On a weekend when all of them faced tricky fixtures, the Premier League’s top three of Liverpool, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest triumphed in a firm display of their superiority over the chasing pack.
Also, there was a rare win for Southampton, who beat Ipswich Town, while Wolverhampton Wanderers were also victorious, climbing out of the relegation zone as a result.
Elsewhere, Manchester United’s plight continued with another home defeat, this time to Crystal Palace, and Tottenham Hotspur earned a much-needed victory at Brentford.
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A week after their 5-0 defeat at AFC Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest emphatically returned to winning ways with their biggest league win for more than 30 years.
Chris Wood scored a hat-trick and Anthony Elanga assisted three goals as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side ran riot against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Wood’s Premier League tally for the season now stands at 17, three more than he has ever previously managed in a single top-flight campaign. Only Stan Collymore (22 in 1994/95) has scored more for Forest in one Premier League season.
There were also goals for Morgan Gibbs-White, Neco Williams and Jota Silva, while Elanga followed Bryan Roy (against Sheffield Wednesday in April 1995) as only the second Forest player to provide three or more assists in one match.
Lewis Dunk had opened the scoring with the seventh Premier League own goal of his career. Only Richard Dunne (10) has put the ball through his own net on more occasions in the competition.
Forest kept their 10th clean sheet of the season – the most of any Premier League team – while it was Brighton’s heaviest league defeat since a 9-0 loss at Middlesbrough in 1958.
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In a battle between two of the top flight’s most in-form teams, league leaders Liverpool extended their unbeaten league run to 19 matches by inflicting Bournemouth's first defeat in 12 games.
As has been the case so many times since he joined the club, Mohamed Salah was the hero, scoring twice to take his haul to 21 this campaign.
The Egyptian has now notched 20+ Premier League goals in a single season five times, while his overall total of 178 puts him sixth on the competition’s all-time top scorers list, as he moved above Frank Lampard, who scored 177.
Salah converted a penalty on the half-hour, before settling the result with a wonderful curled effort 15 minutes from time.
The scoreline was harsh on the hosts, who were the better side for much of the match and hit the post twice with efforts from Antoine Semenyo and Marcus Tavernier.
Bournemouth have struck the woodwork 16 times in the Premier League this season, the most of any side.
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David Moyes' return continues to work wonders at Goodison Park as Everton made light work of what had been billed as a crucial relegation battle.
Moyes had overseen victories against Spurs and Brighton in recent weeks, with this third successive league win taking his side nine points clear of the relegation zone with a match in hand.
Everton made rapid work of this latest triumph. Abdoulaye Doucoure’s opener came after just 10.18 seconds, as he scored the fourth-fastest goal in Premier League history.
Beto then added a second within six minutes, making it the earliest Everton have ever scored twice in the competition.
The Guinea-Bissau international then doubled his personal tally in first-half stoppage time to make it 3-0, before Iliman Ndiaye rounded things off at the end.
Ndiaye has now scored in his last three Premier League appearances, the longest run by an Everton player in the competition since Demarai Gray in September 2021.
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The gap to safety still stands at a demoralising 10 points, but Southampton fans received some rare joy with their side claiming only a second league win of what has been a dismal campaign.
It was also a first victory for manager Ivan Juric, who had overseen six consecutive defeats since taking charge just before Christmas.
While results had remained stubbornly the same, performances had notably improved over recent weeks and when Joe Aribo put the visitors ahead, it was the fourth time in six Premier League matches that Southampton had gone 1-0 up.
Their problem has been holding onto leads, having dropped 20 points from winning positions this campaign.
That looked like it would be added to when Liam Delap soon found an equaliser, but Paul Onuachu appeared with a winner for Saints three minutes from time.
Delap has scored 41 per cent of Ipswich’s Premier League goals this season (9/22), with only Forest’s hat-trick hero Wood (43 per cent - 17/40) netting a higher share for his team.
Ipswich have not picked up a point in their last four outings.
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After relinquishing an 18-match unbeaten Premier League home run last time out against Bournemouth, Newcastle slipped to another defeat at St James’s Park as they threw away a lead against Fulham.
It was the first time Eddie Howe’s side had lost consecutive home matches in the league since January 2024.
The hosts looked to be moving back into the top four when Jacob Murphy scored soon before half-time to take his goal involvements to 10 (four goals, six assists) in his last 10 Premier League matches – more than in his previous 28 appearances in the competition.
But Fulham are starting to develop something of a reputation for clawing victory from the hands of defeat, scoring twice in the second half through Raul Jimenez and Rodrigo Muniz to take all three points.
They have now won three of their last five top-flight matches when behind at half-time.
Jimenez’s goal came from an Antonee Robinson cross, which was the American’s 10th Premier League assist of the season – the joint most of any Fulham player in a single campaign, level with Steed Malbranque (10 in 2003/04).
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Wolves capitalised on a familiar problem for Villa this season, exploiting the visitors’ European hangover to move out of the relegation zone.
Unai Emery’s side have now failed to win seven of their eight Premier League matches following midweek UEFA Champions League action, drawing three at home and losing four away.
Indeed, they have lost six of their last eight Premier League away fixtures – no team has suffered more defeats on their travels since the start of November.
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde put the hosts ahead after 12 minutes, and Emery resorted to a quadruple substitution at half-time after his side had failed to register a shot on target before the break.
Villa had a goal ruled out for offside, and Matheus Cunha then sealed the win deep in stoppage time with his 25th Premier League goal – he is just the second player to reach the milestone for Wolves after Jimenez (40).
It was later confirmed that Cunha, who had been linked with a move away from Wolves, had signed a new contract at the club.
Wolves’ clean sheet was their third in eight Premier League matches under Vitor Pereira, more than they managed in their final 33 matches under Gary O’Neil.
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A Vitaly Janelt own goal and Pape Sarr’s finish from an excellent sweeping move were enough to hand Spurs only their second Premier League win since November.
Ange Postecoglou’s injury-ravaged side had triumphed in just one of their previous 11 league matches, but added their name to a growing list of teams that have beaten Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium in recent weeks.
Brentford’s home record was the best in the league for some time earlier this season, but they have now lost four of their last five Premier League home matches by at least a two-goal margin (against Nottingham Forest, Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs).
The hosts had 20 shots, 37 crosses, 48 touches in the opposition penalty area, and an Expected Goals (xG) of 2.29. But they lacked the necessary quality to score.
Djed Spence stood out for Spurs, winning the most tackles of the visiting players and emerging successful from eight of his 10 duels.
The match was also notable for Archie Gray making his 10th Premier League start for Spurs – he is the second-youngest player (18y 327d) to reach double figures for the club after Aaron Lennon in February 2006 (18y 295d).
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Man Utd’s Old Trafford problems show no sign of ending. Defeat against Crystal Palace means United have now lost seven of their first 13 league home matches this campaign – their most at this stage of a season since 1893/94.
But the issues began before the current campaign, with only Wolves (16) losing more Premier League home matches than United’s 13 since the beginning of last season.
Ruben Amorim sprang a surprise when he opted to leave Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee out of his starting line-up in favour of Kobbie Mainoo as a makeshift forward.
It had no impact, with United lacking an edge throughout. Their failure to score in the opening 45 minutes was the 18th time they have drawn a blank in the first half of Premier League matches this season – the most of any club.
In fact, the only first-half goal they have scored in their last 14 matches in all competitions was Bruno Fernandes’ penalty in defeat to Brighton.
Jean-Philippe Mateta did an excellent job in highlighting what United are missing. The French striker scored twice in the final half-hour to take his league tally to six since the start of the calendar year.
Mateta's first goal v Man Utd
Palace on the counter 🤤💨#CPFC // #MUNCRY pic.twitter.com/M8k5GydXTf
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) February 2, 2025
Palace have now won three successive Premier League away matches for the first time since 2019, picking up more points on their travels since the start of December than any other side (16).
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When Erling Haaland equalised for Manchester City 10 minutes into the second half at Emirates Stadium, there were some thoughts that Arsenal might rue missing chances in the first half of this match. That was to prove far from true.
Within 105 seconds, the hosts had restored their lead through Thomas Partey, before Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kai Havertz and Ethan Nwaneri all added their name to the scoresheet as City capitulated in worryingly familiar fashion.
Just as they had done in the Champions League defeat at Paris Saint-Germain a fortnight ago, Pep Guardiola’s side shipped four second-half goals in an extraordinary collapse.
They have now conceded 53 goals in 36 matches in all competitions so far this season, only one fewer than in 59 matches last season.
The win ensured Arsenal kept pace with Liverpool at the top of the table, and extended their unbeaten Premier League run to 14 matches – their longest streak without a defeat since 2018.
Goals for Lewis-Skelly (18y 129d) and Nwaneri (17y 318d) meant it was the first time since 2007 that two players aged 18 or younger had scored for the same team in a Premier League fixture.
