LONDON: Arsenal stretched their Premier League lead to four points as Eberechi Eze’s goal beat his former club Crystal Palace 1-0, while Manchester City lost 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday.
Bournemouth are now the Gunners’ closest challengers in second after they beat Nottingham Forest 2-0, while Tottenham climbed to third after a 3-0 win at Everton.
After Liverpool’s latest defeat to Brentford on Saturday, Arsenal enjoyed the perfect weekend as both their title rivals fell further behind as they go from strength to strength.
Eze left the Eagles to join Arsenal in a £60 million ($80 million) deal in August and his first Premier League goal was decisive as Mikel Arteta’s men were again able to lean on their set-piece prowess and a solid defense.
The England international blasted in on the volley after Palace failed to clear Declan Rice’s free-kick six minutes before half-time.
Arsenal again failed to hit top gear going forward, but didn’t need to as they kept a 10th clean sheet in 13 games in all competitions this season.
“The technique from Eze is unbelievable. We needed something special,” said Arteta.
“We didn’t score a second goal and when you don’t do that you are in danger, but we restricted them to very little.”
The only concern for Arteta was the sight of Rice and William Saliba having to be replaced in the second half due to injury.
Arsenal now lead fifth-placed City by six points and have a seven-point cushion over Liverpool in seventh.
- Haaland streak ends -
City appeared to be emerging as Arsenal’s biggest obstacle in the title race after a nine-game unbeaten run.
But Pep Guardiola’s men lost at Villa Park for the third consecutive season as Erling Haaland’s 12-game scoring streak came to an end.
Matty Cash’s stunning strike from outside the box on 19 minutes secured a fourth consecutive league win for Villa as Unai Emery’s men climb to seventh.
Haaland had a late goal ruled out for offside, but City’s lack of goal threat other than the Norwegian finally cost the visitors.
No City player other than Haaland has scored in the Premier League for a month.
“We were not aggressive enough,” said a disappointed Guardiola.
Spurs captain Micky van de Ven scored twice as Tottenham inflicted Everton’s first defeat at the new Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Pape Mate Sarr added a third late on to continue Tottenham’s strong start under Thomas Frank.
Bournemouth climbed up to second as Forest’s struggles continued despite a change in management.
Sean Dyche got his reign off to a winning start against Porto in the Europa League on Thursday, but Forest remain in the bottom three after they were convincingly beaten on the south coast.
Marcus Tavernier opened the scoring for the Cherries directly from a corner as the swirling wind caught out Matz Sels.
Eli Junior Kroupi then blasted in his fourth goal in six Premier League games to double Bournemouth’s lead.
Wolves remain bottom of the table after Burnley edged a 3-2 thriller in stoppage time at Molineux thanks to Lyle Foster.
Zian Flemming’s double put the visitors 2-0 up inside 30 minutes but Wolves hit back before half-time through Jorgen Strand Larsen and Marshall Munetsi.
Foster’s late strike propelled the Clarets five points clear of the relegation zone and left Wolves now six points adrift of safety.
