LONDON: Arsenal brushed Burnley aside 2-0 on Saturday to surge seven points clear at the top of the Premier League as struggling Nottingham Forest held in-form Manchester United to a 2-2 draw.
Chelsea edged Tottenham 1-0 to climb to fourth in the table while champions Liverpool prepared to host Aston Villa in the late kick-off, desperate to end a four-match losing streak that has derailed their title defense.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have won five league games in a row to position themselves as firm favorites to end their painful two-decade wait to be crowned English champions.
Viktor Gyokeres headed the Gunners ahead following a Declan Rice corner in the first half at Turf Moor for his first league goal since mid-September — yet more joy for the set-piece specialists.
England midfielder Rice himself headed home to double the visitors’ lead in the 35th minute and put them in total control.
“The first half was exceptional — we scored two goals and gave nothing away,” Arteta told the BBC.
“That was the platform. We had to make a few changes and didn’t have that much control in the second half. Defending was exceptional again, we didn’t give anything.”
Arsenal, who have now won nine games in a row in all competitions, have enviable options in attack but their team is built on a rock-solid defense that has conceded just three league goals in 10 games this season.
- United rescue point -
Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United, seeking their fourth straight league win, were on track to climb to second in the table when leading 1-0 at the City Ground courtesy of Casemiro’s first-half opener.
But Forest, who had not scored a league goal since September 20, roared back after the break as their confidence flooded back.
Morgan Gibbs-White headed the home side level in the 48th minute before Nicolo Savona tapped in just two minutes later to complete a dramatic turnaround.
But Amad Diallo levelled with a sweet volley in the 81st minute to rescue a point for United, who have been much improved in recent weeks after a poor start to the season.
Amorim, marking a year since his appointment as United manager, was disappointed to drop points but encouraged by his team’s mentality.
“I feel in the recent past if we had had this situation (from 1-0 up to 2-1 down) we would have struggled so much more than today,” he said.
“My feeling is we played well but we dropped a little bit of energy. When we have the full energy we are the better team. My players are giving everything but we have the potential to do better.”
Forest, who last month appointed Sean Dyche as manager to replace the sacked Ange Postecoglou, remain in the relegation zone, four points behind 17th-placed Burnley.
Chelsea maintained their hex over Spurs, winning 1-0 courtesy of a goal from Joao Pedro for a fifth straight Premier League win against their London rivals.
Enzo Maresca’s men now trail third-placed Tottenham on goal difference alone.
Rock-bottom Wolves, reduced to 10 men in the first half following the dismissal of Emmanuel Agbadou, are an alarming eight points from safety after a miserable 3-0 defeat at Fulham, with manager Vitor Pereira under mounting pressure.
Crystal Palace returned to winning ways courtesy of a header from Jean-Philippe Mateta and an own goal from Brentford’s Nathan Collins, which made it 2-0.
The evergreen Danny Welbeck netted his sixth Premier League goal of the season and there were also two for Diego Gomez as Brighton pummelled Leeds 3-0.
Bournemouth, second in the Premier League, travel to face Manchester City on Sunday.
