Slowing down before the break, Chelsea and Arsenal regained momentum when they resumed by respectively dominating Leicester (2-1) and Nottingham Forest (3-0) on Saturday in an ultra-tight Premier League at the top of the table.
Behind leader Liverpool (28 pts), visiting Southampton on Sunday, the fight for the podium rages on: Brighton, Arsenal and Chelsea, all on 22 points, are clinging to Manchester City (2nd, 23 pts).
The pressure is now on the shoulders of Pep Guardiola’s “Citizens”, beaten twice in the last two league matches before hosting Tottenham at the end of the day (5:30 p.m.).
Despite some cold sweats at the end of the match, Chelsea consolidated their third place at Leicester, where their coach Enzo Maresca officiated last season in the Championship (D2).
The Italian and his group regained the momentum lost before the international break (two successive draws) to stay ahead of the chasing pack thanks to a better attack.
“They expect us to lose points. And we showed that we were there. We will fight until the end and then we will see where it takes us.”he commented on TNT Sports.
The “Blues” materialized their large domination thanks to Nicolas Jackson, scorer after an action combining power and finesse (15th, 1-0), and to Enzo Fernandez, in ambush after a header from the Senegalese which was difficult to push back by the goalkeeper (75th, 2-0).
They gritted their teeth in the last minutes of the match, when Stephy Mavididi fell in the area, without getting a foul (85th), then when Jordan Ayew reduced the score from the penalty spot (90th + 5, 2-1).
Saka untenable
This result increased the pressure on Arsenal, who entered later in the afternoon, and had their backs against the wall after the last four matches without a win in the league (two defeats and two draws).
But the “Gunners” produced an almost perfect score against Forest (6th, 19 pts), the surprise team at the start of the season, in the wake of their star winger Bukayo Saka, untenable and decisive.
The English international, out injured in the last match, showed the way with a delicious first goal: superb oriented control, relay with Martin Odegaard, clever run to get around the defensive block and cross shot out of the reach of Matz Sels (15th, 1-0).
It was he who also found Thomas Partey, scorer with a curling shot from outside the area (52nd, 2-0).
If Saka and Odegaard gave Arsenal some color, their two replacements also scored points: young Ethan Nwaneri, only 17 years old, took advantage of a pass from Raheem Sterling (86th, 3-0) less than five minutes after their entry stake.
Nottingham Forest, seventeenth last season, are somewhat back in line after a great start to the season which saw them reach the podium. Nuno Espirito Santo’s team suffered their second defeat in a row, the third in all this season.
Another tough team, Aston Villa (7th, 19 pts) was only able to grab one point at home against Crystal Palace (2-2), one of the three relegated.
Unai Emery’s team quickly conceded the opener (4th, 0-1), equalized by Ollie Watkins (36th, 1-1), then missed the end of the first period with a missed penalty by Youri Tielemans ( 44th) and a new goal conceded (45th + 1, 1-2)
The “Villans” avoided the worst by Ross Barkley (77th, 2-2) but they have not won a single one of their last six matches, in all competitions.
Brighton (5th, 22 pts), who defeated Manchester City before the break, managed to dominate Bournemouth (2-1) after playing with ten men during the majority of the second half.
Wolverhampton (17th, 9 pts) left the red zone by outclassing Fulham by 4 to 1, their second victory in a row after not having obtained any in the first ten days.
