{"id":424174,"date":"2025-12-04T13:36:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T13:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/424174\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T13:36:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T13:36:16","slug":"arsenal-pull-5-clear-as-villa-storm-back-at-brighton-to-go-3rd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/424174\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal pull 5 clear as Villa storm back at Brighton to go 3rd"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The victory extended the Gunners\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

Arsenal now sit on 33 points from 14 matches.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Chelsea\u2019s 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 \u2013 one ahead of Crystal Palace, who are fifth after Daniel Munoz gave them a 1-0 victory at struggling Burnley.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

Arsenal\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is always uncomfortable, because all Brentford need is a throw and it\u2019s chaos and adventure,\u201d Arteta said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne-nil is never enough against them, but I thought we dominated the game and created the biggest chances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seven-goal sizzler<\/strong><\/p>\n

A night after the nine-goal epic at Craven Cottage, Brighton and Villa served up a seven-goal sizzler on the south coast.<\/p>\n

Jan Paul van Hecke scrambled in from close range when Villa goalkeeper Marco Bizot \u2013 a late replacement for Emi Martinez \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Amadou Onana put Villa ahead when he touched in Matty Cash\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe players reacted and continued with our game plan to never give up. We kept the mentality and the resilience, really fantastic,\u201d manager Unai Emery said.<\/p>\n

Chelsea\u2019s 1-1 draw against Arsenal with 10 men last time out had fueled talk of a title bid, but they stuttered at Leeds.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Leeds moved to 17th place on 14 points from 14 games, three ahead of West Ham United, who play Manchester United on Thursday.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s shot was deflected in off Mukiele.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n


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