Arsenal blow away Fulham to turn up heat on Man City, West Ham suffer blow

LONDON, May 2 : Arsenal threw down the gauntlet to Manchester City in the Premier League title race with a 3-0 home cruise against Fulham on Saturday putting them six points clear at the top.

Viktor Gyokeres scored twice in the first half at The Emirates to put his side in control, with Bukayo Saka also on target as Arsenal ramped up the pressure on City.

It was the perfect day for Arsenal who will now be firmly back in control of their destiny if City fail to win the first of their two games in hand away at Everton on Monday.

West Ham United's survival hopes suffered a blow when they went down 3-0 at Brentford for whom the win raised the possibility of playing European football for the first time.

Newcastle United emerged from their slump with a 3-1 home victory over European hopefuls Brighton & Hove Albion coming as a timely boost for manager Eddie Howe.

"It's been a horrible feeling for us for a number of weeks. We have been looking to change our fortunes," said Howe, whose side snapped a four-game losing run.

Sunderland drew 1-1 at relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers - a match most notable for Sunderland's Dan Ballard being sent off in the 24th minute for pulling the hair of home forward Tolu Arokodare - the same offence that Everton's Michael Keane saw red for against Wolves in January.

Having seen a 10-point lead evaporate and City knocking them off top spot with victory over Burnley on April 23, Arsenal's hopes of a first title since 2004 had appeared to be receding.

But they have responded in stirring fashion with back-to-back wins and, while City have two games in hand, Arsenal have regained the momentum in the nick of time.

Last weekend's 1-0 home win over Newcastle was a grind, but they blew away 10th-placed Fulham in a