— Pierre-Emerick Aubemeyang scores first Premier League treble in entertaining Gunners win.
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| Image: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang put Arsenal 1-0 up |
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang returns to his best with maiden Premier League treble; Hector Bellerin scores the other in entertaining Emirates clash; Pascal Struijk and Helder Costa scored for Leeds as Arsenal leapfrog them into 10th
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's first Premier League hat-trick guided Arsenal to a 4-2 victory over a leaky Leeds at the Emirates despite the visitors' late rally.
Arsenal were 3-0 up at half-time for the first time in the Premier League since February 2018 as Leeds crumbled, and it was Aubameyang, who has now scored more goals in his last four Premier League appearances (5) than he had in his previous 16, benefiting most.
First, Aubameyang's clever, flash finish into the near post from 15 yards (13) put Arsenal ahead, before the Gabon striker doubled his and the Gunners' tally with a penalty after goalkeeper Illan Meslier mistake, dwelling too long on the ball before fouling Bukayo Saka (41).
Image: Arsenal players celebrate with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Hector Bellerin's first goal of the season made it 3-0 on the stroke of half-time, again finishing at the near post following superb Arsenal interplay in the box (45), and Aubameyang got his hat-trick after the break with a far-post header from Emile Smith Rowe's cross-shot (47).
As ever with Leeds, there was entertainment at both ends as Marcelo Bielsa's side caused a scare, halving the deficit through Pascal Struijk's bullet header (58) and sub Helder Costa's close-range finish (69), but Arsenal saw the game out.
The result means Arsenal leapfrog Leeds into 10th, though Leeds are two points behind with a game in hand.
Man City 3-0 Tottenham
Ilkay Gundogan scores twice after Rodri penalty as Pep Guardiola's men go seven points clear
Ilkay Gundogan's incredible scoring run continued with two goals in Manchester City's stylish 3-0 win over Tottenham on Saturday, as Pep Guardiola's side pulled seven points clear at the top of the Premier League.
With City already leading through a first-half Rodri penalty, Gundogan fired his first through Hugo Lloris - who had a game to forget - and then outmuscled Davinson Sanchez for a long pass forward from Ederson before tucking in number two to take his tally to nine goals in nine Premier League games in 2021.
Worryingly, Gundogan limped off with a groin problem soon after, but by then he had already put City in complete control against a poor Spurs side who only really threatened when Harry Kane hit the woodwork with an early free-kick and Gareth Bale tested Ederson late on.
City, who are unbeaten since losing to Spurs in November, extended their record run to 16 wins in a row across all competitions, while Jose Mourinho's men remain eighth, four points off the top four.
Leicester 3-1 Liverpool
Alisson blunders again as Foxes score three goals in seven minutes to go second
Leicester scored three goals in seven breathtaking second-half minutes as another Alisson mistake contributed to a 3-1 defeat for Liverpool at the King Power Stadium.
The Premier League champions looked in relative control and deservedly led when Mohamed Salah broke the deadlock after 67 minutes, but Jurgen Klopp's side imploded to slip six points behind their opponents.
James Maddison hauled Leicester level when his free-kick was allowed to stand following a VAR review for an offside call on Daniel Amartey (78) before a terrible breakdown in communication between Alisson and new boy Ozan Kabak allowed Jamie Vardy to tap home from close range (81).
Harvey Barnes compounded Liverpool's misery with a well-taken third (85) as Leicester moved up to second in the table ahead of the weekend's remaining fixtures, with the visitors still fourth - 13 points behind leaders Manchester City having played one game more.
Liverpool have now scored just once in the first half in their last eight league games but they continued to impose themselves following the restart with Trent Alexander-Arnold's 25-yard free-kick deflecting onto the woodwork.
EPL TABLE STANDINGS:
Manchester City sits comfortably on the Premier League table, extends lead to 7points after Spurs 3-0 thumping, could go 10 points on Wednesday vs Everton.
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| Image: Ilkay Gundogan is enjoying a purple patch in front of goal with 10 goals in his last 10 Premier League games |
Pep Guardiola says he would not change his Manchester City players for anybody else after 3-0 thumping of Mourinho's men, Tottenham Hotspurs.
Ilkay Gundogan, Ruben Dias and Phil Foden have all emerged as City's key players recently, and the Spaniard says he enjoys not relying on an individual in order to win games.
"We don't have players who can win the game by himself - we don't have a Messi, a Cristiano, Mbappe or Neymar," Guardiola said. "We have to do it as a team.
"I'll be honest, I would love to have a player who scores every single game four goals and runs like these players run, I would love it.
"I wouldn't change any player that we have right now today, in this season. All of them. That's why many times I praised our captain Fernandinho, like how he helps on and off the pitch to stick together in the bad moments.
"The big teams, the big players show it in the bad moments, in the good moments everyone is easy to play, and we had the bad moments this season.
"We had a moment when we were in 12th position in the table, we were five points away from Tottenham [and eight after the loss] who were top of the league when we lost there and now we are 17 points ahead of them.
"So that means consistency, how we turned over this situation, and that means a lot. Maybe that won't be enough to win the title, but what we enjoyed the last two months belongs to us."
Manchester United's 1-1 draw at West Brom on Sunday gave City the perfect opportunity to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to 10 points if they win their game in hand at Everton on Wednesday.
But Guardiola is wary of the threat posed by Carlo Ancelotti's side and underlined his side's impressive run will mean something only if they are to clinch the league title back from Liverpool's hands.
"Every training session is good, every approach to a game is good, the mood is good. And of course, when you win games, win games, win games, it's easier to win the next one," Guardiola said.
"The more difficult thing is when you want to win games when you have two or three defeats. For example when we travelled to Southampton after our draw against West Brom.
"So now, we have a huge opportunity to extend our distance against Everton. We know Everton how tough it is, but no teams play except Carlo and ourselves.
"It's a good opportunity to take more distance, because in February and March no one is champions and this kind of run of victories will make sense if we are able to win the title."
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TABLE STANDINGS
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