Arsenal crush Fulham to regain five-point lead in EPL

Arsenal have reclaimed their five-point lead in the Premier League by outclassing Fulham in a 3-0 away win at Craven Cottage, while Manchester United have been left aggrieved by the red card for Casemiro in a 0-0 draw at Southampton.

Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard scored first-half goals on Sunday to secure a fifth straight victory in the league for Arsenal, with January signing Leandro Trossard providing assists for all three goals.

Second-place Manchester City had applied pressure on Mikel Arteta’s team by winning 1-0 at Crystal Palace on Saturday, briefly reducing the gap to two points.

But Arsenal are now still in the driving seat with 11 games left.

There was further good news for Arsenal, with Brazil striker Gabriel Jesus coming off the bench in the 77th for his first appearance since undergoing surgery on December 6 on a medial collateral ligament injury sustained during the World Cup.

Arsenal had already had a goal disallowed for offside following a video review by the time Gabriel headed in a left-wing corner from Trossard in the 21st minute.

The Belgium midfielder set up the second goal five minutes later, too, digging out a cross from the left that Martinelli nodded in after beating Fulham defender Antonee Robinson to the ball.

Trossard completed his hat-trick of assists in the second minute of first-half stoppage time but the goal owed more to the technical skill of Odegaard, who brought down the cross into the area, cut inside and smashed a shot past Bernd Leno, the former Arsenal goalkeeper.

At Old Trafford, United survived Casemiro’s early sending off and an impressive display by rock-bottom Southampton as a pulsating encounter ended goalless.

Erik ten Hag stressed the need for United to be at their best as the Red Devils returned to Premier League duty for the first time since last weekend’s historic 7-0 shellacking at rivals Liverpool.

United showed impressive character to bounce back and beat Real Betis on Thursday and again produced a display of strength with 10 men.

The Brazil international Casemiro looked gutted when referee Anthony Taylor brandished a straight red in the 34th minute after the VAR advised him to review the challenge on Carlos Alcaraz on the pitchside monitor.

United felt aggrieved by that decision, just as they did when penalty appeals were rejected before the break but they held firm for the draw.

At the London Stadium, Said Benrahma’s penalty earned West Ham a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa and lifted the Hammers back out of the relegation zone.

The home side fell behind to Ollie Watkins’ header but Benrahma replied from the spot after Lucas Paqueta was fouled.