LONDON (AP) — Arsenal carved through the Wolverhampton defence with a couple of intricate team moves and held on for a 2-1 home win to extend its lead atop the English Premier League on Saturday.
Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard scored in the opening 13 minutes at Emirates Stadium and Wolves barely had a sniff at goal before being gifted a way back into the game in the 86th, when Matheus Cunha swept home following a defensive mixup.
But the Gunners clung on through a nervous eight minutes of added time to go four points clear of second-placed Manchester City. The defending champion hosts Tottenham on Sunday.
This win came on the heels of Arsenal’s 6-0 rout of Lens in the Champions League on Wednesday, and the Gunners attack again looked back to its free-flowing best in the early stages. The return of striker Gabriel Jesus from an injury has clearly rejuvenated Arsenal’s forward line, and while the Brazilian did not get a goal or an assist, his link-up play in the area played a crucial role in both early goals.
The first came when Saka started and finished off a well-worked move in the sixth minute. Double-teamed on the right wing, Saka managed to thread the ball through to Jesus on the edge of the area, and the Brazil forward held off a defender before flicking the ball on to Takehiro Tomiyasu. The Japanese right back fed it back to Saka, who went past Craig Dawson before slotting it past goalkeeper Jose Sa.
The second came when left back Oleksandr Zinchenko chased down a wayward cross from Saka and played a one-two with Jesus before squaring the ball back to Odegaard, who calmly side-footed inside the far corner.
Sa had to go off in the 22nd for an apparent back injury and was replaced by Dan Bentley, who needed the woodwork to bail him out in the 37th. Saka fed Gabriel Martinelli on a quick counter but the Brazilian rolled his shot against the far post.
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya didn’t have a save to make until the 52nd, when he blocked a shot by Cunha from a tight angle.
Saka nearly curled in a long-range strike that went just over the bar in the 75th, and Bentley pulled off a double save to deny Leandro Trossard and Saka in the 82nd.
Then, out of nowhere, Wolves was revived when Arsenal failed to clear the ball in its area and it fell to Cunha, who swept it past Raya.
Arsenal nearly responded immediately as substitute Eddie Nketiah was played through on goal by Odegaard, but rolled his finish against the post.
That made for a nervy finish but Wolves couldn’t trouble Raya again. ___
Burnley 5, Sheffield United 0
In Burnley, the home side scored the fastest English Premier League goal of the season — inside 16 seconds — on its way to a 5-0 win over 10-man Sheffield United that lifted the team out of last place and ended its record seven-match losing run at home in stylish fashion.
Jay Rodriguez’s deflected header gave Vincent Kompany’s team a perfect start at Turf Moor. Jacob Bruun Larsen made it 2-0 in the 29th minute after running onto a ball over the top of the defense before stroking home a low finish.
Sheffield United’s task got even tougher in first-half stoppage time when Oli McBurnie, who was already on a yellow card for elbowing Dara O’Shea, did the same thing on the same opponent to earn another booking and get sent off.
Zeki Amdouni, American-born winger Luca Koleosho — with his first league goal — and Josh Brownhill added further strikes in the second half for Burnley, which recorded its second win of the campaign. Both of the victories have come over fellow promoted teams, having also defeated Luton away in October.
Burnley moved above the beaten visitors and onto seven points but was still in the relegation zone.
Almost exactly 10 years ago to the day, Rodriguez scored an even faster goal — after 13.68 seconds — for Southampton at Chelsea.
He is the only player to score in the opening 15 seconds of two separate league matches, according to stats company Opta.
Brentford 3, Luton 1
In London, Brentford scored three second-half goals to beat Luton 3-1.
Neal Maupay opened the scoring in the 49th and Ben Mee added a second seven minutes later. Although Jacob Brown pulled a goal back after defensive sloppiness, Shandon Baptiste sealed victory with a close-range finish in the 81st.
However, the Bees’ injury troubles worsened when Kristoffer Ajer picked up a knock in the warmup.
Brentford moved up to 10th place and Luton stayed in fourth-to-last place, only two points above the relegation zone.
from Sportsnet.ca
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