English Roundup: Arsenal stays on top with win against Wolves

LONDON — Arsenal carved through the Wolverhampton defence with a couple of intricate team moves and held on for a 2-1 home win to extend its lead atop the English Premier League on Saturday.

Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard scored in the opening 13 minutes at Emirates Stadium and Wolves barely had a sniff at goal before being gifted a way back into the game in the 86th, when Matheus Cunha swept home following a defensive mixup.

But the Gunners clung on through a nervous eight minutes of added time to go four points clear of second-placed Manchester City. The defending champion hosts Tottenham on Sunday.

This win came on the heels of Arsenal’s 6-0 rout of Lens in the Champions League on Wednesday, and the Gunners attack again looked back to its free-flowing best in the early stages. The return of striker Gabriel Jesus from an injury has clearly rejuvenated Arsenal's forward line, and while the Brazilian did not get a goal or an assist, his link-up play in the area played a crucial role in both early goals.

The first came when Saka started and finished off a well-worked move in the sixth minute. Double-teamed on the right wing, Saka managed to thread the ball through to Jesus on the edge of the area, and the Brazil forward held off a defender before flicking the ball on to Takehiro Tomiyasu. The Japanese right back fed it back to Saka, who went past Craig Dawson before slotting it past goalkeeper Jose Sa.

The second came when left back Oleksandr Zinchenko chased down a wayward cross from Saka and played a one-two with Jesus before squaring the ball back to Odegaard, who calmly side-footed inside the far corner.

Sa had to go off in the 22nd for an apparent back injury and was replaced by Dan Bentley, who needed the woodwork to bail him out in the 37th. Saka fed Gabriel Martinelli on a quick counter but the Brazilian rolled his shot against the far post.

Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya didn’t have a save to make until the 52nd, when he blocked a shot by Cunha from a tight angle.

Saka nearly curled in a long-range strike that went just over the bar in the 75th, and Bentley pulled off a double save to deny Leandro Trossard and Saka in the 82nd.

Then, out of nowhere, Wolves was revived when Arsenal failed to clear the ball in its area and it fell to Cunha, who swept it past Raya.

Arsenal nearly responded immediately as substitute Eddie Nketiah was played through on goal by Odegaard, but rolled his finish against the post.

That made for a nervy finish but Wolves couldn't trouble Raya again.

Newcastle 1, Manchester United 0

In Newcastle, Anthony Gordon scored for the fourth straight home game for Newcastle to earn a 1-0 win over Manchester United in the English Premier League on Saturday.

The winger tapped in from close range from Kieran Trippier’s cross in the 55th minute for the only goal of a game Newcastle dominated at St. James’ Park.

It ended a run of three victories in a row without conceding for Man United, which was overtaken by Newcastle and dropped to seventh place.

Already hit hard by a long list of absentees that is into double figures, Newcastle saw goalkeeper Nick Pope helped off in the 86th with a suspected dislocated left shoulder sustained when he dived to stop a ball that was blocked in front of him.

“It's looks bad,” Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said. “He’s done it before and had it operated on and come back successfully. But I don’t know what the future holds for him, I don’t know if he will need an operation or not.”

Pope’s replacement, Martin Dubravka, let in a goal in the 89th from a rare chance for United but it was disallowed for offside against Harry Maguire, who unwittingly deflected home a shot from substitute Antony.

Trippier is contributing as much in attack as he is in defense for Newcastle. It was a league-leading seventh assist of the campaign for the right back, who struck the underside of the crossbar from a free kick in the first half.

Both teams were coming off draining and, in some ways, demoralizing away trips in Europe midweek. Newcastle conceded a contentious equalizer deep into stoppage time against Paris Saint-Germain and Man United was held by Galatasaray to 3-3 despite twice holding a two-goal lead.

United appeared to lack energy against Newcastle, having only one shot on target and conceding 22 attempts.

“Of course there are lots of danger signs for any team when you have to put them into another game so quickly,” Howe said.

“What I was concerned about was the response that we would have after conceding such a late goal in Paris. It would have been easy to feel sorry for ourselves after that, but we rolled our sleeves up and were excellent again tonight."

Everton 1, Notts Forest 0

In Nottingham, Everton launched its rebuilding job after the record points deduction for financial mismanagement by defeating Nottingham Forest 1-0, thanks to Dwight McNeil's second-half goal.

Everton was plunged into the relegation mire as a result of the 10-point penalty for breaching the league's financial rules, and stayed there following a 3-0 loss to Manchester United last week that was inspired by Alejandro Garnacho's sensational overhead kick.

However, the team built on an encouraging display against United by outplaying Forest, and got the goal the performance merited when a cross from the right found McNeil at the back post and the midfielder lashed a diagonal shot into the top corner in the 67th minute.

Everton jumped to third-to-last place on seven points and within two of Luton, which occupied the spot above the relegation zone.

The visiting fans continued their protests against the sanction the club received, holding up pink cards featuring the word “corrupt” and the logo of the Premier League.

Forest, which struggled without injured striker Taiwo Awoniyi, was jeered off by its fans and has just one win in its last 10 games in the league. With four losses in his team's last five matches, manager Steve Cooper has come under pressure even though Forest was six points above the bottom three.

Burnley 5, Sheffield United 0

In Burnley, the home side scored the fastest English Premier League goal of the season — inside 16 seconds — on its way to a 5-0 win over 10-man Sheffield United that lifted the team out of last place and ended its record seven-match losing run at home in stylish fashion.

Jay Rodriguez’s deflected header gave Vincent Kompany’s team a perfect start at Turf Moor. Jacob Bruun Larsen made it 2-0 in the 29th minute after running onto a ball over the top of the defense before stroking home a low finish.

Sheffield United’s task got even tougher in first-half stoppage time when Oli McBurnie, who was already on a yellow card for elbowing Dara O’Shea, did the same thing on the same opponent to earn another booking and get sent off.

Zeki Amdouni, American-born winger Luca Koleosho — with his first league goal — and Josh Brownhill added further strikes in the second half for Burnley, which recorded its second win of the campaign. Both of the victories have come over fellow promoted teams, having also defeated Luton away in October.

Burnley moved above the beaten visitors and onto seven points but was still in the relegation zone.

Almost exactly 10 years ago to the day, Rodriguez scored an even faster goal — after 13.68 seconds — for Southampton at Chelsea.

He is the only player to score in the opening 15 seconds of two separate league matches, according to stats company Opta.

Brentford 3, Luton 1

In London, Brentford scored three second-half goals to beat Luton 3-1.

Neal Maupay opened the scoring in the 49th and Ben Mee added a second seven minutes later. Although Jacob Brown pulled a goal back after defensive sloppiness, Shandon Baptiste sealed victory with a close-range finish in the 81st.

However, the Bees’ injury troubles worsened when Kristoffer Ajer picked up a knock in the warmup.

Brentford moved up to 10th place and Luton stayed in fourth-to-last place, only two points above the relegation zone.