By Peter Hall
MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) – Leaders Arsenal dropped more points in their pursuit of a first Premier League title since 2004 after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Brentford on Saturday, while Tottenham Hotspur’s winning run was ended abruptly at Leicester City.
Ten-man Wolverhampton Wanderers came from behind to beat bottom club Southampton, big-spending Chelsea’s disappointing season continued after they drew 1-1 at West Ham United and Fulham climbed to seventh with victory over Nottingham Forest.
Brighton, who have not lost this year, were held to a 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace.
Arsenal’s new signing Leandro Trossard replaced Gabriel Martinelli just past the hour mark with his side struggling and made an almost instant impact to convert a low cross by Bukayo Saka and give the Gunners the lead at the Emirates Stadium.
An eight-point advantage in the table beckoned for Mikel Arteta’s side but they never looked comfortable against an enterprising Brentford who should have been ahead by halftime.
The visitors got their deserved point through Ivan Toney, who pounced in the 72nd minute to head in Christian Norgaard’s cross. Only Harry Kane has netted more away goals in the Premier League this season than the Brentford striker.
Despite dropping points for the second week in a row, after losing to Everton last Saturday, Arsenal lead the table by six points from Manchester City with both clubs having 21 played games.
The champions play Aston Villa on Sunday, before visiting the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
“Winning is about small margins,” Arteta told Premier League productions. “I thought the team still had a good performance today.
“There is another big game to come (against Manchester City on Wednesday). We will get ready for that. It will be another big one and another beautiful one.”
SORRY SPURS
With manager Antonio Conte back in the dugout after missing their win against Manchester City last Sunday following gallbladder surgery, Spurs made a good start at Leicester.
The top-four chasers eyed a fourth successive victory in all competitions and raced into an early lead at the King Power Stadium through Rodrigo Bentancur’s close-range finish.
Yet the hosts quickly turned the match on its head, with Nampalys Mendy hammering home a 23rd-minute equaliser, before James Maddison completed the turnaround two minutes later.
Kelechi Iheanacho added a third in first-half stoppage time to extend Leicester’s lead, with Tottenham’s defending making the Nigerian striker’s task much simpler.
Harvey Barnes added a fine fourth nine minutes from time, securing Leicester a third successive win in all competitions that moved them up to 13th in the standings.
Spurs remain fifth, one point off the top four having played two games more than Newcastle United in fourth, with Eddie Howe’s side in action against Bournemouth later on Saturday.
“It’s good for everyone to have Antonio back,” Spurs assistant Cristian Stellini said. “It’s good for him but he needs to be careful and he can’t use all his energy.
“To be consistent is a long process, a mental process. We have to be better mentally, better in the approach.”
Despite their record January transfer window outlay, Chelsea cannot buy a victory at the moment after they stretched their winless league run to three matches with their draw at West Ham, leaving them ninth in the table.
Joao Felix, returning to the team after the on-loan Portuguese forward was sent off in his Chelsea debut last month, side-footed home in the 16th minute to break the deadlock after a pinpoint pass by British record signing Enzo Fernandez.
Chelsea sought to extend their lead at London Stadium but it was their former wing back Emerson who equalised in the 28th minute.
West Ham thought they had won it late on as Tomas Soucek put the ball in the back of the net but Declan Rice, who headed it on to the Czech, was ruled offside by VAR.
At the bottom of the table, it seemed Southampton’s luck might be turning after Carlos Alcaraz scored in the 25th minute and Wolves had Mario Lemina sent off two minutes later for a second booking.
But Wolves levelled through Jan Bednarek’s 72nd minute own goal and Joao Gomes struck in the 87th minute to leave Saints four points from the safety zone, piling more pressure on manager Nathan Jones who has lost seven of his eight league games in charge.
(Reporting by Peter Hall; Editing by Toby Davis)
