Arsenal remain two points clear at the top of the Premier League thanks to a 1-0 win at Leicester on Saturday, as Manchester City maintained their pursuit of the Gunners by thrashing Bournemouth 4-1.
Gabriel Martinelli was the match-winner for Arsenal at the King Power stadium in a game dominated by the visitors.
“For the amount of time we dominated ball possession, territory and the amount of situations we had in the final third, we should have created much more and scored more goals,” said Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.
“When you don’t, you have to be exceptional in your defensive work and we conceded one shot. Defensively we were outstanding.”
Arteta’s decision to start both Martinelli and Leandro Trossard in the front three at the expense of Eddie Nketiah paid dividends.
Trossard had a brilliant first half strike into the top corner controversially ruled out by a VAR review for a foul by Ben White on Leicester goalkeeper Danny Ward.
But Martinelli was not to be denied one minute into the second period when he coolly slotted home from Trossard’s pass.
Bukayo Saka had a second goal ruled out for offside as Arsenal failed to turn their domination into a more convincing scoreline.
City had also been guilty of a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal in 1-1 draws away to Nottingham Forest and RB Leipzig in the past week.
But the defending champions put Bournemouth to the sword to cut the gap at the top back to two points.
Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden were all on target for Pep Guardiola’s men before half-time.
Alvarez’s shot was then turned into his own net by Chris Mepham at the start of the second half.
But City have now gone six games without a clean sheet as Jefferson Lerma netted a consolation for the Cherries, who drop into the relegation zone.
– Toothless Liverpool –
Liverpool failed to make amends for their 5-2 thrashing at the hands of Real Madrid in midweek in a poor 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace.
The Reds’ chances of Champions League football next season are looking slim as they remain six points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham.
Mohamed Salah hit the bar in the second half for Jurgen Klopp’s men, who edge up to seventh in the table with a point.
Leeds had not won a league game since before the World Cup break, a run which saw Jesse Marsch sacked.
But they snapped that streak by beating Southampton 1-0 in a clash between the bottom two before kick-off at Elland Road.
Junior Firpo scored the only goal 13 minutes from time to lift Leeds out of the bottom three.
“The club needed it after 10 games without a win,” said Leeds boss Javi Gracia after his first match in charge.
“I’m very happy for everyone who works for the club, the fans and especially the players because they were working without rewards.”
West Ham were the other big winners of the day in the battle to beat the drop as four goals in the final 20 minutes potentially saved David Moyes’ job in a 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
According to reports this week, the former Manchester United manager faced the sack if the Hammers lost.
Two goals in three minutes from Danny Ings transformed the mood around the London Stadium before Declan Rice and Michail Antonio sealed West Ham’s second league win since October.
Everton slipped back into the drop zone after losing 2-0 at home to Aston Villa.
Ollie Watkins’ penalty and Emi Buendia’s strike condemned Sean Dyche to a first home defeat since taking charge of the Toffees.
