A summary of Saturday’s action in the Premier League.
IMAGE: Leandro Trossard celebrates scoring Arsenal’s first goal in the Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, on Saturday. Photograph: Molly Darlington/Reuters
Goals from Leandro Trossard and Martin Odegaard gave Arsenal a gritty 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers that sent them back to the top of the Premier League table on Saturday after a game that is unlikely to live long in the memory.
Arsenal lead on 74 points, one point ahead of Manchester City, who have a game in hand having beaten Chelsea 1-0 earlier on Saturday to reach the FA Cup final. Liverpool are in third place on 71 points, also with a match in hand on the Gunners.
An early effort from Kai Havertz in the first minute suggested that fans were in for an exciting game, but the two sides quickly cancelled each other out as they struggled to create good goal-scoring opportunities.
The best of them fell to Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes on the half-hour mark as he went on a run down the right before unleashing a powerful shot that David Raya palmed onto the near post to avert the danger.
IMAGE: Arsenal’s Kai Havertz and Wolverhampton Wanderers’s Hwang Hee-chan battle for possession. Photograph: Molly Darlington/Reuters
Trossard broke the deadlock just before the break after a scrappy first half, Wolves defender Santiago Bueno steering the ball into his path while trying to dispossess Gabriel Jesus and the Belgian lashed it into the net off the right-hand post.
“I tried to get it on target and it went in super well. I’m pleased it went in. We really needed it,” Trossard said of his ninth league goal of the season, his best total in English football so far.
Knocked out of the Champions League in the last eight by Bayern Munich in midweek, Arsenal dominated the second half and Bukayo Saka might have added a second goal in stoppage time, but he blazed his effort high and wide and Declan Rice followed that up with a shot form the edge of the box that Wolves keeper Jose Sa did well to parry to safety.
Arsenal were not to be denied, and in the fifth minute of stoppage time Odegaard latched onto a pass from Rice and then reacted quickest as his pull-back was blocked, slotting the ball home at the near post from a tight angle to secure the three points.
Brentford thump Luton, move 10 points clear of drop zone
IMAGE: Yoane Wissa scores Brentford’s second goal against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road, Luton. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters
Brentford took a giant step towards guaranteeing Premier League football next season with a 5-1 thumping of relegation-threatened Luton Town at Kenilworth Road on Saturday, with Yoane Wissa scoring his first top-flight double for the Bees.
Ethan Pinnock, Keane Lewis-Potter and Kevin Schade also netted for the visitors, who were full value for the win as Luton showed little fight and quality until a late Luke Berry consolation in a display that will worry manager Rob Edwards.
Brentford move up to 14th with 35 points from 34 games and, while not mathematically safe, will feel it is almost job done. They are 10 points clear of third-bottom Luton, who have 25.
The visitors might have won by a greater margin but home goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski made several superb saves and the excellent Bryan Mbeumo struck the post as he ran the show for Brentford, who were without injured England forward Ivan Toney.
Burnley raise survival hopes with win at Sheffield United
IMAGE: Lorenz Assignon scores Burnley’s second goal against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, Sheffield. Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters
Burnley scored twice within three minutes in the first half and thwarted a second half comeback attempt by bottom side Sheffield United to boost their own Premier League survival hopes with a 4-1 win on Saturday.
Burnley, 19th, moved to 23 points from 34 matches, three below 17th-placed Nottingham Forest who have a game in hand and visit 16th-placed Everton on Sunday. United, winless since February, have 16 points after 33 games.
Jacob Bruun Larsen put the visitors ahead in the 38th minute when Wilson Odobert’s attempt hit a defender and fell to him on the edge of the box. His shot took a deflection from Jayden Bogle before rolling past keeper Ivo Grbic.
Poor defending cost United again as Burnley immediately doubled their lead, with Lorenz Assignon dribbling past Ben Brereton Diaz to score his first goal for the club from 12 yards out.
Burnley keeper Arijanet Muric, who had denied the hosts an early lead with back-to-back saves, was finally beaten in the 52nd minute when Gustavo Hamer shook off Assignon to make space inside the box and sent a curling shot into the net.
But Assignon helped restore Burnley’s two-goal cushion just five minutes later when his cross from the edge of the box found Lyle Foster near the penalty spot who made no mistake with his swift right footed finish.
Substitute Johann Berg Gudmundsson made it 4-1 just 22 seconds after coming on, finding the target off Josh Cullen’s cross with a left footed finish from the edge of the box in the 71st minute to seal Burnley’s first away win since December.
Both teams will visit Manchester United next; Sheffield United on Wednesday and Burnley next Saturday.
