EPL: Arsenal beat Brighton to stretch lead as Man City falter

Premier League leaders Arsenal stretched their lead over Manchester City to seven points on Wednesday with a 1-0 win at Brighton, while Pep Guardiola’s men were held to a costly 2-2 draw by Nottingham Forest.

Arsenal have long been favourites to win their first English league crown since 2004 but City have loomed large in their rear-view mirror.

On a busy night of action, the Gunners drew first blood in the battle for English title as Bukayo Saka celebrated his 300th Arsenal appearance with a goal in the ninth minute at Brighton’s Amex Stadium.

Saka received the ball on the right before cutting in and hitting a shot from the edge of the penalty area which took a deflection off Carlos Baleba before squirming through the legs of goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.

Brighton dominated possession and had more shots but Arsenal kept them at bay, digging deep to see out a nerve-jangling 1-0 win.

Second-placed City, who have a game in hand, appeared to be on course to stay within five points of top spot.

But they twice surrendered their lead to relegation-threatened Forest, whose battling performance kept them out of the drop zone, above West Ham on goal difference.

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Michael Carrick also suffered his first defeat over his two spells as Manchester United’s interim manager, losing 2-1 to 10-man Newcastle at St James’ Park.

Elsewhere in the tight race for Champions League qualification, Joao Pedro scored a hat-trick for Chelsea, who came from behind to beat Aston Villa 4-1, pushing Liverpool down to sixth spot.

The win lifted Chelsea to fifth place in the Premier League, three points behind fourth-placed Villa.

West Ham beat Fulham 1-0 courtesy of a goal from Crysencio Summerville to move level with Forest on 28 points.

Forest and West Ham are now just one point behind Tottenham, who host Crystal Palace on Thursday.

The Star