Arsenal returned to winning ways in the Premier League with Bukayo Saka and captain Martin Odegaard inspiring a comfortable 3-0 home victory against Nottingham Forest last night .
Mikel Arteta’s side desperately needed three points to revive their title hopes after four league games without a win, and the result never looked in doubt after Saka’s early opener.
The England forward combined with the influential Odegaard to finish in style after 15 minutes, and the hosts should have been further ahead before half-time with Forest keeper Matz Sels making several fine saves to keep his side in it.
Forest began the game level on points with Arsenal, but their hopes vanished when half-time substitute Thomas Partey doubled Arsenal’s lead with a curled finish in the 52nd minute. Substitute Ethan Nwaneri added a late third.
Victory kept Arsenal in fourth place with 22 points from 12 games, six points behind leaders Liverpool, who faced bottom club Southampton. Forest slipped to sixth.
At the King Power Stadium, goals from Nicolas Jackson and Enzo Fernandez helped Chelsea to a 2-1 win at Leicester City that would have been much more comfortable if Blues winger Noni Madueke had not blocked teammate Cole Palmer’s goalbound shot.
Chelsea dominated their hosts for most of the game, but a lack of sharpness in front of goal almost cost them late on as Leicester pulled a goal back through a Jordan Ayew penalty, leading to a nervous final few minutes.
After draws against Manchester United and Arsenal before the international break, Chelsea came flying out of the traps and Jackson punished Leicester for not clearing their lines in the 15th minute.
The visitors won a long Leicester kick-out and immediately started making their way back up the pitch before Fernandez found Jackson, who took a touch before flicking the ball past Foxes keeper Mads Hermansen with the outside of his right boot.
Chelsea continued to dominate and should have gone two up in the 54th minute, but Madueke ran ahead of the play and could not get out of the way of Palmer’s close-range shot at an empty net, deflecting his effort wide.
Chelsea captain Fernandez spared his blushes with his first goal for the club in the 75th-minute, reacting quickest after Hermansen saved from Jackson to head home the rebound, but the Foxes did not give up. Substitute Bobby De Cordova-Reid threw them a lifeline when he was tripped in the box in stoppage time, and Ayew just about squeezed his spot-kick past Hermansen, leading to a late onslaught from the home team.
Their late charge, however, came too late to prevent Chelsea from sealing a win that moved the third-placed Blues up to 22 points in the table. Leicester are 16th on 10 points. “We played well and we won the game, which is the most important thing. The job is done, we have the three points,” said defender Wesley Fofana, who joined Chelsea form Leicester in 2022.
"We like this pressure. We play for this and to finish at the top. We try to win every game to stay high. It felt great to come back here, two incredible years here.”
Leicester manager Steve Cooper said he was dismayed by some of the referee’s decisions, but that there were positives to take from the game. “Defensively, we were generally OK. We need to be showing good courage and belief. If we do that, we can create chances and be a threat,” he said.
Reuters
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