The World Cup break may be just around the corner, but there remains plenty of life in the Premier League campaign, as another action-packed Sunday showed.
The day was book-ended by two heavyweight clashes, with Mikel Arteta s Arsenal moving back to the top of the table by beating Chelsea in a tense London derby in the early kick-off.
Later on, Liverpool finally clinched their first away win of the Premier League campaign as Mohamed Salah tormented Tottenham.
Elsewhere, Unai Emery made a memorable start to his Aston Villa reign and Newcastle United went third by tearing Southampton apart on the south coast.
Here, Stats Perform looks through the best facts of the day.
retake top spot
move into third
A dramatic Sunday in the !
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Brentford and West Ham shared the points in a keenly-contested London derby as Bryan Mbeumo’s goal was cancelled out by Tomas Soucek in a 1-1 draw at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Mbeumo volleyed home from close range after 38 seconds to give Brentford the perfect start, but the hosts could not build on their advantage and West Ham equalised early in the second half.
Soucek’s goal for the visitors came after 54 minutes following some intricate play around the penalty area.
Both sides spent the rest of the second half searching for a winner, but one was not forthcoming.
The point leaves Brentford 12th in the Premier League table, while West Ham are two places below them in 14th.
The points are shared in Brentford
— West Ham United (@W…
Former Borussia Dortmund and Australia goalkeeper Mitch Langerak has taken the J1 League by storm since joining Nagoya Grampus in 2018.
If making history for most clean sheets in Japan s top flight was not enough in 2020, Langerak broke his own record through just 28 matches this season – 18.
No stranger to breaking records, Langerak also eclipsed the mark for most consecutive J1 League clean sheets with nine earlier in 2021.
Third-placed Nagoya have conceded just 22 goals after 29 rounds – a figure only bettered by leaders Kawasaki Frontale, while Langerak has kept four clean sheets for the 2010 J1 League winners en route to the AFC Champions League quarter-finals.
Speaking to Stats Perform ahead of Wednesday s trip to FC Tokyo, Langerak said: We re …
Troy Lesesne believes D.C. United s ruthlessness could be what gets them over the line as they battle for an MLS Cup playoff spot, ahead of Wednesday s huge clash with Nashville SC.
D.C. sit 12th in the Eastern Conference standings with three games to play, one point and one place above Nashville and just three adrift of the final wild-card spot.
After watching his team fight back to earn a 2-2 draw against the MLS Cup holders, the Columbus Crew, last time out, Lesesne said their spirit could take them far.
This group does not stop, that s a value we have throughout the club at the moment, Lesense said.
I think that value of being relentless, that mindset that we re always going to keep going, that s what is going to carry us down to the wire with thes…
Red-faced Sunderland chiefs have apologised for a “serious error in judgement” after a bar at the Stadium of Light was decorated in the colours of arch-rivals Newcastle ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup derby.
Fans reacted with fury when images emerged on social media on Thursday of the Black Cats Bar at the Wearside venue with banners proclaiming the messages “Keep the Black and White Flying High” and “We are United”, while Sunderland’s motto “Ha’way the lads” in red had been replaced with the Geordie spelling “Howay” in black.
However, the Sky Bet Championship club later released a statement announcing an immediate review and confirming the bar, which will serve as a corporate hospitality area for visiting fans, would be returned to its previous live…
Watford have appointed former England boss Roy Hodgson as their new manager.
Hodgson, 74, takes over from Claudio Ranieri, who was sacked on Monday after just three months in the role.
Ray Lewington, who was Watford boss from 2002 to 2005 and has worked extensively as Hodgson s assistant manager, has also joined the club.
Hodgson s coaching career stretches back to 1976, when he took charge of Swedish side Halmstad for four years.
His club career has seen him manage teams ranging from Inter, Liverpool and Udinese to Blackburn Rovers and Neuchatel Xamax, while he has also coached the national teams of Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and Finland.
A fan favourite at Fulham after leading them to the Europa League final in 2010, Hodgson became En…
Russian teams will be welcomed back into world football immediately once the invasion of Ukraine ends, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has declared.
Infantino said FIFA would be there the first day to play football again , as he spoke at the world governing body s congress in Qatar, this year s World Cup host country.
Infantino, who in 2019 was awarded an Order of Friendship medal by Russian president Vladimir Putin, said he was devastated by the news coming out of Ukraine.
But he said it was right that there was Russian representation at the congress, insisting the country s national federation had not been suspended by FIFA.
The country s national and club teams have been blocked from playing in FIFA and UEFA competitions, including the World Cup, bu…
Former New York Red Bulls forward Bradley Wright-Phillips has re-signed with the club on a one-day contract, in order to officially finish his career and retire with the MLS outfit.
The ex-attacker is set to move to a new role in Harrison as Special Assistant to the Sporting Director, after two seasons with Los Angeles FC and Columbus Crew respectively.
After confirming his retirement this week, the two-time Golden Boot winner has now officially signed off with the side he helped fire to a hat-trick of Supporters Shield triumphs over a seven-year stint.
It wouldn’t have felt right retiring somewhere else, especially in America, it wouldn’t have felt right, Wright-Phillips said in a statement. I am honoured to get the opportunity to retire here, it means …
Harry Maguire has praised Gareth Southgate for showing “faith and trust” in him during a tough period in his career and has backed the England boss to stay on after targeting Euro 2024 success.
Southgate is preparing to lead England into a fourth major tournament at the helm and has come the closest to leading the nation to glory for the first time since 1966 – reaching a World Cup semi-final, the final of Euro 2020 and the World Cup quarter-finals in Qatar in 2022.
During that time, Southgate has stuck rigidly to supporting Maguire even when the Manchester United defender was out of the team at Old Trafford, had been stripped of the captaincy and was being jeered by England fans.
Maguire has now largely come through the other side of such criticism and is …
Chelsea claimed another big win at Stamford Bridge on Sunday as they swatted aside West Ham 5-0 to further boost their European hopes.
In the hosts’ second London Derby of the week, Cole Palmer was joined on the scoresheet by Noni Madueke, Connor Gallagher, and Nicolas Jackson, who was at the double.
Palmer’s 15th-minute opener, Gallagher’s volley and Madueke’s header put Chelsea in complete control by the interval, with Jackson’s second half brace providing the icing on the cake.
The victory lifts Chelsea up to seventh, above Manchester United – who face Crystal Palace on Monday – while out-of-form West Ham remain in ninth, with their chances of European qualification all but over.
West Ham broke troubled Djordje Petrovic with a direct Jarr…