Thomas, Jesus, Xhaka score in Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur

London, Oct 1 (EFE).- Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal is ready to fight it out for the top spot in the Premier League, as evidenced by its Saturday 3-1 whipping of its bitter rival, Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby, thus catapulting the Gunners upwards in the rankings at the top of the table and opening up a nice point gap with their closest rival.

Arsenal ended the match with just 10 men at Emirates Stadium after Emerson Royal was expelled in the 62nd minute, although the score was at 2-1 at that point and just five minutes later Xhaka notched the team’s third goal, closing the door on Tottenham.

Thomas Partey scored first for Arsenal in the 20th minute on a sensational bending shot, but Harry Kane evened things up by scoring his 100th away goal 11 minutes later and there things rested until after the break when Gabriel Jesus found the twine in the 49th minute and then Granit Xhaka sealed the deal 16 minutes later.

Arsenal now has seven wins in their last eight games, opening up a four-point gap with Manchester City, who are in the No. 2 spot. Tottenham, meanwhile, is tied with Man City in third place with 17 points.

Elsewhere Chelsea – now in fifth place – fought off Crystal Palace, upending the prevailing draw and grabbing a late win on a goal by Conor Gallagher in the 90th minute.

Edouard opened the scoring for Crystal Palace at home in Selhurst Park in the 7th minute, but Aubameyang tied things up in the 38th minute.

Gallagher, who formerly played for Crystal Palace, was sent onto the pitch in the 76th minute and it was a good move given that he was able to sink one just before the final whistle for the win, three minutes after being yellow-carded.

In other action, Newcastle crushed Fulham 4-1 on the road, thus leaving behind its drought of six weeks without a win, dominating the match from the 7th minute onward and with a goal by Callum Wilson, two from Miguel Almiron, and the final tally from Sean Longstaff.

Chalobah was expelled on a red card early on and Newcastle then never trailed. By the 32nd minute they were up 2-0 and then Longstaff scored just before the break for the 3-0 and Almiron got another tally later, with Bobby Reid scoring a consolation goal for the home squad 2 minutes before time.

The win puts Newcastle tied with Fulham, in the No. 7 and 8 spots, both with 11 points.

Everton notched its second consecutive win, downing Southampton 2-1 on the road at St. Mary’s Stadium in Anfield, with all the tallies coming in the second half. Aribo scored first in the 49th minute for the home team, but Coady and McNeil secured back-to-back goals in the 52nd and 54th minutes for the win. Everton is now in 11th place and Southampton in 16th, just above the relegation threshold.

Liverpool and Brighton battled to an exciting 3-3 draw, with Brighton goaltender Robert Sanchez making a beautiful stop late in play to stave off what might have resulted in a loss.

Trossard nabbed a hat trick for Brighton with his first tally coming just four minutes into play and his second in minute 17. Then, Firmino scored two goals to even things up, the first one in minute 33 and the second after the break in the 54th minute. It was Webster who sent Liverpool ahead in the 63rd minute but Trossard was on hand once again in the 83rd minute for the final even-up score.

Brighton is now in fourth place, while Liverpool is in ninth.

Bournemouth and Brentford, both stuck in the middle of the table, weren’t able to do much against one another on Saturday, their contest ending in a scoreless draw, and now the former is winless in its last four outings, although only one was a loss, while the latter has won just once in its last five encounters.

Goals by Gianluca Scamacca and Jarrod Bowen were what it took for West Ham – now in 15th place with 7 points, just keeping its nose above water – to best Wolverhampton, now hovering just under the relegation threshold.

After a draw and two consecutive defeats, David Moyes’ men once again tasted victory, with their second win of the season , while the Wolves, unable to get much going during the match, appear to have been mired in crisis right from the start of the season and certainly from the opening whistle on Saturday.

West Ham opened the scoring at the half-hour mark with Scamacca shooting from distance and beating Jose Sa. The second tally came in the 55th minute, when Kherer fired but the rebound went to Bowen, who sent it into the net.

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