Wolverhampton, Nov 13: Arsenal will head into the World Cup break with a five-point lead over Manchester City in the Premier League after Martin Odegaard’s double clinched a 2-0 win at Wolverhampton.
The captain’s goals in the 55th and 75th minutes showed City, which lost 2-1 to Brentford earlier in the day, that its crown is under threat.
Mikel Arteta’s team is a genuine contender, grinding out a 12th victory in 14 matches with a performance which demonstrated their steel and composure.
Wolves will be in last place at Christmas – league play resumes on Dec. 26 – but held their own for long spells and there are reasons to be positive with recently hired manager Julen Lopetegui’s era about to start.
Wolves chairman Jeff Shi called the search for Bruno Lage’s replacement painful after Lopetegui initially rejected the club and Michael Beale performed a U-turn to stay at second-tier Queens Park Rangers.
Introduced to the home fans before the game, Lopetegui took the acclaim during a lap of the field six years after Wolves first tried to appoint him.
It’s been a long wait and the former Spain and Real Madrid coach will be expected to work wonders to beat the drop but will have the same problems as caretaker Steve Davis and Lage.
City’s surprise loss gave Arsenal the chance to push further clear but the visitors were initially frustrated.
Gabriel Jesus drilled home a shot but was offside, and goalkeeper Jose Sa hurriedly turned Bukayo Saka’s deflected cross over.
The Gunners dominated the ball but Wolves reminded the visitors of their threat when Goncalo Guedes fired over following a quick break. Despite its territorial dominance, Arsenal struggled to create clear openings – a credit to Wolves’ organization.
While it remained tight, the struggling hosts were always in the contest and William Saliba gifted them a golden chance just before the break. The defender’s back pass was read by Guedes, who had a free run on goal, but Gabriel came to the rescue to deflect his shot wide.
But if there were any growing Arsenal frustrations, they disappeared 10 minutes after the break when Odegaard opened the scoring.
It was the first time the visitors wriggled in behind Wolves and when a delightful ball from Jesus gave Vieira space in the box, his cross was turned in by Odegaard from close range.
From then, it was comfortable for the Gunners and Odegaard added a second with 15 minutes left.
Dexter Lembikisa lost the ball to Gabriel Martinelli, who teed up Oleksandr Zinchenko to cross. The ball fell for Martinelli, who was denied by Sa but Odegaard controlled the rebound and lashed into the bottom corner.
Villa rally to beat Brighton
Aston Villa recovered from a goal conceded in the opening minute to earn its first away victory of the season, beating Brighton 2-1 on Sunday to hand new manager Unai Emery a second straight Premier League win.
Danny Ings scored both goals for Villa, equalising with a first-half penalty and then netting the winner in the 54th minute with a low deflected shot that snuck inside the near post.
With Brighton putting goalkeeper Emi Martinez under pressure, the Argentine’s short pass to Douglas Luiz was won by Alexis Mac Allister, who rifled home after just 49 seconds for his fifth goal of the season.
It was the fastest goal ever scored by Brighton in the Premier League.
But Villa responded well and drew level in the 20th. Emi Buendia found space and produced a perfectly weighted pass for John McGinn to race onto, with Lewis Dunk bringing down the Scotland captain inside the area. Ings converted the penalty, even though Robert Sanchez got a hand to his spot kick.
Leandro Trossard found the net for Brighton five minutes into the second period but it did not count after referee Chris Kavanagh had already blown his whistle for a foul on Matty Cash.
Emery’s side stayed alert and did take the lead seconds later in the 54th minute. Luiz was able to atone for his mistake for Brighton’s opener after he won possession from Mac Allister outside the hosts’ penalty area and Ings dribbled past Dunk before his effort beat Sanchez following a deflection off Levi Colwill. (AP)
