Milan: Liverpool emphatically rebounded from a miserable run as they won 5-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.
Eberechi Eze delivered a telling blow to his former team by scoring his first Premier League goal for Arsenal in a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday to extend the North London club’s lead at the top of the standings.
Eze, who spent five seasons at Selhurst Park before Arsenal signed him in August, struck in the 39th minute when Gabriel Magalhaes headed Declan Rice’s free kick into his path. The midfielder leapt to steer a first-time finish out of the air past Dean Henderson. The 27-year-old, who was a key part of Palace’s victorious FA Cup run last season, did not celebrate the goal.
The victory extended Arsenal’s unbeaten run to six league matches and 10 games in all competitions, and opened up a four-point cushion over second-placed Bournemouth with 22 points after nine games.
Mikel Arteta’s team also opened up a six-point lead over rivals Manchester City, who are fourth after their 1-0 loss on Sunday at Aston Villa.
“It’s hard to put a finger on (why we are doing particularly well this season) but every season we learn more and more,” Leandro Trossard said. “We just want to win, we want to win every game.”
Meanwhile, Manchester City suffered their first loss in 10 matches in all competitions as Matty Cash’s first-half strike secured a 1-0 victory for Aston Villa, the hosts’ fourth straight win in the Premier League.
City’s first loss since August left them six points behind leaders Arsenal after nine matches. Villa, unbeaten in their last six league games, are a point below City.
“We work a lot on set-pieces, over the last couple of years there have been a lot of set-pieces that have won us games and today is no different,” Cash said after his second league goal of the season. “The last month we’ve been really good. Defensively really good. We’ve just stuck together as a group. And at Villa Park they’re always behind us.” Villa looked to find Ollie Watkins with long balls and counters early on, while Emiliano Buendia’s
shot went high.