LONDON: Arsenal beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 on Sunday with second-half goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, as the north London side provisionally moved back to the top of the Premier League standings.
Aston Villa, fresh from potentially season-defining wins against Manchester City and Arsenal, came from behind to beat 10-man Brentford 2-1, while West Ham United crushed Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, runners-up to City last season, dominated at the Emirates, wasting a succession of openings but they finally broke through in the 53rd minute.
Brighton defender Jan Paul van Hecke jumped to head a corner away but could only flick it into the path of Jesus, who headed the ball into an empty net.
Havertz doubled the lead for the Gunners in the closing minutes, slotting past goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen after being found by Eddie Nketiah.
“It’s a great team, they play very nice football. It’s tough to play against them. We knew we’re strong at our house here. Today it went quite well,” Havertz said.
Across London, Unai Emery’s Villa fell behind to a Keane Lewis-Potter goal on the stroke of half-time at Brentford.
However, Brentford’s Ben Mee was sent off in the 71st minute and six minutes later Villa were level when Alex Moreno got on the end of a Leon Bailey cross.
Ollie Watkins completed the turnaround against his former club when he headed in a Boubacar Kamara flick-on from a corner with five minutes to go.
Villa now have 38 points from 17 games, one behind Arsenal and one ahead of Liverpool, who kick off later on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Mohammed Kudus scored twice and Lucas Paqueta provided all three assists at the London Stadium as West Ham put last week’s 5-0 drubbing by Fulham behind them.
The Ghana forward netted midway through the first period following a swift counter-attack, finishing powerfully after he was found by the impressive Paqueta.
West Ham doubled their advantage in the 32nd minute, when Paqueta and Kudus again combined to deadly effect and top-scorer Jarrod Bowen hit the post with goalkeeper Dan Bentley a bystander.
Wolves thought they had pulled a goal back just before the hour mark but Pablo Sarabia’s tap-in was ruled out for a marginal offside.
West Ham put the result beyond doubt when Bowen finished unerringly after receiving the ball from Paqueta.
In Saturday’s late match, Everton continued their remarkable climb back up the Premier League table after their 10-point deduction with a well-earned 2-0 win over Burnley at Turf Moor, their fourth consecutive victory and clean sheet and fifth win in six games.
Amadou Onana and Michael Keane scored for the Merseyside club — who were docked points last month for breaching profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) relating to losses — giving them 16 points and 16th place in the standings, seven points clear of the drop zone.
