THE Premier League title race took another twist yesterday as Arsenal climbed back to the top of the standings with a 4-2 win at Aston Villa while champions Manchester City slipped up at Nottingham Forest.
Despite dominating the match, City conceded a late equaliser at Forest to draw 1-1 and now trail Arsenal by two points having played one game more.
Liverpool ended Newcastle United’s long unbeaten run in the Premier League through early goals by Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo that gave them a 2-0 victory at St James’ Park.
Juergen Klopp’s side caught Newcastle cold with a scintillating start, and the stunned hosts were reduced to 10 men in the 22nd minute when goalkeeper Nick Pope was red-carded.
At the other end of the table, bottom side Southampton earned a shock 1-0 win at Chelsea, who continue to struggle under Graham Potter, while Everton and Bournemouth claimed valuable victories in their quest for survival.
Arsenal reinvigorated their push for a first Premier League title in two decades with two stoppage-time goals giving them a thrilling win at Villa Park.
With a high-quality attacking game going into added time at 2-2, Arsenal midfielder Jorginho saw a looping shot come off the bar and bounce off the head of Villa’s Argentina World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez for a cruel own goal.
Minutes later, with the final whistle about to go and Villa piling forward – Martinez included – Arsenal broke forward again for Gabriel Martinelli to stroke into an empty net for the Londoners’ fourth in front of their delirious fans.
It was Arsenal’s first win in four Premier League games and followed a dispiriting Wednesday night loss at home to City, who had closed an eight-point gap from a month ago.
“If you want to be at the top, you are going to have to win games in many different ways,” coach Mikel Arteta said.
The champions dominated possession at the City Ground against the team they had beaten 6-0 in the reverse fixture earlier this season and deservedly took the lead four minutes before the break with Bernardo Silva slamming the ball home.
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 the top.
That miss proved pivotal as, out of nowhere, Forest’s January signing Chris Wood tapped home at the far post to level six minutes from time and lift the roof off a damp City Ground.
A trademark James Ward-Prowse free kick earned managerless Southampton a precious three points at Chelsea in a scrappy 1-0 win to pile more pressure on manager Potter.
Chelsea had 17 attempts at goal, five on target, their highest shot tally without scoring at home in the Premier League since May 2021.
Despite spending nearly $360 million in the January transfer window, Chelsea are languishing in 10th place on 31 points from 23 games and are 10 points adrift of the top four.
Everton defender Seamus Coleman’s goal from the tightest of angles secured a 1-0 victory over fellow strugglers Leeds United at Goodison Park and moved the Merseyside club out of the relegation zone.
Bournemouth also moved out of the relegation zone to sit level on 21 points with Everton thanks to a second-half strike from Marcus Tavernier that gave them a 1-0 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Elsewhere, Fulham continued their fine season with a 1-0 win at Brighton & Hove Albion moving them up to sixth, while Brentford and Crystal Palace drew 1-1.
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