LONDON: Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League for a day at least after dispatching relegation-threatened Luton 2-0 on Wednesday.
Martin Odegaard’s opener and an own goal by Daiki Hashioka in the first half meant it was a comfortable evening for the hosts as Arsenal provisionally moved one point ahead of Liverpool in the tight three-way race for the title.
Third-place Manchester City were playing Aston Villa in a later kickoff on Wednesday, while Liverpool can reclaim the lead when they host last-place Sheffield United on Thursday.
Facing a team in the relegation zone, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta took the opportunity to rotate his team and made five changes to the side that drew 0-0 at Man City on Sunday.
Bukayo Saka was left out of the squad completely after picking up a knock at the Etihad Stadium. The game was still all but decided before halftime.
Arsenal took the lead in the 24th when Emile Smith Rowe won possession in midfield and fed Odegaard, who exchanged passes with Kai Havertz before firing a low shot inside the near post.
Smith Rowe was heavily involved in the second as well as he drove along the left byline in the 44th before trying to pick out the charging Reiss Nelson, with Hashioka turning the ball into his own net as he tried to prevent his opponent from scoring.
Nelson was making his first Premier League start since July of the pandemic-interrupted 2020 season and was initially announced as the goalscorer — to a huge cheer from the crowd — before it was changed to an own goal.
Luton have proven time and again this season that they can never be counted out of games, with Arsenal needing a 97th-minute winner from Declan Rice to secure a 4-3 victory in the reverse fixture in December after the hosts had twice come back from a deficit.
There was no such drama this time, though, as Arsenal easily saw out the win in the second half, with goalkeeper David Raya hardly troubled.
Luton stayed in 18th place, three points from safety.
Arsenal climb above Liverpool after beating Luton 2-0 in Premier League
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Arsenal climb above Liverpool after beating Luton 2-0 in Premier League
- Martin Odegaard’s opener and an own goal by Daiki Hashioka in the first half meant it was a comfortable evening for the hosts
- Liverpool can reclaim the lead when they host last-place Sheffield United on Thursday
Al-Hilal win to cut Al-Nassr’s lead at the top to two points
- Reigning champions Al- Ittihad beat Neom 3-1 to end the year on a high after difficult title defence
- Leaders dropped their first points of the season on Tuesday after a 2-2 draw against Ettifaq
RIYADH: Al-Hilal have closed the gap on leaders Al-Nassr lead at the top of the Saudi Pro League table to two points after beating Al-Khollod 3-1 on New Year’s Eve.
The win saw Al-Hilal leapfrog Al-Taawoun into second place they now have 29 points from 11 matches, just two behind Al-Nassr, who on Tuesday dropped their first points of the season after a 2-2 draw with Ettifaq.
Al-Hilal took the lead through Sergei Milinkovic-Savic after 45 minutes there was still enough stoppage time for Ramiro Enrique to equalize form the penalty spot. Two second half goals from Theo Hernandez secured a vital three points for Al-Hila.
Earlier in the day reigning SPL champions Al-Itttihad beat hosts Neom 3-1 to go fifth in the table and end the year on n relative high after a difficult defence of their title so far in this campaign.
Roger Fernandes opened the scoring on 14 minutes from Steven Bergwijn’s assist, but Said Benrahma equalized 13 minutes later for teams to go into the break on equal terms.
Second half goals by Bergwijn and Ahmed Al-Ghamdi secured a morale-boosting win for Al-Ittihad.
In Wednesday’s other match, Al-Qadsiah beat hosts Al-Shabab 3-2 to stay fifth in the table.
