MANCHESTER – Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge took another hit on Sunday after a 1-1 draw with Chelsea.
It’s now four games without a win in the league for Mikel Arteta’s team, which is nine points behind leader Liverpool.
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While a point saw Arsenal climb up to fourth in the standings, its winless run has seen a gap open up at the top. Chelsea is third, ahead of Arsenal on goal difference.
Gabriel Martinelli had fired Arsenal in front in the 60th minute at Stamford Bridge, but Pedro Neto equalized 10 minutes later.
“It’s about transforming these performances into victories,” Arteta said afterward.
Arsenal was runner-up to Manchester City in each of the last two seasons and expected to be the closest rival to the defending champion again.
Instead it is Liverpool, under new manager Arne Slot, that has powered ahead at the start of the campaign and taken advantage of the faltering form of both City and Arsenal. City is five points back in second after two-straight losses in the league.
“It is a long season — long way to go. We had a tough period in December last season and came back,” Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard told Sky Sports, as reported by the BBC. Odegaard was making his first start since sustaining ankle ligament damage in September. “We know the quality and mentality we have and we just have to keep going.”
Behind the top two the league is bunching up.
Just four points separate Chelsea and 13th-place Manchester United after 11 rounds of the season.
Injury concerns
Declan Rice went into the match with a broken toe and was taken off in the 71st, while Bukayo Saka was substituted 10 minutes later, placing doubts over whether they will be available for England's Nation League games against Greece and the Republic of Ireland.
"I don’t know whether to expect them to be fit, because if not they don’t come off,” Arteta said.
New era
Over to you Ruben Amorim.
United’s incoming head coach will take over a team on the up after a 3-0 win against Leicester made it four games unbeaten in all competitions under interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Amorim officially starts on Monday after serving out his notice period at Sporting Lisbon — where his last game in charge Sunday was a 4-2 win at Braga in the Portuguese league — and comes into a club that looks to be in a much healthier position than it was when Erik ten Hag was fired at the end of last month.
“We said ‘Let’s make the most of these four games, get the maximum out of it,’ and I think we did an okay job,” Van Nistelrooy said. ”I really enjoyed it, it’s been a short but amazing period.”
Van Nistelrooy, Ten Hag’s former assistant and an iconic striker for the club in his playing days, has secured three wins and a draw during his four-game temporary reign.
Now he is seeking clarity from United’s hierarchy about his own future once Amorim takes over.
“I expect to hear today or tomorrow from them,” he said.
On his 250th appearance for the club Bruno Fernandes scored with a brilliant curling shot from the edge of the area in the 17th minute at Old Trafford.
His effort in the 38th then saw Victor Kristiansen accidentally divert the ball past Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen to double United’s lead before the break.
Substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored an even more spectacular goal than Fernandes’ in the 82nd when sweeping the ball into the top corner from outside the box. Fernandes said later that the Argentina international didn’t fully celebrate the goal because he believes some fans have lost faith in him.
Newcastle fights back
Nottingham Forest’s rise has been one of the stories of the season, but it missed the chance to close the gap on Manchester City in second after falling 3-1 to Newcastle.
City’s 2-1 loss against Brighton on Saturday meant Forest could have moved to within a point of Pep Guardiola’s team and it got off to an ideal start through Murillo’s goal in the 21st at the City Ground.
But second-half goals from Alexander Isak, Joelinton and Harvey Barnes completed eighth-place Newcastle’s comeback.
Defeat saw Forest drop from third to fifth on goal difference.
Ipswich wins
Ipswich won for the first time in the league this season with a 2-1 victory at Tottenham that saw it climb out of the relegation zone.
It was promoted Ipswich's first Premier League win in 22 years.
Ipswich was the only top-flight team without a win heading into Sunday and led 2-0 at halftime against a Spurs side that could have moved into the top four with victory.
Sam Szmodics and Liam Delap put Ipswich in control at that break. Rodrigo Bentancur pulled one back for Tottenham, but couldn’t prevent Ange Postecoglou’s team falling to a fifth league loss this season.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer