LONDON — Arsenal stretched their English Premier League lead to four points as Eberechi Eze’s goal beat his former club Crystal Palace 1-0, while Manchester City lost 1-0 at Aston Villa.
Arsenal now leads fourth-placed City by six points and has a seven-point cushion over Liverpool in sixth.
City appeared to be emerging as Arsenal’s biggest obstacle in the title race after a nine-game unbeaten run.
Bournemouth is now the Gunners’ closest challengers in second after they beat Nottingham Forest 2-0.
After Liverpool’s latest defeat to Brentford, Arsenal enjoyed the perfect weekend as both their title rivals fell further behind as they go from strength to strength.
Eze left the Eagles to join Arsenal in a £60-million deal in August and his first Premier League goal was decisive as Mikel Arteta’s men were again able to lean on their set-piece prowess and a solid defence.
The England international blasted in on the volley after Palace failed to clear Declan Rice’s free-kick six minutes before halftime.
Arsenal again failed to hit top gear going forward, but didn’t need to as they kept a 10th clean sheet in 13 games in all competitions this season.
The only concern for Arteta was the sight of Rice and William Saliba having to be replaced in the second half due to injury.
But Pep Guardiola’s men lost at Villa Park for the third consecutive season as Erling Haaland’s 12-game scoring streak came to an end.
Matty Cash’s stunning strike from outside the box on 19 minutes secured a fourth consecutive league win for Villa as Unai Emery’s men climb to seventh.
Haaland had a late goal ruled out for offside, but City’s lack of goal threat other than the Norwegian finally cost the visitors.
No City player other than Haaland has scored in the Premier League for a month.
Bournemouth climbed up to second as Forest’s struggles continued despite a change in management.
Sean Dyche got his reign off to a winning start against Porto in the Europa League on Thursday, but Forest remains in the bottom three after they were convincingly beaten on the south coast.
Marcus Tavernier opened the scoring for the Cherries directly from a corner as the swirling wind caught out Matz Sels.
Eli Junior Kroupi then blasted in his fourth goal in six Premier League games to double Bournemouth’s lead.
Wolves remain bottom of the table after Burnley edged a 3-2 thriller in stoppage time at Molineux thanks to Lyle Foster.
Zian Flemming’s double put the visitors 2-0 up inside 30 minutes but Wolves hit back before halftime through Jorgen Strand Larsen and Marshall Munetsi.
Foster’s late strike propelled the Clarets five points clear of the relegation zone and left Wolves now six points adrift of safety.
The only concern for Arteta was Declan Rice limping off in the second half after William Saliba was unable to continue beyond the interval due to a potential injury.
With rock star Jon Bon Jovi watching from the stands, Palace threatened to start in a blaze of glory when Jean-Philippe Mateta raced clear, but Arsenal were able to snuff out the danger.
Saliba had to make a last-ditch block to stop Ismaila Sarr in his tracks as the Palace winger threatened to give the visitors a shock lead.
