Arsenal settled fears of a collapse in their pursuit of a first Premier League title in 22 years by thrashing Leeds 4-0 on Saturday as Chelsea came from two goals down to beat West Ham 3-2.
Liverpool were also forced to come from behind to secure their first league win of the year as Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz shone in a 4-1 win over Newcastle.
The Gunners’ advantage over Manchester City and Aston Villa at the top of the table stretches to seven points as Mikel Arteta’s men took another step towards the title at Elland Road.
A first home defeat of the season last weekend to Manchester United capped a run of just two points from a possible nine in Arsenal’s previous three league games.
After finishing runners-up for the past three seasons, questions were raised over the mentality of Arteta’s men and their ability to get over the line in a title race.
The visitors were dealt another blow before kick-off as Bukayo Saka was injured in the warm-up.
But his replacement Noni Madueke played a major part in inflicting just a second defeat in 12 games on Leeds.
“A very impressive performance, a very impressive result, especially in the context that we’ve done it,” said Arteta.
Madueke’s cross was headed in by Martin Zubimendi to open the scoring.
Leeds goalkeeper Karl Darlow could then only parry another dangerous delivery from the England winger into his own goal before half-time.
Despite a fine run of form, Leeds remain only six points above the relegation zone.
Their first defeat at home since November was confirmed when the much-criticised Viktor Gyokeres latched onto Gabriel Martinelli’s cross to blast in his 11th goal since joining Arsenal from Sporting Lisbon.
Gabriel Jesus came off the bench to round off the scoring with a blistering strike four minutes from time.
Arsenal will be hoping local rivals Tottenham can do them a favour when City visit north London, while Villa host Brentford on Sunday.
Chelsea’s fine start under Liam Rosenior continued but they climbed into the top four the hard way after being outplayed by relegation-threatened West Ham for 45 minutes at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues were booed off at half-time by their own fans after goals from Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville gave the visitors a deserved lead.
A third consecutive league win would have taken Nuno Espirito Santo’s side to within two points of safety.
But they wilted under the weight of Chelsea pressure after Rosenior’s triple half-time substitution inspired a transformed second-half performance.
“The reaction in the second half tells me that we’ve got something really, really special here if I can utilise the squad in the correct way,” said Rosenior.
Two of those introduced at the break, Joao Pedro and Marc Cucurella, brought Chelsea level before Enzo Fernandez fired in the winner in stoppage time.
Liverpool climbed into fifth thanks to two of their big money summer signings beginning to return on that investment.
Newcastle deservedly led at Anfield when Anthony Gordon fired the Magpies in front.
But two goals in two minutes from Ekitike, the first of which was brilliantly set up by Wirtz, transformed the mood around Anfield and eased the rising pressure on Arne Slot.
The Reds rolled over a jaded Newcastle after the break as Mohamed Salah teed up Wirtz for his sixth goal in 10 games.
Ibrahima Konate then broke into tears after scoring Liverpool’s fourth in his first match since the death of his father.
Everton snatched a 1-1 draw at Brighton thanks to Beto’s 97th-minute equaliser in a result that does little for either side’s aspirations of European football next season.
Bournemouth ended any remaining worries of being dragged into a relegation fight as goals from Eli Kroupi and Alex Scott earned a 2-0 win at bottom-of-the-table Wolves. (JapanToday)
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