Arsenal returned to winning ways and the top of the Premier League table with a comfortable 2-0 victory at home to relegation-threatened Luton Town on Wednesday.
Sunday's goalless draw with title rivals Manchester City had ended a sequence of eight straight Arsenal wins and seen them replaced by Liverpool at the summit, but the Gunners were back in their groove at Emirates Stadium, even with Bukayo Saka absent and a number of other stars on the bench.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Man City
MCI
|
38 | +62 | 91 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
38 | +62 | 89 |
| 3 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
38 | +45 | 82 |
How the match unfolded
Captain Martin Odegaard kept his place and struck first, with Daiki Hashioka's own goal then ensuring Mikel Arteta's men could see out a routine victory with a minimum of fuss.
Liverpool, now a point behind, will look to unseat Arsenal once more when they play Sheffield United on Thursday in a fixture that will be sure to steal some attention as Arteta's focus turns towards Saturday evening's trip to Brighton & Hove Albion.
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After a patient start, Arsenal scored with their first attack of note in the 24th minute. Emile Smith Rowe dispossessed Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu near halfway, allowing Odegaard to advance, trade passes with Kai Havertz and then drill into the bottom-left corner.
Sharp stops from Thomas Kaminski denied both Smith Rowe and Havertz, but his goal soon came under threat from his own defenders.
While Alfie Doughty was fortunate to see his clearance deflect narrowly wide off Thomas Partey, Hashioka had no such luck, unwittingly turning in Smith Rowe's cutback when it evaded Reiss Nelson shortly before half-time.
Luton sought to respond after the break, yet they created little by way of clear-cut chances, with Arsenal happy to keep them at bay and occasionally threaten on the counter.
As Kaminski scrambled to a late save from substitute Eddie Nketiah, a low-key second half ended without further goals, leaving Arsenal in pole position and Luton still three points shy of safety in 18th.
Arteta did not risk Saka, who hobbled off against City, while Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus were both named among the Arsenal substitutes, but Odegaard was in the starting XI and continued his trend of scoring against promoted sides.
Odegaard's opener was his 13th goal involvement in his past 13 league matches against such opposition, with his last three goals breaking the deadlock against Burnley, Sheff Utd and now Luton.
Set on their way by their captain, Arsenal have won each of those three matches – scoring 13 and conceding none – to keep the pressure on Liverpool.
Luton have given even the Premier League's best teams a run for their money this season, often with precious little to show for it. A dramatic 4-3 stoppage-time defeat to Arsenal in the reverse fixture a prime example.
This match was a little different, even if the injury-hit Hatters were never truly outclassed.
Coming up against Arsenal's solid back line, Luton failed to score in a Premier League fixture for the first time since their November defeat to Manchester United, their league-best run of netting in 18 straight matches coming to an end this evening.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 |
Everton
EVE
|
38 | -11 | 40 |
| 16 |
Brentford
BRE
|
38 | -9 | 39 |
| 17 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
38 | -18 | 32 |
| 18 |
Luton
LUT
|
38 | -33 | 26 |
| 19 |
Burnley
BUR
|
38 | -37 | 24 |
| 20 |
Sheffield Utd
SHU
|
38 | -69 | 16 |
Club reports
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Key facts
Arsenal are unbeaten in each of their last 39 Premier League matches under Arteta in which they have been ahead at half-time (W36 D3), a run which has seen Arsenal win all of their last 15 matches when in front at the break.
Arsenal have now won 12 of their 15 home matches in the Premier League this season (D2 L1); only in 1934/35 (13 wins) and 2002/03 (13 wins) had the Gunners picked up more home wins at this stage of a top-flight campaign.
Luton have now failed to win any of their last 10 Premier League matches (D3 L7), their longest winless run across the top four tiers of English football since March 2008 (a run of 13 without victory in the third tier) and their longest run without a win in the top-flight since December 1991 (run of 11).
Kai Havertz has now been directly involved in 12 goals in the Premier League this season for Arsenal (8 goals, 4 assists), the outright most he has contributed in a single season in the competition.