Chelsea and Arsenal shared the spoils in a tense and at times bruising 1-1 battle at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, keeping the London sides level in the Premier League, but still nine points adrift of leaders Liverpool. Gabriel Martinelli put the visitors in front in the 60th minute, turning in a neatly lifted ball from Martin Odegaard, whose influence on his return from injury proved crucial after the Gunners’ failure to score in their last two games. Chelsea equalised 10 minutes later when substitute Enzo Fernandez pushed the ball to the ever-lively Pedro Neto just outside the Arsenal area and the Portuguese stepped to one side and shot low to David Raya’s left. The result lifted Chelsea to third and Arsenal to fourth in the table, both on 19 points. In Sundays earlier matches, Manchester United recorded a 3-0 win over Leicester City while Ipswich Town stunned Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 for their first Premier League victory in 22 years. Third-placed Nottingham Forest’s fine run came to an end in a 3-1 home defeat to Newcastle United.

Under Interim coach Ruud van Nistelrooy United are on a four-game unbeaten run since the sacking of Erik ten Hag. Bruno Fernandes smashed in his fourth goal in four games and created the second goal as his glancing touch deflected off Leicester defender Victor Kristiansen for an own goal. Alejandro Garnacho came off the bench and scored with a stunning strike into the top corner to round off the scoring. United remain down in 13th but are now just three points off fifth. Meanwhile, Spurs were finally made to pay for their slow starts at home as they went behind for the 13th time in 15 Premier League games at home this year. Ipswich’s Sammie Szmodics opened the scoring with an overhead kick on 31 minutes and Liam Delap doubled the visitors’ lead. Rodrigo Bentancur reduced the arrears for Spurs with a powerful header but they fell to a fifth league defeat in 11 games. Ipswich move out of the relegation zone, while Spurs slip to 10th.

At the City Ground, Forest, who are only behind Liverpool and Manchester City at the top of the table, took the lead through Murlo’s towering header from Anthony Elanga’s free-kick. But Newcastle hit back strongly after half-time. Alexander Isak’s fourth goal in as many games began the fightback. Joelinton then curled in a sensational strike from the edge of the box before Harvey Barnes sealed the three points that lifts the Magpies into eighth. On Saturday, Liverpool opened a five-point lead at the top as breakaway goals by Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah sealed a 2-0 win at home to Aston Villa. City’s earlier defeat was the perfect pre-match tonic for Liverpool and Nunez’s 20th-minute strike following a lightning counter-attack set the tone at Anfield. Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher made some vital saves to preserve his side’s lead but Salah raced clear in the 84th minute to wrap up the points and maintain their sensational start. They have won 15 out of 17 games in all competitions since Arne Slot replaced Jurgen Klopp.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan