Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said his side delivered a statement win after beating Leeds 4-0 at Elland Road to get their Premier League title challenge back on track.
Chelsea hit back from two goals down to edge out London rivals West Ham while Liverpool came from behind to trounce Newcastle as Hugo Ekitike showed what the Magpies missed out on last summer.
Arteta beams at Arsenal win
Arsenal got back to winning ways after following up goalless league draws against Liverpool and Nottingham Forest with last week’s home defeat to Manchester United.
The Gunners were under pressure before a ball was kicked at Elland Road, but they led 2-0 at the break through Martin Zubimendi’s header and Leeds goalkeeper Karl Darlow’s own goal before wrapping up their first win in four league games with second-half efforts from Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus.
Arteta said: “We’re very happy, obviously. A very impressive performance, a very impressive result.
“The fact that after three results that didn’t go our way in the league, we really wanted to show how much we wanted it. And I think we said something on that today.”
Rosenior not playing blame game
Liam Rosenior refused to blame the players he replaced as three half-time substitutions helped Chelsea storm back to win 3-2 against West Ham at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea were booed off at the break as Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville put the Hammers in charge before Rosenior brought on Wesley Fofana, Marc Cucurella and Joao Pedro at the start of the second half.
Jorrel Hato, Alejandro Garnacho and Benoit Badiashile were the players hooked and Joao Pedro and Cucurella scored before the former provided the assist for Enzo Fernandez to score a stoppage-time winner.
Rosenior said: “We’ve had so many games in a short space of time, I was fearful of a lack of energy. I felt our decision-making was really poor in the first half. The reaction in the second half tells me we’ve got something really special here.”
Ekitike shines against former suitors
Hugo Ekitike showed Newcastle exactly what they missed out on with two goals as Liverpool recorded their first Premier League victory of 2026 with a 4-1 win to move up to fifth in the table.
The France international, who also scored at St James’ Park, was the Magpies’ primary summer transfer target yet was snatched from under their noses by the defending champions.
He took his tally to 15 for the season, reaching double figures in the league, as Liverpool came from behind in a first half which, at times, resembled the chaos of these two clubs’ famous encounters of the mid-1990s.
Someone else who has also rapidly become a favourite is fellow summer signing Florian Wirtz, whose quick feet set up Ekitike’s first and then added the important third, while a tearful Ibrahima Konate scored in added time on his first appearance since the death of his father.
Moyes rues celebration booking
David Moyes fears modern football is in danger of killing managers’ celebrations after he was booked for running on to the pitch following Everton’s dramatic late equaliser in a 1-1 Premier League draw at Brighton.
The Toffees boss struggled to contain his emotions at the Amex Stadium when substitute Beto struck in the seventh minute of added time to cancel out Pascal Gross’ 73rd-minute opener.
“We’re killing it that the managers can’t come out of their technical area to celebrate a goal, knee sliding, do things which give you people quite a bit to talk about,” Moyes said.
Asked if he would do it again, Moyes replied: “I will do it again! Actually, if I’d been a bit more mobile, I might have done a knee slide. That would only have got me a yellow as well, so I might as well have gone the whole hog.”
What’s on today?
Manchester City will look to close the gap on Arsenal back to four points when they travel to Tottenham, who will be hoping to alleviate some of the pressure on under-fire boss Thomas Frank.
Aston Villa can also move to within four points of the Gunners when they welcome Brentford and Michael Carrick will be keeping his fingers crossed Manchester United can build on their recent momentum when they take on Fulham at Old Trafford.
