Arsenal restored their five-point lead as the Premier League leaders by thrashing Fulham 3-0 on Sunday.
Gabriel Magalhães, Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard scored the goals during a splendid first half visiting Craven Cottage. Leandro Trossard gave the assists on all three goals.
It was the fifth consecutive victory for Mikel Arteta’s team in the English tournament.
Guard Manchester City put pressure on Arsenal with a 1-0 away win against Crystal Palace, bringing them within two points.
Arsenal and Man City have 11 games to play.
The Gunners got more good news when their Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus came on in the 77th minute for his first game since undergoing surgery on Dec. 6 after suffering a knee ligament injury during the World Cup.
Casemiro’s second sending off in his last three Premier League games left Manchester United short-handed from 34 minutes onwards and had to settle for a 0-0 home draw against bottom club Southampton.
United are third in the league, 16 points behind Arsenal.
The Gunners took the lead when Gabriel headed in Trossard’s corner on 21 minutes. The Belgian midfielder created the second goal five minutes later with a cross from the left that Martinelli combed into the net.
Trossard completed his ‘hat trick’ of assists in the first half discounts, a goal of great technical quality from Odegaard. The Norwegian midfielder tamed a cross in the heart of the area, made a cut and defined hard against Bernd Leno, former Arsenal goalkeeper.
CASEMIRO EXPELLED
The Brazilian midfielder was sent off for a reckless tackle on Argentine midfielder Carlos Alcaraz, an action that first earned him a yellow card. The referee resorted to VAR and decided to show him the red one.
Casemiro will have to serve a four-game suspension for his second sending off of the season. The other was on the visit to Crystal Palace on February 4.
Southampton were more dangerous when they were in numerical superiority, crashing into the posts a pair of shots from James Ward-Prowse — from a free kick — and Kyle Walker-Peters. In addition, United defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka cleared a ball on the line.
Instead of aiming for the top, United will have to defend their third place. With one game pending, they are just two points ahead of fourth Tottenham.
Southampton remain bottom of the table. The bottom nine in the standings — with Crystal Palace in 12th place — are separated by just five points.
ALMIRÓN GIVES NEWCASTLE VICTORY
Paraguayan midfielder Miguel Almirón came off the bench to keep Newcastle’s hopes of reaching the next Champions League on fire by scoring the goal that sealed the 2-1 win over Wolverhampton.
Newcastle looked poised for a sixth successive league game without a win when substitute Hwang Hee-chan gave Wolves a temporary equalizer at St James’ Park. Alexander Isak had put Newcastle ahead in the first half.
Wolves players were convinced that Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope should have been sent off for the second time in three games after a clumsy first-half tackle on Mexican attacker Raúl Jiménez.
Almirón added insult to injury when he scored his 11th goal of the season in the 79th minute.
Newcastle displaced Liverpool and finished fifth in the table, taking them two points apart. Las Urracas, with a couple of games remaining, is four points behind Tottenham.
WEST HAM SALT DEL DESCENSO
The penalty taken by Algerian attacker Said Benrahma after 26 minutes rescued West Ham from a draw against visiting Aston Villa, a result that helped the London team leave the rest zone.
An Ollie Watkins header in the 17th had put Villa ahead.
West Ham woke up in the bottom three after Bournemouth’s upset win over Liverpool on Saturday. The tie left David Moyes’ team in 17th place.
