Arsenal 3 [Zubimendi 42; Gyökeres 66, 90+3] Sunderland 0
Viktor Gyökeres scored a second-half brace as Arsenal piled the pressure on rivals Manchester City with a statement 3-0 win over Sunderland to move nine points clear in the Premier League title race.
Martin Zubimendi fired Mikel Arteta’s side on their way with a brilliant long-range opener just three minutes before half-time at the Emirates Stadium.
Gyökeres doubled the hosts’ advantage six minutes after he was introduced as a substitute on the hour mark. He then added a breakaway third for Arsenal deep into stoppage time.
Pep Guardiola’s City are now tasked with pegging Arsenal’s advantage back to six on the eve of their daunting trip to face champions Liverpool at Anfield, while Aston Villa are nine points off the pace following their 1-1 draw against Bournemouth.
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Arsenal’s latest victory puts them firmly in the driving seat to end their 22-year wait for a league title with just 39 points to play for across the final 13 fixtures.
Sunderland have been the league’s surprise package this season but they were able to offer little to knock Arsenal off their stride, with Arteta’s men following up their win against Chelsea here on Tuesday – which secured their place in the final of the Carabao Cup – with another clean-sheet victory.
Manchester United 2 [Mbeumo 38; Fernandes 81] Tottenham Hotspur 0
Michael Carrick oversaw a fourth straight victory as revitalised Manchester United United capitalised on Cristian Romero’s red card to extend Tottenham’s wait for a first Premier League win of 2026.
The Red Devils have been reborn since the short-term appointment of their former midfielder, whose honeymoon period continued as triumphs against Manchester City, Arsenal and Fulham were followed up on Saturday lunchtime.
Bryan Mbeumo scored from a well-worked corner shortly after Tottenham captain Romero saw red for a reckless first-half challenge on Casemiro, with Bruno Fernandes wrapping up a deserved 2-0 victory against Carrick’s old club.
United’s first win against Spurs since 2022 increased their stranglehold on fourth spot ahead of Tuesday’s trip to London to play West Ham.
Tottenham host Newcastle that night looking to end a seven-match wait for a Premier League win, but Destiny Udogie looks to have joined their lengthy injury list for a match skipper Romero will miss following his latest red card.
The Argentina international made headlines at the start of the week by claiming it was “disgraceful” Spurs only had 11 players available after he went off ill during last Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City.
Wolves 1 [Arokodare 54] Chelsea 3 [Palmer 13 pen, 35 pen, 38]
Cole Palmer struck a first-half hat-trick as Chelsea beat Wolves 3-1 at Molineux to make it four Premier League wins from four under Liam Rosenior.
After a tough spell for the England forward, marred by fitness issues, a dearth of goals and reports he is unsettled, this was a return of the free-scoring talisman that for so long carried the team but who now looks just one part of a balanced side brimming with promise.
Two of his strikes were penalties given away by dreadful Wolves defensive decisions but converted impeccably, before a third effort finished off at the end of a flowing Chelsea move made him the club’s all-time record hat-trick scorer in the Premier League era, with four.
That took him ahead of such Blues royalty as Frank Lampard, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Didier Drogba.
Rosenior’s Chelsea have a long road to match the honours brought to Stamford Bridge by that trio, but this was further evidence of the soundness of the head coach’s appointment as the visitors cruised through against admittedly limited opposition.
Rob Edwards’s team were abysmal in the first half but much improved in the second, by which time they trailed by three in the driving Wolverhampton rain and were long beaten.
Tolu Arokodare scored to turn supporters’ jeers briefly into cheers but their team remain 18 points from 17th place and Championship-bound.
Newcastle United 2 [Botman 24; Guimarães 79 pen] Brentford 3 [Jamelt 37; Igor Thiago 45+2 pen; Quattara 85]
Dango Ouattara blasted Keith Andrews’s Brentford to victory at Newcastle to boost their hopes of European qualification and further dent those of the Magpies.
The 23-year-old Burkina Faso international struck five minutes from time to seal a 3-2 win at a wintry St James’ Park.
It proved another difficult day for the Magpies, who had taken an early lead through Sven Botman’s first goal since New Year’s Day 2024, only for Vitaly Janelt and Igor Thiago’s penalty – his 18th goal of the season – to turn the game on its head before Bruno Guimarães levelled from the spot.
Eddie Howe’s men have now lost four times at home this season and dropped 19 points from a winning position, a fact which was not lost on a disappointed home crowd on the final whistle.
Bournemouth 1 [Rayan 55] Aston Villa [Rogers 22]
Rayan’s first goal in English football ensured Bournemouth split the points with Aston Villa in an entertaining 1-1 draw at the Vitality Stadium.
Morgan Rogers opened the scoring for the visitors against the run of play in the 22nd minute, and while the Cherries outshot Villa 13-2 in the first half – five of them on target – they could not capitalise on their chances before the break.
Rayan came close, clipping the crossbar in the first half before opening his Cherries account 10 minutes into the second.
Villa boss Unai Emery benefited from a big afternoon from goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who made four first-half saves and another three after the break.
Fulham 1[Mykolenko 18 og] Everton 2 [Dewsbury-Hall 75; Leno 83 og]
A late turnaround helped Everton continue their fine away form with a 2-1 win at Fulham.
The Toffees’ four-match unbeaten run on the road looked set to end thanks to Vitalii Mykolenko’s unfortunate 18th-minute own goal following a fine initial save by Jordan Pickford.
It would have made ugly viewing for David Moyes, up in the stands due to a touchline ban, but he watched Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall level with 15 minutes left before a corner by the same player was punched into his own net by Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno to consign Marco Silva’s men to a rare home defeat.
Burnley 0 West Ham 2 [Summerville 13; Castellanos 26]
West Ham moved to within three points of safety and pushed Burnley a step closer to relegation with a 2-0 win that saw sections of the Turf Moor crowd turn on Scott Parker.
Crysencio Summerville scored for a fifth straight game 13 minutes in and when Taty Castellanos doubled the lead 13 minutes later, it felt like game over not just for the afternoon, but for Burnley’s season as a whole as they were left 11 points adrift of 17th place.
Without a win in 16 league matches – one shy of a club record that dates from 1889-90 – Burnley could not take advantage of a home fixture against a West Ham side who travelled north with only one win in their last 10 on the road, but who left within touching distance of Nottingham Forest.
Many Burnley fans have now seen enough. Late in the first half, substitute Jacob Bruun Larsen tried to fire up fans behind the goal while warming up. Instead they responded with a chant of ‘you’re not fit to wear the shirt’. Moments later, they followed it with ‘we want Parker out’.
