Premier League

Leaders Arsenal dropped more points in their pursuit of a first Premier League title since 2004 after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Brentford on Saturday, while Tottenham Hotspur’s winning run was ended abruptly at Leicester City.

Ten-man Wolverhampton Wanderers came from behind to beat bottom club Southampton, big-spending Chelsea’s disappointing season continued after they drew 1-1 at West Ham United and Fulham climbed to seventh with victory over Nottingham Forest.

Brighton, who have not lost this year, were held to a 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace.

Arsenal’s new signing Leandro Trossard replaced Gabriel Martinelli just past the hour mark with his side struggling and made an almost instant impact to convert a low cross by Bukayo Saka and give the Gunners the lead at the Emirates Stadium.

An eight-point advantage in the table beckoned for Mikel Arteta’s side but they never looked comfortable against an enterprising Brentford who should have been ahead by halftime.

The visitors got their deserved point through Ivan Toney, who pounced in the 72nd minute to head in Christian Norgaard’s cross. Only Harry Kane has netted more away goals in the Premier League this season than the Brentford striker.

“Winning is about small margins,” Arteta told Premier League productions. “I thought the team still had a good performance today.

“There is another big game to come (against Manchester City on Wednesday). We will get ready for that. It will be another big one and another beautiful one.”

With manager Antonio Conte back in the dugout after missing their win against Manchester City last Sunday following gallbladder surgery, Spurs made a good start at Leicester.

The top-four chasers eyed a fourth successive victory in all competitions and raced into an early lead at the King Power Stadium through Rodrigo Bentancur’s close-range finish.

Yet the hosts quickly turned the match on its head, with Nampalys Mendy hammering home a 23rd-minute equaliser, before James Maddison completed the turnaround two minutes later.

Kelechi Iheanacho added a third in first-half stoppage time to extend Leicester’s lead, with Tottenham’s defending making the Nigerian striker’s task much simpler.

Harvey Barnes added a fine fourth nine minutes from time, securing Leicester a third successive win in all competitions that moved them up to 13th in the standings.

Spurs remain fifth, one point off the top four having played two games more than Newcastle United in fourth, with Eddie Howe’s side in action against Bournemouth later on Saturday.

“It’s good for everyone to have Antonio back,” Spurs assistant Cristian Stellini said. “It’s good for him but he needs to be careful and he can’t use all his energy.

“To be consistent is a long process, a mental process. We have to be better mentally, better in the approach.”

Despite their record January transfer window outlay, Chelsea cannot buy a victory at the moment after they stretched their winless league run to three matches with their draw at West Ham, leaving them ninth in the table.

Joao Felix, returning to the team after the on-loan Portuguese forward was sent off in his Chelsea debut last month, side-footed home in the 16th minute to break the deadlock after a pinpoint pass by British record signing Enzo Fernandez.

Chelsea sought to extend their lead at London Stadium but it was their former wing back Emerson who equalised in the 28th minute.

West Ham thought they had won it late on as Tomas Soucek put the ball in the back of the net but Declan Rice, who headed it on to the Czech, was ruled offside by VAR.

At the bottom of the table, it seemed Southampton’s luck might be turning after Carlos Alcaraz scored in the 25th minute and Wolves had Mario Lemina sent off two minutes later for a second booking.

But Wolves levelled through Jan Bednarek’s 72nd minute own goal and Joao Gomes struck in the 87th minute to leave Saints four points from the safety zone, piling more pressure on manager Nathan Jones who has lost seven of his eight league games in charge

Manchester United scored twice in the final 10 minutes at Elland Road to leave managerless Leeds deep in relegation trouble.

Substitute Alejandro Garnacho then outpaced the home defence before beating Illan Meslier at his near post to the obvious joy of manager Erik ten Hag on the touchline.

The result was harsh on Leeds, who created a number of decent opportunities but could not beat visiting goalkeeper David de Gea.

However, in the end it was the visitors who displayed an extra touch of class to take them seven points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham in the battle for a Champions League spot.

Leeds are in a far more precarious position at the other end of the table and will drop into the relegation zone if Everton win Monday’s Merseyside derby at Anfield.

The Whites need to arrest a damaging nine-game winless run that has brought just four points from a possible 27, with the need to replace Jesse Marsch, who was sacked last week, now more urgent than ever.

Three first-half goals helped Manchester City see off Aston Villa in their first game since being accused of more than 100 rule breaches by the Premier League.

It was not quite a vintage display by Pep Guardiola’s side, who will go top of the table if they beat leaders Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on Wednesday, but they were much more like their old selves.

The noisy atmosphere certainly helped. Guardiola had issued a defiant response to the charges before the game, and City’s fans reacted in similar fashion at a vibrant Etihad Stadium, singing songs about their situation and in support of their manager, and also the club’s owner Sheikh Mansour.

City’s players appeared galvanised too, and made the perfect start when Rodri headed home Riyad Mahrez’s corner, but they had to wait until just before the break to add to their lead.

Calum Chambers’ attempt to cut out a Kevin de Bruyne through-ball saw him head the ball beyond his on-rushing keeper Emi Martinez and, although Erling Haaland could not convert from a tight angle, he had the composure to look up and find Ilkay Gundogan for a tap-in.

Mahrez made it 3-0 from the penalty spot soon afterwards, after Jacob Ramsey had clipped Jack Grealish inside the box.

That should have been the end of Villa’s hopes, but they were gifted a way back into the game just after the hour mark.

Bernardo Silva’s error allowed Ollie Watkins space to run through and he beat Ederson with a cool finish.

City still had the cushion of a two-goal lead but continued to be sloppy when they played out from the back and were grateful to see a long-range effort from Philippe Coutinho deflected just over, while Jhon Duran hit the bar with a fierce volley in the dying seconds

Newcastle extended their unbeaten run to a club record-equalling 17 league games but were forced to settle for a point on Eddie Howe’s return to Bournemouth.

However, it was Bournemouth who went in front after half an hour when Dango Ouattara flicked on a corner and Marcos Senesi was left unmarked at the far post to stab home.

Miguel Almiron equalised for the Magpies in first-half stoppage time, firing into the bottom corner after Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto had kept out Sean Longstaff’s shot following good work down the left by Allan Saint-Maximin

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said “it felt like us, it looked like us,” after the Reds recorded their first Premier League win in 2023 with a comfortable Merseyside derby victory over Everton at Anfield.

Everton had actually kept Liverpool at arm’s length before they were caught by a devastating counter-attack after 36 minutes, defender James Tarkowski’s header hitting the post at one end before Darwin Nunez raced clear, squaring for Mohamed Salah to take advantage of goalkeeper Jordan Pickford’s poor positioning with a simple finish.

Liverpool snuffed out any hopes of an Everton recovery four minutes after the break.

And it was a special moment for £45m January signing Cody Gakpo, as he tapped in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross at the far post for his first goal since arriving at Anfield from PSV Eindhoven.