Aston Villa give Arsenal title reality check, Man City close gap to two points

LONDON, Dec 5 : Aston Villa fully ignited the Premier League title race with a last-gasp 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal that allowed Manchester City to close the gap to two points on Saturday.

Substitute Emiliano Buendia struck the winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time with virtually the last kick of a sizzling Villa Park duel to leave the resurgent Midlands club just three points behind Arsenal who slipped to their first defeat in 19 games in all competitions.

City then enjoyed a routine 3-0 home win against Sunderland with a stunning long-range goal by Ruben Dias paving the way for three points against the season's surprise package.

Fourth-placed Chelsea could only draw 0-0 at Bournemouth, while Everton are up to fifth as they beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 at home. Tottenham Hotspur claimed only their second home league win of the season as Xavi Simons opened his account for the club with a sensational solo goal in a 2-0 defeat of Brentford.

Second-from-bottom Burnley lost for the sixth game in succession, going down 2-1 at Newcastle United.

After a horrible start to the Premier League season in which they picked up three points from five games and failed to score in any of their first four, Villa are now on a roll.

Their ninth win in their last 10 league games means they are now right in the thick of the title battle, even if manager Unai Emery remains reluctant to admit as much.

"This is a race for 38 matches and we are on 15," the Spaniard said.

Emery has enjoyed some notable triumphs over his former club Arsenal, not least a double in the 2023-24 season which proved costly to his successor Mikel Arteta's dream of taking Arsenal to a first English league title since 2004.

Arsenal ended that season second, two points