LONDON – In an English Premier League title race that never fails to produce twists and turns, the pendulum swung back again after a frustrating day for Manchester City.
Arsenal came from behind twice before scoring twice in added time to beat Aston Villa 4-2 in Saturday’s early kick-off and ending a three-game winning streak in the league.
City then conceded an equalizer in the second half and were held to a surprising 1-1 at Nottingham Forest after wasting chances to end the game. The normally prolific Erling Haaland was guilty of a glaring miss.
That put Arsenal back at the top of the league, two points ahead of City and with a game in hand after Pep Guardiola’s side took the lead on goal difference after beating the Gunners 3-1 on Wednesday.
Also, Chelsea’s struggles hit a new low after their 1-0 home loss to bottom Southampton, which should add even more pressure to manager Graham Potter.
The game also had some worrying scenes when Chelsea defender Cesar Azpilicueta suffered a head injury after being kicked in the face in the second half. He was taken away on a stretcher.
GUNNER’S RETURN
After losing an eight-point lead, Arsenal desperately needed to beat Villa and recover from midweek defeat by City.
It came thanks to a lucky late jump.
With the score at 2-2, Jorginho’s shot from outside the box hit the bar in the third minute of injury time and ricocheted off Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez’s head to put Mikel Arteta’s side ahead.
“We needed a magic moment and Jorginho produced it,” Arteta said of his signing, which came from Chelsea in January.
None of Chelsea’s expensive January signings seem poised to produce much at the moment. Instead, set piece specialist James Ward-Prowse scored the only goal at Stamford Bridge from a free-kick just before half-time.
The result follows three straight league draws and a 1-0 defeat by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League for Potter’s side. To make matters worse, Azpilicueta required extensive treatment on the field after being hit in the face by an attempted overhead kick by Sékou Mara in the 74th minute.
Azpilicueta was carried breathing on a stretcher after a 10-minute stoppage in play, wearing a neck brace and an oxygen mask.
In a goal-poor afternoon, three of the other six kickoffs in the afternoon also ended 1-0.
Fulham beat Brighton away, Everton picked up a crucial win over relegated Leeds and Bournemouth won at Wolves. A last-minute equalizer earned Brentford a 1-1 home draw with Crystal Palace.
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