Arsenal triumphed in the summit of the 19th day against Aston Villa (4-1) and cemented its stature as a title candidate on Tuesday in a Premier League where Chelsea and Manchester United are slowing down.
Held at half-time, the Gunners sent four shots in the second half by Gabriel (48th), Martin Zubimendi (52nd), Leandro Trossard (69th) and Gabriel Jesus (78th), who had just come on. The visitors saved the honor by Ollie Watkins in added time (90th + 4), but the end was brutal for Unai Emery’s team, arriving in London with the momentum of eight successive victories in the championship, and even eleven in all competitions.
Arsenal therefore ends the first half of the season in the lead with 45 points, regardless of the result of their runner-up Manchester City (2nd, 40 pts) on Thursday in Sunderland. Mikel Arteta’s team distances itself from Aston Villa (3rd, 39 pts) at the same time as a revenge on the Birmingham club, which beat it 2-1 at the start of the month. Behind, there is Liverpool (4th, 32 pts) who played one match less, then Chelsea (5th) and Manchester United (6th), with 30 points each.
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United, chilling clash
The Blues and the Red Devils both missed their point on Tuesday, respectively against Bournemouth (2-2) and Wolverhampton (1-1). The most notable poor performance is surely to the credit of Manchester United, unable to beat the bottom, which almost everyone has managed to do in the Premier League this season. Wolves obtained the third point of their nightmarish exercise on Tuesday at Old Trafford and while they were trailing.
As for Chelsea, they lacked the defensive base and offensive precision to win against Bournemouth, fifteenth in free fall for several weeks (no victory in ten matches). The winner of the Club World Cup conceded two goals from long touches that David Brooks (6th, 0-1) and Justin Kluivert (27th, 2-2) exploited. In the meantime, he equalized on a penalty from Cole Palmer (15th, 1-1) and took the lead on a strike from Enzo Fernandez (23rd, 2-1). On the podium in November and seen as title candidates, the Londoners only managed to beat Everton over the past month, during which they drew four matches and suffered two defeats.
Newcastle redress
Newcastle gave themselves a little breathing room by beating Burnley (3-1), the penultimate who experienced a first quarter of an hour in hell. At home, the Clarets conceded a goal from Joelinton after 65 seconds, then another from Yoane Wissa five minutes later, before losing defender Maxime Esteve to injury, just out of the infirmary.
The visitors managed their advantage throughout the match to record their first victory in four league matches (against a draw and two defeats). Siamese brothers of the month of December with a perfectly identical record (three defeats and three draws each), West Ham and Brighton shared the points (2-2) at the London Stadium.
There was another duel between teams in small form and it was Everton who won 2-0 at Nottingham Forest.
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