18 February 2023

Arsenal win returns them to the top of the table as Manchester City slip up

18 February 2023

Arsenal climbed back to the top of the Premier League after scoring twice in stoppage-time to seal a 4-2 win at Aston Villa.

The Gunners twice hit back to level in the lunchtime kick-off at Villa Park before clinching all three points to leapfrog Manchester City into top spot after Pep Guardiola’s side were later held 1-1 at Nottingham Forest.

Arsenal went ahead against Villa in the third minute of added time when  Jorginho’s shot struck the crossbar and rebounded in after hitting goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez on the back of the head.

Substitute Gabriel Martinelli then struck Arsenal’s fourth, tapping into an empty net after Martinez had gone up for a late corner.

Ollie Watkins and Philippe Coutinho had the home side ahead on two occasions, only for fine strikes from Bukayo Saka and Oleksandr Zinchenko to level for the north London team.

City, now two points behind the Gunners, who have a game in hand, missed a hatful of chances after Bernardo Silva’s 20-yard shot had given them an interval lead.

Erling Haaland had volleyed against the crossbar and City were punished in the 84th minute when Chris Wood tapped home Morgan Gibbs-White’s cross at the far post.

Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo scored first-half goals as Liverpool won 2-0 at 10-man Newcastle in the evening kick-off.

Jurgen Klopp’s side made it back-to-back league wins for the first time since December and sent the Magpies to their first top-flight defeat in 18 matches.

Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope was shown a straight red card in the 22nd minute for handling outside the box, while Eddie Howe’s side twice hit the woodwork in the first half, through Allan Saint-Maximin and Dan Burn’s header.

Fulham moved above Brighton into sixth place as Manor Solomon’s 88th-minute winner secured them a 1-0 win at the Amex Stadium and Chelsea’s poor run continued as they lost 1-0 at home to managerless Southampton.

James Ward-Prowse’s trademark free-kick in first-half stoppage time lifted the Saints to within a point of safety and left Graham Potter’s side with just two wins in their last 14 games in all competitions.

Everton climbed out of the relegation zone thanks to Seamus Coleman’s solitary goal in a 1-0 home win against fellow strugglers Leeds.

Coleman’s 64th-minute strike clinched Sean Dyche his second win in three games in charge and sent managerless Leeds into the bottom three as their winless league run extended to 10 matches.

Bournemouth also hauled themselves out of the relegation places as Marcus Tavernier’s second-half goal secured them their first win in eight league games, 1-0 win at Wolves.

Vitaly Janelt’s stoppage-time equaliser snatched Brentford a point in their 1-1 home draw against Crystal Palace.

Substitute Eberechi Eze gave Palace the lead midway through the second half, but Janelt levelled in the sixth minute of added time and the Bees extended their unbeaten league run to 11 matches.

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