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Newcastle end Villa’s unbeaten home run, Arsenal return to second

Sports Desk, Jan 31 (EFE).- Two goals from Fabian Schar inspired Newcastle United to only their second away win in the English Premier League this season as they ended Aston Villa’s 17-match unbeaten streak at home on Tuesday.

Alex Moreno scored an own goal in the 3-1 win, the Magpies’ first win at Villa Park since 2013, as they overcame late pressure after Ollie Watkins reduced the margin for the home side.

Arsenal returned to second place after Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka’s second-half goals gave the side a deserved 2-1 win against Nottingham Forest.

Schar’s two close-range finishes gave Newcastle a 2-0 lead at half-time at Villa Park before Moreno inadvertently applied the final touch to Jacob Murphy’s attempt shortly after the break.

With around 20 minutes left, Leon Bailey’s centre found Watkins, who reduced the deficit with an emphatic finish.

Watkins, who became the third player to score 50 Premier League goals for Aston Villa after Gabriel Agbonlahor and Dwight Yorke, thought he had his second moments later, but the goal was ruled out by VAR for offside.

The decision seemed to stem the flow of Villa’s late rally, allowing Newcastle to escape with a win.

At Nottingham, Arsenal controlled proceedings throughout but had to wait until 20 minutes after the break when Jesus made a clever finish at the near post.

Jesus was also heavily involved in their second goal, picking out Saka to double the lead with a crisp, right-foot finish shortly after.

Substitute Taiwo Awoniyi struck later for Forest to test the nerves of the gunners, who held out their lead to raise their tally to 46 points and come within two points of leaders Liverpool, Chelsea’s hosts on Wednesday evening.

“I’m really happy with the performance and with the result,” said Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta.

“It was still in our tummy, what happened here last year, and we wanted to put it right,” he said, referring to the side’s 0-1 defeat at the same place in May that dented their title hopes last season.

“I think we showed a lot of maturity to deal with the game in the way that we had to, but in the last three, four minutes, we conceded a goal – and then you have to suffer in this league.”

Elijah Adebayo netted Luton Town’s first-ever Premier League hat-trick as the side thrashed Brighton 4-0 in another crucial fixture of the night.

Crystal Palace came back twice to beat Sheffield United 3-2, while Everton returned to the relegation zone after being held to a goalless draw at Fulham in the other match. EFE

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