FOOTBALL – Premier League leaders Arsenal slammed the door shut on charging Aston Villa with a 4-1 home thrashing of Unai Emery’s side last night that kept them clear at the top of the table going into the New Year.
Goals by Gabriel Magalhaes and Martin Zubimendi early in the second half gave Arsenal control of a game that looked fraught with danger against a Villa side on an 11-match winning streak.
Defender Gabriel bundled in the opener from a corner in the 48th minute before Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard slid a pass through for Zubimendi to score four minutes later.
Arsenal secured the points when Leandro Trossard fired home from the edge of the area before Gabriel Jesus came off the bench to add the fourth.
Ollie Watkins grabbed a consolation goal for Villa in stoppage time.
Arsenal moved five points clear of second-placed Manchester City, who can close the gap when they go to Sunderland on Thursday.
Villa, who will rue not getting ahead in an impressive first half, stayed in third place, six points adrift of Arsenal after their first defeat for nearly two months.
Meanwhile, Manchester United suffered a frustrating end to 2025 last night as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Wolverhampton Wanderers, with the Premier League’s bottom side collecting their third point of the season.
Dutch forward Joshua Zirkzee made the most of a rare start by giving United the lead with a deflected shot from the edge of the box in the 27th minute, but Wolves managed to level just before the break thanks to a header from Ladislav Krejci.
In the second half, Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa had to scramble to prevent a header from teammate Yerson Mosquera from going into the net, while his United counterpart Senne Lammens pulled off a superb double save of his own to deny Krejci and Mosquera in quick succession.
Patrick Dorgu thought he had snatched a 90th-minute winner for United but the goal was chalked off for offside following a VAR review, leaving United sixth in the standings with 30 points.
Wolves are bottom with three points from 19 games.
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