Arsenal Football Club are now seven points clear at the top of the Premier League table after an emphatic 4-2 win over Brighton in their last top-flight match for 2022.
The Gunners who have been in good form this season got off to a flying start at the American Express Community Stadium as Bukayo got the opening goal just two minutes into the game.
Martin Odegaard doubled Arsenal’s lead in the 39th minute as the Gunners enjoyed a two-goal first-half lead.
As was the case in the first half, Arsenal struck in the second half as Eddie Nketiah made it 3-0 two minutes after the restart.
Brighton attempted a comeback when they pulled one back through Japanese striker Kaoru Mitoma to make it 3-1 in the 65th minute.
Arsenal quickly restored their three-goal cushion with Gabriel Martinelli making it 4-1 in the 71st minute.
Although Brighton still got one goal through Evan Ferguson, it was a little too late to deny Arsenal maximum points in the contest.
With their latest win, Arsenal have 43 points from 16 games and have widened the gap between them and second-placed Manchester City who can only draw in the last game of 2022 and also Newcastle United who share the spoils with Leeds United.
At the end of 2021, Arsenal were fourth, 15 points behind leaders Man City, while at the end of 2022, the Gunners were top, seven points behind Pep Guardiola’s men.
another game
Fulham shot up to seventh in the Premier League with a tight win over struggling Southampton.
After a 3-0 win over Crystal Palace on Boxing Day, Fulham are looking for back-to-back wins for the first time since October.
James Ward-Prowse’s own goal put the Cottagers ahead but he equalized for Southampton with a trademark free-kick just before the hour mark.
Fulham looked to have missed a chance to win it until Joao Palhinha popped up in the front corner in the 88th minute. It was Fulham’s only shot on target of the match.
With this, Joe Aribo and his teammates at Southampton remain without a win in the league since October and are bottom of the log.
Elsewhere, Palace bounced back from their Boxing Day attack against Fulham with an emphatic win over Bournemouth.
Jordan Ayew nodded the opening goal with a free header from a first-half corner.
Palace doubled their lead from another corner when Eberechi Eze was left unmarked at the top of the box.
The Cherries have now lost two League games since the World Cup break, having also lost 2-0 to Chelsea on Tuesday.
As a result, they are now just three points outside the drop zone, while Istana are six points clear in mid-table.
As for Newcastle, they missed the chance to make it seven league wins in a row when they were held to a goalless draw against Leeds.
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The draw keeps Newcastle in third place and within six points of the top spot.
It was Leeds’ first clean sheet in nine games and took them to 14th place, three points clear of relegation.
At the Etihad Stadium, Alex Iwobi and his Everton team-mates put in a fighting performance to hold Man City to a 1-1 draw, while for Man United, a solitary goal from Marcus Rashford was enough to give them a 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton.
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