Arsenal move top of Premier League with 2-0 win over Brighton
Arsenal beat Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 at home on Sunday with second-half goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, as the north London side provisionally moved back to the top of the Premier League standings.
Victory moved Arsenal a point clear of Aston Villa, who moved up to second on 38 points. Third-placed Liverpool are a point further behind ahead of their game against rivals Manchester United later on Sunday.
Brighton had won on their last three trips to The Emirates Stadium in all competitions, but the majority of action was in their box as Arsenal became the first team to keep a clean sheet against Roberto De Zerbi's team this season.
The Seagulls, who dropped to ninth, did not have a single shot in the first half as they weathered wave after wave of Arsenal attacks, with keeper Bart Verbruggen standing firm.
Arsenal were also guilty of not taking their chances, with Gabriel Martinelli coming closest with a shot that went just over as the two teams went into the break at 0-0.
But Brighton's resistance ended eight minutes into the second half when defender Jan Paul van Hecke accidentally flicked a corner kick into the path of the unmarked Jesus at the far post, and the Brazilian striker headed home.
Arsenal were not content to sit on a one-goal lead and continued to pepper the Brighton goal with shots. Skipper Martin Odegaard, playing on his 25th birthday, had a shot palmed away while Havertz saw his header fly over.
Brighton had looked passive all game but they did have a golden chance to equalise in the 82nd minute when Kaoru Mitoma slipped past his marker and crossed the ball into the box, only for Pascal Gross to shoot wide.
The Gunners sealed the three points with a counterattack in the 87th minute when substitute Eddie Nketiah put Havertz through on goal and the German forward rifled into the bottom corner.
After a difficult start to his Arsenal career when goals were in short supply, Havertz has now netted four in his last seven games.
Kudus brace helps West Ham to get 3-0 win over Wolves
Mohammed Kudus scored twice as West Ham defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 at home in the Premier League on Sunday.
The win takes West Ham up to seventh in the table on 27 points, ahead of Manchester United on goal difference. United play away at Liverpool later on Sunday. Wolves remain in 13th on 19 points.
The Hammers also leapfrogged Brighton & Hove Albion, who lost 2-0 at Arsenal.
West Ham made the breakthrough in the 22nd minute with a counter-attack from a Wolves corner, with Lucas Paqueta playing a pass from his own half into the path of Kudus on the right who made his way infield and fired home from outside the area.
The visitors' best chance in the opening half came in the 28th minute when Matheus Cunha forced Lukasz Fabianski into a diving save with a shot from the edge of the area.
Four minutes later Paqueta again picked out Kudus with pin-point precision, and the Ghanaian took the ball into the box before sliding his shot past the keeper and into the far corner.
The brace takes Kudus to five league goals this season, and the Ghanaian also scored on Thursday in the Europa League as the Hammers topped their group with a 2-0 win over SC Freiburg.
West Ham almost made it 3-0 just before the break, when Jarrod Bowen fired a shot which keeper Dan Bentley could only stand and watch as it crashed off the bottom of the post and back out across the goal to safety.
Wolves thought they had pulled a goal back in the 58th minute but Pablo Sarabia was just offside when tapping in Nelson Semedo's pass across the goal.
But the home side wrapped up the win in the 74th minute when Bowen played a one-two with Paqueta before taking the ball down the right and, despite being forced wide by Craig Dawson, got his shot across goal and in past the keeper.
Watkins's late winner gives Villa 2-1 win over 10-man Brentford
Ollie Watkins scored a late winner against his former club as Aston Villa came from behind to win 2-1 at 10-man Brentford on Sunday and move into second place in the Premier League.
Villa started brightly but spurned several first-half chances with Matty Cash and Jacob Ramsey both putting efforts wide from close range.
Instead, the Bees broke the deadlock just before halftime through Keane Lewis-Potter, who reacted first to win the second ball at a corner and fire home his first Premier League goal.
Brentford's Ben Mee was sent off after 71 minutes for a reckless lunge on substitute Leon Bailey, after the intervention of VAR to upgrade the yellow initially given by referee David Coote.
Villa made the numerical advantage count six minutes later when Bailey found Alex Moreno unmarked at the back post to level the contest with a cool header.
The visitors took the lead after 85 minutes through Watkins, who nodded home Ramsey's corner and sparked a goalmouth scuffle after celebrating in front of his former fans, who subsequently booed his every touch of the ball.
Villa's Boubacar Kamara was also sent off, for grabbing Yehor Yarmoliuk by the neck, in added time after Villa keeper Emi Martinez's attempt to drag Neal Maupay to his feet prompted another flashpoint as an entertaining game ended in chaotic fashion.
The win, Villa's fifth in six league games, put them second on 38 points, with Brentford 12th on 19.
