Aston Villa 2 vs Arsenal 4
OLEKSANDR Zinchenko insists Arsenal can achieve “everything they want” after Mikel Arteta’s side twice came from behind to beat Aston Villa and reignite their Premier League title hopes.
The Gunners scored twice in stoppage time to return to the top of the table and end a run of three games without a win.
Ollie Watkins gave Villa an early lead and Philippe Coutinho, making his first Premier League start under former Gunners boss Unai Emery, added a second after Bukayo Saka equalised.
Zinchenko then restored parity on the hour, before the drama kicked into overdrive with two stoppage-time goals – an own goal from Emi Martinez after Jorginho’s strike hit the bar, and a breakaway finish from substitute Gabriel Martinelli.
Nottingham Forest 1 vs Man City 1
Kyle Walker said Manchester City’s performance was “not acceptable” after they missed the opportunity to return to the top of the Premier League with a draw against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
Chris Wood’s late goal cancelled out Bernardo Silva’s rocket from 20 yards, with the visitors missing chances in abundance to put the game to bed.
“We’ve dropped two points here,” said Walker. “The chances we had in front of goal – we need to be better, [with] the calibre of players we’ve got up front we should be scoring them and putting them away.”
Erling Haaland volleyed against the crossbar and ballooned the rebound over the top after Aymeric Laporte’s header was brilliantly saved by Forest keeper Keylor Navas.
But Morgan Gibbs-White’s fizzed cross was tapped in at the far post in the 84th minute for Wood’s first Forest goal.
“I’m not blaming anyone,” Walker told Match of the Day. “If the strikers aren’t getting the luck or hitting the target, us as a defensive unit need to hang onto the 1-0 victory and secure the three points.
“We know that’s not acceptable. That’s not me being downbeat but we’ve set such high standards over the last few years that it should be four or five nil, game done and we move onto the next game.”
The draw extended Forest’s unbeaten home run to eight games and meant City dropped to second after Arsenal returned to the top with a 4-2 comeback win against Aston Villa earlier on Saturday.
“The hard work we did on Wednesday [in the win against Arsenal], it hasn’t gone to waste, but this is a blow because you put that good shift in and play a game that we’re not used to with the low percent of possession, so to come here and drop two points is not ideal,” Walker said.
“Hopefully there’s a few twists and turns in our direction now and we can go and be up there or there abouts to go and win this Premier League.”
Chelsea 0 vs Southampton 1
Chelsea’s poor form under manager Graham Potter continued as a trademark free-kick from James Ward-Prowse earned the Premier League’s bottom club Southampton a surprise victory at Stamford Bridge.
Ward-Prowse scored the game’s only goal in first-half stoppage time, sending a curling effort over the Chelsea wall and into the corner from the edge of the penalty area.
The result means Chelsea have now won just two games in their last 14 in all competitions.
Managerless Southampton will hope it can kick-start their attempts to escape the relegation zone.
The visitors started magnificently in west London and twice went close to scoring before Ward-Prowse’s strike, with Kamaldeen Sulemana shooting straight at Kepa Arrizabalaga before Kalidou Koulibaly blocked Stuart Armstrong’s follow-up.
Newscastle 0 vs Liverpool 2
Liverpool’s pursuit of a top-four Premier League finish gathered further momentum at the expense of Newcastle United’s similar ambitions with a crucial win at St James’ Park.
Jurgen Klopp’s side, who secured their first league win of 2023 in the Merseyside derby against Everton on Monday, took control with two early goals from Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo.
Newcastle’s miserable night worsened with a first-half red card for goalkeeper Nick Pope, ruling him out of next Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Manchester United at Wembley.
Nunez powered home the opener from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s pass after 10 minutes, then Gakpo scored for the second successive match seven minutes later, pouncing on Mohamed Salah’s piece of creation to beat Pope.
The Newcastle keeper then left referee Anthony Taylor with no option but to send him off after 22 minutes when he misjudged a dash from goal in an attempt to challenge Salah. He slipped and had to handle to stop Liverpool’s Egypt forward from racing clear.
Ironically, Pope’s replacement Martin Dubravka is cup-tied for Wembley having played for Manchester United in an earlier round, leaving former Liverpool keeper Loris Karius as the most likely contender to face Erik ten Hag’s side.
Newcastle were unable to overcome the handicap as they went down to only their second league defeat this season, the first also coming against Liverpool at Anfield in August.