Arsenal remain just two points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool after trouncing Newcastle 4-1 to continue their rich vein of form.
Rebounding quickly from a shock 1-0 loss in the first leg of their Champions League clash with Porto, the Gunners never looked back after an early own goal from Magpie Sven Botman, with Bukayo Saka and Jakub Kiwior strikes in the second half securing the points at a canter.
Saka’s strike made him the first Englishman to goal in five straight Premier League matches for the Gunners since the great Ian Wright.
Newcastle’s only bright spot came with a late consolation goal from former Arsenal player Joe Willock.
The Gunners, who haven’t been defeated in the Premier League since New Year’s Day, have now won six games on the trot to keep pressure on the Reds and second-placed Manchester City, sitting just one point behind the latter.
Mikel Arteta’s men have now scored 18 goals in their last four league matches, with Willock’s goal the only one they have conceded since a 3-1 win over Liverpool three weeks ago.
The new era at Manchester United has got off to a disappointing start as the team lost ground in the race for Champions League qualification with a 2-1 home loss against Fulham.
The week had started with new co-owner Jim Ratcliffe completing his purchase of a minority stake in United and boldly setting out a three-year plan to return the club to the top of English soccer, knocking local rivals Manchester City and Liverpool “off their perch” in the process.
But it ended with Erik ten Hag’s side getting mostly outplayed in their own Old Trafford stadium by opponents in the bottom half of the table and conceding the deciding goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time.
Not only did sixth-place United’s four-game winning run in the league come to an end, fourth-placed Aston Villa beat Nottingham Forest 4-2 with an eight-point gap now separating the teams.
Fifth-place Tottenham are three points ahead of United and have a game in hand.
It remains to be seen if the Premier League will have four or five places in next season’s Champions League.
But failing to qualify for the lucrative competition would be a huge blow to United’s status and finances — and could yet spell the end for ten Hag as Ratcliffe looks to raise the standards at the ailing giants.
In other results, relegation-threatened Everton conceded an equaliser in the sixth minute of stoppage time to draw 1-1 at Brighton, while newly-hired Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner’s tenure got off to strong start as his team beat next-to-last Burnley 3-0.
© AAP
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