By Martyn Herman
LONDON (Reuters) -Arsenal enjoyed a serene Sunday as they beat Crystal Palace 1-0 and title rivals Manchester City lost by the same margin at Aston Villa to leave the north London club four points clear at the top of the table on Sunday.
Champions Liverpool’s 3-2 defeat at Brentford on Saturday gave Arsenal the chance to move seven points clear of Arne Slot’s side and they did just that with Eberechi Eze scoring the only goal against his old club.
City were unbeaten in nine matches in all competitions since a stumbling start to the campaign but they came unstuck at Villa Park where Matty Cash’s goal earned his side a fourth successive league win to lift them to eighth.
Tottenham Hotspur’s impressive away form continued with a 3-0 win at Everton to move them third — defender Micky van de Ven’s headed double in the first half helping the visitors become the first side to win at Everton’s new home.
Bournemouth continue to punch above their weight as a 2-0 home victory over Nottingham Forest moved them second while bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers remain winless following a 3-2 defeat at home to promoted Burnley.
Arsenal have 22 points from nine games with Bournemouth on 18 and Tottenham and Sunderland both on 17.
At the bottom, Wolves have two points with 19th-placed West Ham United on four and Forest on five.
EZE RETURNS TO PUNISH PALACE
Eze spent five seasons at Selhurst Park before Arsenal signed him in August and he did not celebrate when he showed great dexterity to score Arsenal’s winner in the 39th minute after yet another set-piece goal.
Gabriel headed Declan Rice’s free kick into his path and Eze leapt to steer a first-time finish past Dean Henderson.
“I just told the boys that I probably value this victory more than any other victory this season, because we knew the difficulty of it after playing every three days,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said.
“It was a really positive weekend for us, especially because we did what we had to do and then it shows the difficulty of the league, and how complicated it is to win these games.”
Pep Guardiola’s City side had begun to look dangerous after a long unbeaten run but were brought down to size at Villa to leave them six points behind Arsenal.
The only goal arrived in the 19th minute as Emiliano Buendia’s corner picked out Cash just outside the box and he fired with his left foot into the bottom-right corner past a helpless City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
City striker Erling Haaland, who had scored in his last 12 matches for club and country, found the net in the 90th minute but it was ruled out due to an offside in the build-up to condemn City to a third loss in a row at Villa Park.
“Our pressing was really bad, we arrived two seconds late to every duel. When our pressing isn’t good we don’t play well,” City captain Bernardo Silva said.
BOURNEMOUTH CONTINUE SUPERB START
Sean Dyche’s first Premier League game in charge of Nottingham Forest ended in defeat as Bournemouth maintained their stunning start to the season.
Forest fell behind in unusual circumstances as Marcus Tavernier’s corner went straight in over keeper Matz Sels. Bournemouth’s second was more majestic as Eli Junior Kroupi lashed in a shot from 30 metres.
Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth are now unbeaten in their last eight league games.
“It’s unbelievable the start of the season, but it’s just the start,” Spaniard Iraola said.
Tottenham have now gained 13 points out of an available 15 away from home this season and they showed a clinical edge at Everton’s Hill Dickinson stadium.
Van de Ven became the first Tottenham defender to score two goals in a Premier League match for 12 years as he headed in twice from corner routines in the first half.
Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario made several fine saves in the second half before substitute Pape Matar Sarr wrapped up the points for Thomas Frank’s side.
“The second half was a bit of a dogfight but to win 3-0 away from home in the Premier League is very good,” Frank said.
Wolves hit back from two goals down at home to Burnley with Jorgen Strand Larsen’s penalty and a Marshall Munetsi header but Burnley struck in the fifth minute of stoppage time to pile the pressure on Wolves boss Vitor Pereira.
(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Toby Davis)
