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Arsenal stormed six points clear at the top of the Premier League as Bukayo Saka and Viktor Gyokeres put Fulham to the sword in a 3-0 win, while West Ham’s defeat at Brentford offered Tottenham a lifeline in the battle for survival.
The Gunners have stumbled towards the finish line in their quest for a first league title in 22 years, blowing a sizeable lead over Manchester City in a series of nervous displays.
But the return of Saka, making his first start in six weeks, freed up Mikel Arteta’s men in a dominant performance that shrugged off fears of fatigue in between two legs of a Champions League semi-final against Atletico Madrid.
“We showed a lot of authority, determination and composure,” said Arteta. “We got the crowd going and when this stadium creates that kind of atmosphere, it can be difficult.”
Gyokeres also silenced his critics with two predatory finishes to take his tally to 21 in his first season since a £64 million ($87 million) move from Sporting Lisbon.
The Swede was perfectly positioned to tap in Saka’s cross after just nine minutes to ease any Arsenal tension.
Riccardo Calafiori had a second goal ruled out by VAR for offside before Gyokeres and Saka combined again to double the home side’s lead.
This time Gyokeres fed the England international, who blasted in at Bernd Leno’s near post.
City can eradicate Arsenal’s lead with two games in hand before the Gunners next play in the Premier League.
But goal difference could prove decisive in the destiny of the title.
Arsenal stretched their goal difference advantage to four when Gyokeres rose highest to head in Leandro Trossard’s cross just before half-time.
Arteta was then able to look ahead to the second leg against Atletico, with the tie finely poised at 1-1, as Saka made way at half-time, before Gyokeres, Declan Rice and Eberechi Eze were also rested for the closing stages.
Defeat was a major blow to Fulham’s ambitions of European football next season as they remain in 10th.
– Spurs survival boost –
Brentford took control of the battle for sixth, which could be enough for Champions League qualification, by inflicting a damaging 3-0 defeat on West Ham.
Tottenham remain in the relegation zone, two points from safety, but can move out of the bottom three with victory at Aston Villa on Sunday after the Hammers succumbed to just their third defeat in 11 league games.
Konstantinos Mavropanos was unfortunate not to be awarded a free-kick as he turned the ball into his own net to open the scoring.
The Greek defender thought he had made amends moments later with a bullet header, but was ruled marginally offside by a VAR review.
Brentford had another call go in their favour early in the second half when Dango Ouattara won a penalty and Igor Thiago coolly converted his 22nd Premier League goal of the season.
Mikkel Damsgaard’s strike rounded off a bad day for West Ham, who face Arsenal next weekend.
“It’s a tough day for us,” said West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo. “It’s up to us now to react.”
Newcastle eased any lingering fears of being drawn into the relegation battle with a 3-1 win over Brighton to end a five-game losing streak.
William Osula and Dan Burn scored in the opening 24 minutes as Newcastle edged up to 13th.
Jack Hinshelwood pulled a goal back, but defeat could prove costly to Brighton’s European hopes as having started the weekend in sixth, they could end it outside the top half.
Harvey Barnes rounded off the scoring in stoppage time to bring some relief to the under-fire Eddie Howe.
“It’s been a horrible feeling for us for a number of weeks,” said Howe. “The attitude of the lads during this difficult run has been outstanding. We stayed together, trained well, and we got our reward today.”
Sunderland’s bid for Europe was also dented by a 1-1 draw at bottom-of-the-table Wolves after Dan Ballard was sent off in the first half for a hair pull.