Gunners win thriller at Villa

Arsenal regained pole position in the Premier League title race last Saturday (Feb 18) as the Gunners fought back for a thrilling 4-2 victory at Aston Villa, while Manchester City were held to a damaging 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest.

Just three days after surrendering first place with a 3-1 defeat against City, Arsenal bounced back in impressive style to move two points clear of the champions.

With just minutes left at Villa Park, Mikel Arteta’s side were in danger of slipping up again in their bid to win the title for the first time since 2004.

Arsenal twice trailed to goals from Ollie Watkins and Philippe Coutinho, only for Bukayo Saka and then Oleksandr Zinchenko to haul them level.

Deep into second half stoppage-time, Arsenal received a helping hand from their former keeper as Emiliano Martinez inadvertently deflected Jorginho’s shot into his own net after it hit the bar.

Gabriel Martinelli capped

Arsenal’s remarkable escape when he tapped into the empty net in the final seconds after Martinez was caught upfield at a Villa corner.

“We are back with more belief than before because you have to turn performances into results,” Arteta said.

Arsenal’s first victory in five games in all competitions will give them renewed belief they can pip City to the title.

The Gunners, who have a game in hand on the champions, were given a massive boost by their title rivals’ stumble just hours later.

Bernardo Silva put Pep Guardiola’s men ahead four minutes before half-time before Chris Wood tapped in Morgan Gibbs-White’s cross in the 84th minute to equalise.

Manchester United moved to just three points behind City with a comfortable 3-0 win over Leicester City on Sunday.

Marcus Rashford scored twice to reach 24 goals overall for the season so far, his best ever return. Jadon Sancho added United’s third goal.

Liverpool got back into the hunt for a top four place after ending Newcastle’s 17-game unbeaten league run with a 2-0 win at St James’ Park, thanks to goals from Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo.