points behind Arsenal, thanks to Rashford’s 100th goal for the club.
After making a slow start to the match, the home team burst into life in the 38th minute when Rashford powered a bullet header into the net from Christian Eriksen’s sublime cross.
Veteran forward Cristiano Ronaldo, making just his third league start of the season, wasted a golden chance to double the lead early in the second half, firing wide from a good position, before West Ham upped the ante.
The visitors piled on the pressure as the match wore on, with David de Gea twice called into action to deny substitute Michail Antonio, producing superb stops on both occasions.
Another sensational save from De Gea to deny Declan Rice right at the death preserved Manchester United’s victory and took them above Chelsea to a point off the Champions League places.
© AAP
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