Arsenal FC continued their recent resurgence with a comfortable 2-0 win in the Premier League over Leicester City at King Power Stadium on Saturday.
The visitors capitalised on a lacklustre start from the hosts to dominate the early exchanges and were rewarded with a two-goal lead inside 20 minutes.
Gabriel put the Gunners in front in the fifth minute, climbing above several static Leicester defenders to head in from Bukayo Saka’s corner kick.
Emile Smith Rowe picked his spot in the 10th minute when the ball broke to him after good work from Saka and Alexandre Lacazette.
England winger, Saka, was particularly impressive, dancing through the home defence within two minutes to almost lay on a chance for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and then contributing to both goals.
Arsenal goalkeeper, Aaron Ramsdale, also produced several fine saves as Mikel Arteta’s side showed defensive resolve to record a seventh league game without defeat.
Aside from denying James Maddison, the former Sheffield United player made a superb save from Foxes substitute Ademola Lookman – although credit should also go to Ben White and Gabriel for a series of important clearances as Leicester pressed forward.
They climb from 10th to fifth in the table, level on points with fourth-placed West Ham, before Saturday’s other fixtures.
Brendan Rodgers’ side were roared on by an enthusiastic home crowd but struggled to find the rhythm and poise that helped them to successive victories over Manchester United and Brentford.
Maddison’s curling free-kick just before the break brought an excellent save from Ramsdale but despite a significant improvement after the break they were unable to claw themselves back into the contest.
It was a disappointing afternoon for Leicester who remain 10th on the log.
Elsewhere, Reece James scored twice to help Premier League leaders Chelsea beat Newcastle United 3-0 at a packed St James’ Park and remain top of the Premier League table.
James blasted the ball into the roof of the net after Callum Hudson-Odoi’s cross was headed into his path to put the visitors ahead after 65 minutes.It became 2-0 12 minutes later when England wing-back James again struck powerfully past goalkeeper Karl Darlow after a shot from substitute Ruben Loftus-Cheek was blocked.
Darlow then fouled Kai Havertz to give Chelsea a penalty, which Jorginho converted for a third goal.
Newcastle, playing at home for the first time since Steve Bruce was sacked, struggled to create chances with England striker Callum Wilson heading a rare opportunity over the crossbar.
For Newcastle fans this was a painful reminder of the task ahead of the side and a dampening of the optimism that has surrounded the club since the £305m takeover by the Saudi Arabian-backed Public Investment Fund (PIF).
A crowd of 52,209 was present to see their second home game since that takeover and their first with lifelong Newcastle fan Graeme Jones in temporary charge following the sacking of Bruce earlier this month.
But the hosts offered little attacking threat, only having one weak effort on target, no corners and just 21% of possession as Chelsea kept their seventh league clean sheet of the season.
They remain without a league victory this season and are 19th in the table.
Meanwhile, Brighton came from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw and deny Liverpool victory in an incident-packed game at Anfield.
Captain Jordan Henderson fired the Reds ahead from 18 yards moments after Alisson had denied Solly March at the other end following Leandro Trossard’s defence-splitting pass.Yves Bissouma, making his first start since 19 September after recovering from a knee injury, then had an effort tipped on to the post before Sadio Mane headed Liverpool into a 2-0 lead after a cross by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, on for the injured Naby Keita.
Brighton’s comeback started through Enock Mwepu’s first Premier League goal, a stunning attempt from 25 yards which deceived Alisson.
Graham Potter’s side were impressive and they equalised when Trossard slotted home after an assist by former Liverpool player Adam Lallana.
In an entertaining game, Mane and Mohamed Salah both found the back of the net either side of half-time, but both attempts were ruled out for handball and offside respectively.
In a tense finale, Brighton thought they had won it when Trossard scored in front of The Kop, but it was ruled out for offside.
Jurgen Klopp’s side head into November with their unbeaten record intact, but the Liverpool boss will be unhappy with how his side threw away a healthy lead – and were left hanging on for a point.
While the Reds were once again impressive going forward, they were vulnerable at the back from start to finish as Brighton got in behind the defence on numerous occasions.
As for Brighton, they continue to impress under Potter.
Having won at an empty Anfield last season, they relished the full house surroundings, carving out nine attempts of which six were on target.
They are moving in the right direction and now have 16 points from 10 games – six more than after the same number of games last season.
