LONDON — Gabriel Jesus marked his first north London derby with a goal as Arsenal beat 10-man Tottenham 3-1 on Saturday to strengthen its grip on first place in the Premier League.
Jesus took advantage of a defensive blunder to make it 2-1 early in the second half and Tottenham’s chances of a comeback were then ruined by Emerson Royal earning a straight red card for a needless studs-up challenge on Gabriel Martinelli in the 62nd minute.
Granit Xhaka quickly capitalized on the man-advantage by adding the third goal five minutes later as Arsenal built a four-point gap to Spurs and Manchester City atop the table. Tottenham would have climbed above Arsenal into first with a win, but instead saw its 13-game unbeaten run in the league stretching back to last season come to an end.
City can climb back within one point of Arsenal with a win over crosstown rival Manchester United on Sunday.
Jesus scored 95 goals in six seasons at Man City — but never netted in the Manchester derby.
“To be honest it’s the second time I scored in a derby. The first was for Brazil against Argentina,” Jesus told BT Sport. “We deserved to win, I don’t know how many chances we created.”
Arsenal took the lead at the Emirates Stadium through a spectacular strike from midfielder Thomas Partey, who curled in a long-distance shot past Hugo Lloris in the 20th following a strong start by the hosts. Arsenal largely dominated possession in the first half as Tottenham was content to sit back and wait for counter-attacking opportunities. That strategy paid off on the half-hour mark when Bukayo Saka turned the ball over and the visitors launched a quick counter that ended with Arsenal giving away a penalty as defender Gabriel lunged in to trip Richarlison in the area.
Harry Kane sent the spot kick straight down the middle to equalize.
But Arsenal was back in front shortly after the restart. Saka broke in from the right and fired a low shot that Lloris could only parry straight out in front of him. Defender Cristian Romero tried to play the ball back to his goalkeeper but the prone Lloris couldn’t collect the ball, which snuck underneath his body — allowing Jesus to poke it into an empty net.
It was Jesus’ fifth league goal since joining Arsenal in the offseason and he could have had another a few minutes later when he headed just wide after a cross from the right.
The usually feisty derby fixture had been surprisingly void of tough challenges and fouls, with not a single player getting booked in the first half. But Royal changed that when the raked his studs down the back of Martinelli’s calf — a completely needless challenge as the Brazilian was running toward his own goal along the sideline well inside his own half.
Referee Anthony Taylor showed a straight red, which effectively ended Spurs’ resistance.
Martinelli then set up Xhaka to score the third goal with a low shot inside the far post and Tottenham manager Antonio Conte conceded defeat as he made a quadruple substitution shortly afterward — taking off forwards Richarlison and Son Heung-min — with one eye on Tuesday’s Champions League game at Eintracht Frankfurt.
“The red card ended the game,” Conte said.
It was Xhaka’s first goal in the north London derby as well.
“From the first second I think we were the better team,” the Swiss midfielder said. “After we conceded we were struggling a little bit, but in the second half we were much better.”
Arsenal now has seven wins in the first eight matches to strengthen its status as a proper title challenger, having finished fifth last season.
BRIGHTON GRAB LATE DRAW AGAINST LIVERPOOL
In Liverpool, Leandro Trossard completed his hat trick with an 83rd-minute equalizer to earn Brighton a 3-3 draw at Liverpool, marking an entertaining start to Roberto De Zerbi’s time in charge of the team from England’s south coast.
De Zerbi certainly put his stamp on Brighton after his arrival as Graham Potter’s replacement, setting the team up in a bold 3-2-4-1 formation at times at Anfield and taking risks in possession against one of the world’s best pressing sides.
It yielded some early benefits — Trossard scored well-worked goals off left-footed shots in the fourth and 17th minutes — before Liverpool got to grips with Brighton’s playing style and mounted a fightback.
Roberto Firmino scored either side of halftime and Liverpool went ahead off a hint of fortune, when Robert Sanchez miscued his punch from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner and saw the ball rebound off his own defender, Adam Webster, and into the net in the 63rd.
However, Brighton claimed a point — perhaps the least the team deserved from its adventurous play — when substitute Kaoru Mitoma crossed from the left, Virgil van Dijk missed a clearance and Trossard steered home a finish that goalkeeper Alisson Becker could only palm onto the crossbar and into the net.
Liverpool has won just two of its first seven matches in the league.
POTTER GETS FIRST LEAGUE WIN AS CHELSEA MANAGER
In London, Conor Gallagher marked his return to Selhurst Park with a last-minute winner in Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace.
The midfielder, who spent last season on loan at Palace, came off the bench and curled home a shot from the edge of the area in the 90th minute to hand Graham Potter victory in his first league match in charge of Chelsea.
Odsonne Edouard opened the scoring for Palace after seven minutes and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang equalized with a neat finish late in the first half.
Chelsea entered the contest having won all of its last 10 meetings between the clubs, while Palace was playing its first match in nearly a month after fixtures against Manchester United and Brighton were postponed following Queen Elizabeth II’s death.
Patrick Vieira made three changes from the starting XI that drew with Newcastle in early September and one of those decisions quickly paid off.
Edouard, who replaced Jean-Philippe Mateta as Vieira’s central striker, met Jordan Ayew’s seventh-minute cross and lifted the ball past Kepa Arrizabalaga and into the top right corner.
Chelsea had a good chance to level at the 20-minute mark when Mason Mount headed inches wide of the right post.
It was the start of a sustained period of pressure from the visitors, who once again missed by inches after Raheem Sterling pounced on his own rebound but watched his second effort ping off a post.
And at the other end, Eberechi Eze could not find the finishing touch on an attempt to double Palace’s advantage, firing the ball just wide.
Palace was furious when Jordan Ayew looked through on goal only to be stopped by a handball by an outstretched Thiago Silva on the ground, but the defender was given only a yellow card.
Silva’s presence on the pitch proved vital moments later when Reece James found him at the edge of the area and he nodded the pass in the direction of Aubameyang, who spun and fired past a diving Vicente Guaita.
And it was more bad news for the hosts when Nathaniel Clyne and Silva both rose to meet the ball to the left of Palace’s goal and the former landed awkwardly. He stayed down until he was taken off the pitch on a stretcher and replaced by James Tomkins, himself only recently returned from injury and available to Vieira for the first time this season.
Gallagher was warmly received when he stepped on the field at Selhurst Park in the 76th minute for the first time since his loan spell, but any friendly sentiment was quickly forgotten when he curled in the winner.
SAINTS FALL AT HOME TO EVERTON
In Southampton, Everton scored twice for the first time this season and came from behind at Southampton to win 2-1.
The Toffees extended their unbeaten run to six matches and provided a rare league success on the road, only the second in this calendar year.
Joe Aribo put the Saints ahead following a lacklustre first half at St Mary’s, but Frank Lampard’s visitors hit back instantly, with Conor Coady and Dwight McNeil scoring in the space of three second-half minutes.
Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl read the riot act to his players after defeat at Aston Villa two weeks ago and as a result made six changes, including full debuts for Juan Larios, Duje Caleta-Car and Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
But after a forgetful first 45 minutes in which Everton largely controlled proceedings, Saints broke the deadlock in the 49th when Che Adams found Aribo inside the area and the ex-Rangers midfielder turned neatly before rifling a shot into the bottom corner.
But the celebrations from the home supporters were cut short when Everton levelled in rapid fashion.
Another Demarai Gray delivery caused problems and Amadou Onana impressively headed his free kick back across goal for Coady to volley in and open his account for the Toffees in the 51st.
The end-to-end nature of the contest continued, with Saints wasting three chances to retake the lead in one passage of play that finished with the visitors going in front. McNeil grabbed his first goal for the club.
Alex Iwobi’s cross was intended for Onana, but he received a shove from Kyle Walker-Peters that allowed the ball to run through for McNeil, who took a touch before drilling the ball high into the roof of the net in the 54th.
Hasenhuttl introduced Romain Perraud, Samuel Edozie and Adam Armstrong but Saints couldn’t avoid a third consecutive defeat.
Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was back for Everton after missing England duty in the international break with a thigh injury.
CHERRIES FUMING IN DRAW TO BRENTFORD
In Bournemouth, the Cherries were left fuming after being denied a penalty kick in a 0-0 draw with Brentford.
Bournemouth was perplexed by referee Thomas Bramall ruling out a spot kick despite being ordered to the pitchside monitors by VAR official John Brooks. The Vitality Stadium hosts felt frustrated to see Kristoffer Ajer’s wayward sliding challenge on Jordan Zemura go unpunished.
Bramall took charge in the league for just the second time, and his move to stick with his original on-field decision of no penalty was met with clear derision by the Cherries.
Bournemouth’s anger grew still further at the final whistle as Bramall gave no second thought to the ball striking Mathias Jensen’s arm in the area. The last-gasp skirmish should not have yielded a penalty, but Bramall struggled to control the situation as Bournemouth players surrounded him.
The two mid-table teams proved too tame to topple the other on the south coast in the end but interim Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neill will still have been delighted to extend his side’s unbeaten run to four league matches since its 9-0 demolition by Liverpool in August.
NEWCASTLE COAST PAST 10-MAN FULHAM
In London, Miguel Almiron struck twice as Newcastle cruised to a comfortable 4-1 victory at 10-man Fulham.
Newcastle went into the game with just one win in the league but stormed to victory following an eighth-minute red card for Nathaniel Chalobah following a reckless challenge on Sean Longstaff.
Callum Wilson put Newcastle ahead just after Fulham was reduced to 10 men, and Almiron scored his first of the afternoon with a stunning volley from the edge of the penalty area.
Longstaff then added Newcastle’s third from close range just before halftime, with Almiron capping a dominant Magpies performance by sweeping in a fourth in the 57th minute.
Fulham grabbed a late consolation goal, as Newcastle’s standards slipped at the back, with Bobby De Cordova-Reid heading home from just in front of goalkeeper Nick Pope in the 88th.
Marco Silva’s side had gone into the game ahead of Newcastle in the standings, having put in some impressive performances, but making four enforced changes due to injury proved significant.
Star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic was forced off in the first half, and the home side did not register a shot until the 68th.
WEST HAM MOVE OUT OF RELEGATION WITH WIN OVER WOLVES
In London, Gianluca Scamacca and Jarrod Bowen scored their first goals in this English Premier League to drag West Ham out of the relegation zone at the expense of Wolverhampton in a 2-0 win on Saturday.
Scamacca, the summer signing from Sassuolo for $36 million, finally opened his account in the league with a fine, dipping strike from the edge of the area in the 29th minute.
Bowen, who was picked for England’s last Nations League squad but failed to get on the field, wrapped up the win with a fine individual strike in the 54th.
Wolves manager Bruno Lage handed Diego Costa a 30-minute cameo as a substitute but the 33-year-old former Chelsea striker, signed on a free transfer last month, could not prevent the division’s lowest-scoring team from slipping into the bottom three.
With Nathan Collins suspended for his wild challenge on Manchester City’s Jack Grealish last month, Wolves captain Ruben Neves was forced to drop into the unfamiliar role of central defender on his 150th appearance for the club.
The Portugal midfielder’s task for the evening was not made any easier when he picked up an early booking for a body-check on Bowen.
Bowen ran at the Wolves rearguard relentlessly with the type of performance that could yet earn him a place in the World Cup squad.
The visitors actually had eight Portuguese players in their starting lineup — a record for one nationality, other than English, in a league team — and another of them, Daniel Podence, tried a long-range shot which Lukasz Fabianski tipped over.
West Ham should have gone ahead when Bowen’s shot was spilled by goalkeeper Jose Sa to the feet of Scamacca but the Italy striker scooped the rebound wide.
However, Scamacca made no mistake in the 29th after his pass found Bowen down the right.
When the England winger eventually ran out of room in the area, the ball broke back to Scamacca, who flicked the ball up before smacking a superb shot past Sa from the edge of the area.
Wolves looked to hit back and Podence had another effort saved before Adama Traore’s volley bounced wide.
West Ham doubled their lead in the 54th when Thilo Kehrer’s drive spun into the path of Bowen. He still had plenty to do but he danced around fullback Rayan Alt-Nouri before burying a low shot inside Sa’s near post.
Costa made his entrance three minutes later for a first league appearance since May 2017, and a first anywhere since January.
