Jesus on target for Arsenal

Gabriel Jesus scored his first goals for six months as Arsenal maintained control of the Premier League title race with a 4-1 defeat of relegation-threatened Leeds United.

Jesus, starting his first league game since returning from a knee injury last month, converted a 35th-minute penalty after being caught in the box by Luke Ayling.

Ben White doubled Arsenal’s advantage from Gabriel Martinelli’s pass before Brazilian Jesus struck again from close range in the 55th minute from Leandro Trossard’s assist.

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The visitors did raise a few jitters in the home crowd when Rasmus Kristensen’s deflected shot gave the visitors a 76th-minute lifeline, but Granit Xhaka’s header secured another three points in Arsenal’s quest for a first title since 2004.

Arsenal’s seventh successive league win moved them to 72 points from 29 games with City, who still have to play the London club at home, on 64 having played one game less.

Brighton, Brentford chase spot in Europe

Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Alexis MacAllister fired home a 90th-minute penalty to snatch a 3-3 draw for his side against Brentford in a thrilling climax to clash.

Brighton’s afternoon got off to a poor start when Pontus Jansson gave the visitors the lead in the 10th minute, meeting a brilliant inswinging cross from Mikkel Damsgaard with a powerful header that flew past Jason Steele.

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Kaoru Mitoma levelled 11 minutes later, latching on to a long ball from Steele and deftly lobbing it over David Raya for his seventh goal in his last 13 games, but their joy was short-lived as Ivan Toney put The Bees back in front a minute later.

Again, the home side struck back quickly as Danny Welbeck headed home a Solly March cross at the back post to make it 2-2 in the 28th minute, but they were behind again four minutes into the second half as Ethan Pinnock volleyed home Bryan Mbeumo’s free kick.

Brighton then wasted chance after chance and looked to be heading for defeat until Aaron Hickey was found to have handled the ball after a lengthy VAR review, and Argentina international MacAllister smashed the resulting spot kick into the net.

The draw sees Brighton rise to sixth in the table on 43 points, ahead of Brentford on goal difference and one point ahead of Liverpool.

Hodgson back in Palace hot seat

Roy Hodgson’s second stint as Crystal Palace manager began with a 2-1 win over Leicester City as the London side registered their first victory in 2023 thanks to a late winner from Jean-Philippe Mateta.

Palace looked like a different team from the one that struggled under Patrick Vieira, firing in 20 shots against Leicester.

The change in style going forward gave the home fans reason to cheer but Palace could not find a way through a dogged Leicester defence.

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It was Leicester who struck first through Ricardo Pereira, who received the ball at the edge of the box before blasting a shot into the top corner past the despairing dive of Vicente Guaita.

Palace levelled from a free kick three minutes later when Eberechi Eze cleared the wall, saw his shot come off the crossbar and go in off goalkeeper Daniel Iversen for an own goal.

In added time in the second half, Jordan Ayew made a solo run into Leicester’s half and fed Mateta with a through-ball as the French striker finished with aplomb.

Bournemouth out of relegation zone

Marcus Tavernier and Dominick Solanke were both on target as Bournemouth earned a vital 2-1 win over high-flying Fulham to breathe life into the south coast club’s fight for Premier League survival.

Solanke bundled home in the 79th minute to seal a remarkable comeback that lifted Bournemouth out of the relegation zone and dealt a blow to Fulham’s hopes of playing in Europe next season.

Andreas Pereira gave Fulham the lead in the 16th minute after running on to Harrison Reed’s layoff, but the visitors failed to build on that early momentum.

Tavernier, thrown on by manager Gary O’Neil as a halftime substitute after a dire opening 45 minutes for the home side, equalised with a curling left-footed shot in the 50th minute.

Half-time changes had an immediate effect, with Bournemouth carving out their equaliser after a spell of sustained pressure before Solanke sealed the three points.

Nottingham Forest were denied a crucial win in their bid to stay clear of the relegation zone as Daniel Podence struck a late equaliser for Wolves in a 1-1 draw at the City Ground.

Forest looked set for a first league win in seven games as Brennan Johnson gave them a deserved 38th-minute lead.

The hosts were left to rue not putting away several chances that would have made the game safe as Wolves replied late in second half.

Reuters, AP

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