Manchester City ended their seven-game winless run with a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest on a night when Premier League leaders Liverpool were held to a dramatic 3-3 draw at Newcastle.
City’s run included four Premier League defeats, but they managed to produce something more like a routine win of old to beat Forest at the Etihad Stadium.
Bernardo Silva tapped in from a Kevin De Bruyne header with eight minutes gone before the Belgian, starting his first game since mid-September, rifled in a second just after the half-hour mark.
A good night's work 🫡
— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 4, 2024
Thank you for backing us all the way, City fans 🩵 pic.twitter.com/UOcKm0Y6Ry
Jeremy Doku got his second league goal of the season in the 57th minute and City had opportunities to add to their lead as they finally stopped the rot.
The gap between the champions and leaders Liverpool was cut to nine points after Arne Slot’s side were denied a win at St James’ Park by a last-minute Fabian Schar goal, having twice come from behind to lead the game late on.
Mohamed Salah looked to have rescued an eighth successive win in all competitions when his second-half double – both set up by substitute Trent Alexander-Arnold – put the visitors 3-2 ahead with seven minutes to play after Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon struck either side of Curtis Jones’ equaliser.
Great shift tonight, lads! 👊 pic.twitter.com/2mZedWxkDm
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) December 4, 2024
But Schar had the final say as he squeezed in a 90th-minute equaliser, sliding in to convert Bruno Guimaraes’ free-kick from a tight angle.
Liverpool’s draw allowed Arsenal to cut the gap at the top of the table to seven points with a 2-0 win over Manchester United, Ruben Amorim’s first defeat since taking charge.
Both goals came from second-half corners, one headed in by Jurrien Timber and the other turned in by William Saliba after Thomas Partey got his head to the ball.
Aston Villa ended an eight-game winless run as they beat Brentford 3-1, having scored all of their goals in the space of 15 first-half minutes.
Morgan Rogers got the first in the 21st minute with a superb curling strike, and Ollie Watkins doubled the lead from the penalty spot seven minutes later after being fouled by Ethan Pinnock in the box.
Matty Cash then made it 3-0 in the 34th minute, with Mikkel Damsgaard getting one back for the visitors early in the second half.
Chelsea romped to a 5-1 win away to Southampton in a match that saw Saints captain Jack Stephens sent off for pulling the hair of Marc Cucurella.
Stephens saw red in the 39th minute after tugging the curls of the Spain defender, although by that point Southampton were already 3-1 down, with goals from Christopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke putting Chelsea in charge after Southampton’s Joe Aribo briefly cancelled out Axel Disasi’s early opener.
Second-half finishes from Cole Palmer and Jadon Sancho piled more misery on Russell Martin’s men, and it could have been worse with Chelsea hitting the post and the crossbar.
Everton ended their goal drought in style as they thrashed Wolves 4-0 for their biggest win since May 2023.
Everton had not scored in 370 minutes but eased the pressure on Sean Dyche as Ashley Young bagged his first goal in more than two years – becoming the club’s oldest goalscorer at 39 and four months – while Orel Mangala fired in the first goal of his loan spell from Lyon.
Craig Dawson was guilty of two own goals to add to Wolves’ misery, although some credit should go to Dominic Calvert-Lewin who had a key role in both even if he could not end his own 10-game goal-less run.
