LONDON: Arsenal is back into second place in the Premier League and in no rush to add players in the transfer window.
Mikel Arteta’s team beat Brentford 3-1 on Wednesday to leapfrog Nottingham Forest and close the gap on league leader Liverpool to six points.
“If there’s an opportunity, we’ll look at it,” Arteta said of the January window. “I really like my players. I really value what we have, because it’s a lot of quality and a lot of commitment from all of them.”
That includes 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri, who got his first Premier League start in place of the injured Bukayo Saka. The teenager was involved in second-half goals by Mikel Merino and Gabriel Martinelli.
Bryan Mbeumo put the home team ahead in the 13th minute at Gtech Community Stadium, but Gabriel Jesus made it 1-1 just before the half-hour mark — his sixth goal in the past four games.
Merino scored in the 50th minute and Martinelli added a third three minutes later.
It was Arsenal’s second straight win without Saka, who is likely to be sidelined until at least March. The England winger tore his right hamstring in a 5-1 win over Crystal Palace on Dec. 21.
Arsenal extended its unbeaten streak to 12 games in all competitions.
Liverpool has a game in hand on the Gunners, who play at Brighton on Saturday. Liverpool hosts Manchester United on Sunday.
Brentford remained in 12th place and has lost three of its past four Premier League matches.
Arsenal moves up to 2nd place in Premier League with 3-1 win over Brentford
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Arsenal moves up to 2nd place in Premier League with 3-1 win over Brentford
- Arsenal extended its unbeaten streak to 12 games in all competitions
Mid East Falcons finish strong with victory over Arabia Wolves
- Abu Dhabi franchise beat their Dubai counterparts 3-2 to finish the inaugural Baseball United season joint top with Mumbai Cobras
DUBAI: Five pitchers combined to complete a five-hit, two-run game, while Jake Hjelle and Federico Celli each drove in a run, to give the Mid East Falcons a 3-2 victory over the Arabia Wolves at Baseball United Ballpark on Sunday.
Left-handed starter Shotaro Kasahara worked for 3.0 IP, allowing only one hit, with three walks and one strikeout. Yunis Halim, who earned the victory, pitched two scoreless innings, with one walk.
Stephen Mufareh (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER), Yudai Mizuchina (1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO), Shotaro Nakata (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 SO) and Yokohama Baystars prospect Haru Shoshioka, who earned the save (1.0 IP, 1 SO), completed the pitching line for Mid East.
As for the offense, Alejandro de Aza went 2-for-3 with one run scored and Federico Celli went 1-for-4 with one RBI. Celli reached nine RBIs in the last two games.
With this result, the Mid East Falcons finished the season tied 6-3 with the Mumbai Cobras in the final standings. Both will dispute the United Series starting on Dec. 12.
Other highlights:
Michael Robles went 1-for-3 with a triple and one RBI, as the standout performer in the Wolves’ offense.
Angelo Cabral took the loss, after 4.0 IP, where he allowed four hits, two earned runs, gave up one walk and struck out three.
Arabia allowed a total of 20 runs in this regular season final series, with only nine runs scored.
With this result, the Wolves ended with a 4-5 record.
