Arsenal restored their five-point cushion atop the Premier League on Wednesday, grinding out a 2-0 win over Brentford before another goal-laden night saw Aston Villa edge Brighton & Hove Albion 4-3 in a chaotic thriller on the south coast.
Mikel Merino set Arsenal on their way with an 11th-minute header, but it took a stoppage-time strike from substitute Bukayo Saka to finally put the match to bed.
The victory extended the Gunners’ unbeaten run in all competitions to 18, a steady response after Manchester City had briefly trimmed the gap with a wild 5-4 win at Fulham the previous evening.
Arsenal now sit on 33 points from 14 matches.
Aston Villa climbed to third with 27 points after rallying from two goals down, powered by an Ollie Watkins brace, to claim their fourth straight league win in a pulsating comeback at Brighton.
Chelsea’s hopes of staying in range of Arsenal suffered a big blow as they went down 3-1 at Leeds United, slipping to fourth on 24 points – one ahead of Crystal Palace, who are fifth after Daniel Munoz gave them a 1-0 victory at struggling Burnley.
Champions Liverpool failed to build on their victory over West Ham United at the weekend as they needed a late own goal by Nordi Mukiele to grab a 1-1 draw at home against Sunderland, a result that left them in eighth place, 11 points behind Arsenal.
Bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers’ plight looks ever more grim as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest. They have now lost 12 of their opening 14 games, drawing the other two, and are 12 points shy of the safety zone.
Arsenal’s bid for their first Premier League title since 2003-04 is looking rock solid despite several injuries, including to key defenders William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.
Their absence might have given Brentford cause for optimism on Wednesday, but Arsenal coped admirably, helped perhaps by Brentford opting to start 11-goal Brazilian striker Igor Thiago and Jordan Henderson on the bench.
Worryingly for Arsenal, they also lost defender Cristhian Mosquera to injury, while Declan Rice hobbled off late on, although they continue to show the durability of champions.
“It is always uncomfortable, because all Brentford need is a throw and it’s chaos and adventure,” Arteta said.
“One-nil is never enough against them, but I thought we dominated the game and created the biggest chances.”
Seven-goal sizzler
A night after the nine-goal epic at Craven Cottage, Brighton and Villa served up a seven-goal sizzler on the south coast.
Jan Paul van Hecke scrambled in from close range when Villa goalkeeper Marco Bizot – a late replacement for Emi Martinez – failed to deal with a corner, and Brighton made it 2-0 in the 29th minute when Pau Torres deflected a cross into his own net.
Watkins began the fightback when he slid in to score his first Villa goal since September, and he made it 2-2 before halftime with a clinical finish.
Amadou Onana put Villa ahead when he touched in Matty Cash’s corner, and Donyell Malen made it 4-2 before Van Hecke gave Brighton hope. Danny Welbeck almost made it 4-4 but had his shot superbly saved by Bizot.
“The players reacted and continued with our game plan to never give up. We kept the mentality and the resilience, really fantastic,” manager Unai Emery said.
Chelsea’s 1-1 draw against Arsenal with 10 men last time out had fueled talk of a title bid, but they stuttered at Leeds.
Jaka Bijol put the hosts ahead in the sixth minute with a header, and the home side doubled their lead when Ao Tanaka scored a stunner two minutes before halftime.
Substitute Pedro Neto pulled a goal back, but any hopes of salvaging something ended when a defensive mix-up gifted Leeds forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin a third.
Leeds moved to 17th place on 14 points from 14 games, three ahead of West Ham United, who play Manchester United on Thursday.
After nine defeats in 12 games in all competitions, Liverpool had hoped that a 2-0 win at West Ham at the weekend would be a turning point. But that optimism subsided as they struggled against Sunderland and were only spared when Florian Wirtz’s shot was deflected in off Mukiele.
Sunderland had seemed on course for their first win at Anfield since 1983 when Chemsdine Talbi put the visitors ahead in the 67th minute after a mistake by Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk. Sunderland’s Wilson Isidor squandered a chance to win it in added time when he raced through on goal and around Alisson, but his shot was cleared off the line by Federico Chiesa.
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