Double blow for Arsenal! The Gunners overcame their north London rival, Tottenham (2-1), on Wednesday at home to come within four lengths of leader Liverpool and keep their coronation dream intact.
The reigning English vice-champions can still hope to return to the throne, twenty-one years after the last time (2004), thanks to a “North London Derby” won by gritting your teeth.
Their arch-domination was thwarted by Heung-Min Son (25th, 0-1), finger in front of his mouth to celebrate his goal. But they turned things around by causing an own goal from Dominic Solanke (40th, 1-1) then scoring by Leandro Trossard (44th, 2-1).
The Belgian winger avoided the hiccup and took the liberty of going into the visitors’ area, his hands behind his ears.
“I’m very proud of the team, we were sensational,” said coach Mikel Arteta at a press conference. “From the first minute, we played with the desire to hurt them, with or without the ball”, so “we fully deserved to win this match”.
His counterpart Ange Postecoglou railed against the “passivity” of his team, “disappointed with the way in which we allowed them to dictate the tempo”. “That we lose so many matches in a championship season is not normal,” admitted the Australian manager.
Overwhelmed by numerous injuries, Tottenham (13th, 24 pts) continues to sink with this fourth defeat (and a draw) conceded during its last five Premier League matches.
Conversely, Arsenal ignored their major injuries (Bukayo Saka, Ethan Nwaneri, Gabriel Jesus…) to delight their audience and increase the pressure on Liverpool.
The Reds, however, are still four points ahead and have a late match in reserve, on February 12 at Everton.
Sparkling Newcastle
Arsenal will pass a new test on Saturday against Aston Villa (7th, 35 pts), who won 1-0 on Wednesday at Everton.
Ollie Watkins, scorer in the second half, spoiled the return to the Premier League of David Moyes, returned to the bench of the “Toffees” twelve years after his first stint (2002-2013).
Sean Dyche’s successor did not stop the negative spiral of Everton (16th, 17 pts), very close to the red zone after having won only one of their last twelve matches in the league.
Things are not getting better for Leicester either (19th, 14 pts). The penultimate suffered a sixth defeat in a row on Wednesday against Crystal Palace (2-0) and Jean-Philippe Mateta, author of the first goal.
If there is a team that succeeds in everything, it is Newcastle, easy winner of Wolverhampton (3-0) on Wednesday.
The Magpies have been unstoppable since December 14 (4-0 against Leicester), the starting point of a series of six consecutive victories in the league.
It took them from twelfth to fourth place, now one point ahead of Chelsea (5th, 37 pts) after 21 days. Nottingham Forest (3rd, 41 pts) have three points more than them.
Their insolent success owes a lot to that of their center forward Alexander Isak, scorer in the first period (34th, 1-0) then in the second (57th, 2-0), before serving Anthony Gordon (74th, 3-0) on a tray.
The Sweden international has scored in each of his last eight league matches, taking his tally to 15 goals in 19 Premier League appearances.
“He has that extra bit of composure that top players have,” complimented his coach, Eddie Howe, to the BBC.
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