LONDON, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- Arsenal struck twice at the start of the second half to kickstart a vital and convincing 4-1 home win over Aston Villa on Tuesday night, extending its lead at the top of the Premier League five points clear of Manchester City.
After a tactical first half, the match sprang to life in the 48th minute when Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez spilled Bukayo Saka's corner, the ball bouncing in off Gabriel Magalhaes.
Four minutes later, Martin Odegaard slipped a pass through for Martin Zubimendi to double Arsenal's advantage, and Leandro Trossard drilled in a third in the 69th minute after an error from Lucas Digne.
Gabriel Jesus confirmed his return to full fitness with a fourth goal to end Aston Villa's run of 11 consecutive wins in decisive fashion, although Ollie Watkins scored a 94th-minute consolation for the visitors.
Chelsea drops further behind in the title race after being held to a 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth, who created more chances than the home team.
David Brooks gave Bournemouth an early lead, but Cole Palmer's penalty and Enzo Fernandez's 23rd minute effort turned the score around only for Justin Kluivert to score the fourth goal of the match just four minutes later to round off the scoring.
Both sides looked for a winner in the second half, with Chelsea unable to capitalize on a series of corners, and a draw ultimately a fair outcome.
Rock bottom Wolverhampton Wanderers claimed just its third point of the season with a 1-1 draw away to Manchester United. Joshua Zirkzee put Manchester United ahead in the 27th minute before Ladislav Krejci stunned the hosts on the stroke of halftime. Manchester United had a late effort ruled out by VAR, with the result a setback for coach Ruben Amorim.
West Ham battled to a 2-2 draw at home to Brighton, twice taking the lead through Jarrod Bowen and a Lucas Paqueta penalty on the stroke of halftime.
Danny Welbeck had equalized from the spot in the 32nd minute, and Joel Veltman leveled again in the 61st minute, with Brighton pressing hard for a winner in the closing stages.
Nottingham Forest is still in danger of relegation after a 2-0 defeat at home to Everton thanks to goals in each half from James Garner and Thierno Barry to frustrate home coach Sean Dyche against the club that sacked him at the start of the year.
Things look even worse for Burnley after early goals from Joelinton and Yoane Wissa gave Newcastle a 3-1 win at the Turf Moor Stadium.
Josh Laurent scored for Burnley after 23 minutes, but Scott Parker's side was unable to find an equalizer, and Bruno Guimaraes scored Newcastle's third in the 93rd minute, to keep Burnley second from bottom with just 12 points from 19 matches. ■
