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Arsenal extend Premier League lead, Villa surge up to third / Photo: © AFP
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Arsenal extend Premier League lead, Villa surge up to third
Arsenal edged out Brentford 2-0 to restore their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League on Wednesday as in-form Aston Villa beat Brighton 4-3 to climb up to third in the table.
The Gunners failed to hit top form at the Emirates Stadium but did enough to take another step towards a first league title in 22 years thanks to goals from Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka.
Mikel Arteta took the chance to use his strength in depth as Saka, Eberechi Eze and Jurrien Timber were rested from the start as captain Martin Odegaard made his first start since early October.
Merino maintained his place up front despite Viktor Gyokeres' return to fitness and rewarded Arteta with another vital goal.
The Spaniard was picked out perfectly by Ben White's cross and powered in his 11th goal of the season for club and country.
Brentford boss Keith Andrews also heavily rotated, with top scorer Igor Thiago among those left on the bench.
But the Bees still posed the leaders problems and were only denied an equaliser through Kevin Schade's header by a brilliant save from David Raya against his former club before half-time.
Saka was introduced on the hour mark and the England winger finally made the points safe in stoppage time as his strike had too much power for Caoimhin Kelleher.
Villa produced a stunning fightback against the Seagulls to continue their fine form with an eighth win in nine league games.
The visitors were their own worst enemies in a dreadful start. Jan Paul van Hecke bundled in from a corner after Villa goalkeeper Marco Bizot failed to collect. Pau Torres then turned past Bizot into his own net from Jack Hinshelwood's cross.
Ollie Watkins had scored just once in 19 previous appearances this season but turned the game around with a quickfire double before the break.
The England striker forced in Ian Maatsen's low cross before latching onto Morgan Rogers' brilliant through ball to slam past Bart Verbruggen.
Amadou Onana completed the comeback with a back-post header from Matty Cash's corner before Donyell Malen made it 4-2.
Centre-back Van Hecke curled in his second of the night to set up a tense finale, but Brighton succumbed to their first home defeat of the season.
Wolves suffered an eighth consecutive defeat as Igor Jesus' header earned Nottingham Forest a 1-0 win at Molineux that moved Sean Dyche's men four points clear of the relegation zone.
Burnley also remain rooted in the bottom three after Daniel Munoz scored the only goal in a 1-0 win that lifted Crystal Palace up to sixth.
Q.Nelson--SFF
