LONDON — Arsenal moved top of the English Premier League when a late goal by Kai Havertz earned them a 1-0 victory at Brentford.
Mikel Arteta’s team looked set to miss out on the opportunity to move into first place at the table after Manchester City and Liverpool drew 1-1.
But Havertz came up with a decisive header to score his first goal from open play for Arsenal since joining from Chelsea in the offseason. The Germany international’s only other goal came from the penalty spot against Bournemouth in September.
His strike at Gtech Community Stadium was crucial as Arsenal moved a point ahead of defending champion City.
Meeting Bukayo Saka’s cross at the far post, Havertz headed between the legs of Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken.
Arsenal’s players were celebrating earlier when Leandro Trossard thought he had opened the scoring, but the goal was ruled offside after a VAR review.
Elsewhere, Trent Alexander-Arnold scored an 80th-minute equalizer to earn Liverpool a 1-1 draw with Manchester City.
Erling Haaland had given defending champions City a first-half lead at Etihad Stadium, becoming the quickest player to score 50 goals in the league.
But Liverpool capitalized when the Norwegian failed to add a second from close range in the 79th. The visitors immediately went on the attack, and Alexander-Arnold swept a shot past goalkeeper Ederson to end City´s perfect record at home this season.
Ruben Dias put the ball in the net for City in the second half but it was disallowed because of Manuel Akanji’s foul on goalkeeper Alisson.
Haaland opened the scoring with a low effort from the edge of the box in 27th.
Alisson misjudged a clearance that was intercepted by Nathan Ake and the defender played in Haaland. From there, it felt inevitable where the ball would end up as the forward turned and fired into the bottom corner, despite Alisson getting a hand to his shot.
The landmark goal came in 48 games and broke the record held by former Manchester United and Newcastle striker Andy Cole, who reached 50 in 65 games.
There was a double fist pump in the executive seats where Haaland´s dad, former City player Alf-Inge, was celebrating joyously.
Back on the field, the player was mobbed by blue shirts after giving the home side the advantage against the team that is likely to be one of its closest challengers for the title this season.
With one point separating the league´s top two teams going into the match, Jurgen Klopp’s squad had the chance to go above City and make a significant statement of its title credentials.
Guardiola had described Klopp as his greatest rival ahead of the game after their epic title battles in recent years, with Liverpool the only team to break City´s dominance over the past six seasons when crowned champions in 2020.
Klopp has rebuilt his team since mounting a quadruple bid two seasons ago and looks ready to push Guardiola once again after ending up trophyless last term. A draw on a day when Liverpool struggled to open City up was evidence of the Merseysiders´ resilience.
They also had to rely on referee Chris Kavanagh ruling out Dias’ goal from a corner in the 68th because of Akanji’s challenge on Alisson. Replays appeared to show little infringement on the keeper, but a VAR review upheld the onfield decision.
City still had a chance to extend its lead with Haaland having a shot saved from point blank range by Alisson.
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