(AFP) - Brentford achieved a heavy-caliber surprise by returning victorious from defending champion Manchester City 2-1 at the opening of the sixteenth stage of the England Football Championship , so Arsenal took advantage of the gift by defeating Wolverhampton 2-0 and moving away 5 points in the lead. .
Arsenal owes its victory to the Norwegian international midfielder Martin Odegaard, who scored both goals in the 55th minute when he received a cross from close range by Portuguese substitute Fabio Vieira, who followed it into the empty goal and 87 rebounds from Portuguese goalkeeper Jose Sa.
Arsenal, who lost the efforts of its Swiss international midfielder Granit Xhaka due to his injury in the 16th minute, when Vieira entered his place, raised its tally to 37 points, compared to 34 for City in the last stage before stopping due to the World Cup in Qatar.
Arsenal took advantage of City's fall at the hands of Brentford, who achieved its second major result this season after inflicting a severe loss at home to Manchester United 4-0 in the second stage.
The star of the meeting was Brentford's top scorer Evan Toney, who was not chosen by England coach Gareth Southgate in the official squad to participate in the World Cup in Qatar, despite his remarkable brilliance this season, by scoring the two goals of the match.
City entered the meeting with a perfect record at home this season, domestically, after winning its seven matches since the beginning of the current season, but Brentford put an end to this series. It was also his first fall at home since last February.
The loss is the second for City in the league this season and the first since its fall to Liverpool 0-1 on October 16 in the 11th stage, after which it achieved victory over Brighton 3-1, Leicester City 1-0 and Fulham 2-1 in the league, as it knocked Chelsea out of The third round of the League Cup competition by defeating it 2-0 on Wednesday.
Manchester City's Norwegian striker, Erling Haaland, returned to the starting line-up after his absence from the last match against Chelsea in the League Cup (2-0) in the middle of the week, and Phil Foden and Portugal's Bernardo Silva helped him on the sides.
The meeting was the third between the two teams, and Brentford achieved its first victory after two losses.
Brentford started the match strongly and was a stubborn match for the hosts and succeeded in opening the scoring by its top scorer Tony, who invested a cross ball that he followed with his head into the net, despite the intervention of Spanish international defender Aymeric Laporte.
City found it difficult to penetrate Brentford's organized defense and only hit the goal in the 39th minute by Foden, but Spanish goalkeeper David Raya parried his effort brilliantly.
However, Raya stood helpless when Foden fired a powerful ball with his left "on the fly" that hit his net (45 + 1).
Manchester City pressed at the beginning of the second half, but did not succeed in threatening Brentford's goal, which was just around the corner from advancing again had it not been for Laporte's intervention at the right moment to deflect a cross that almost reached Tony lurking in front of the goal (65).
City threw his weight at the end of the match, and his Spanish coach, Pep Guardiola, involved his young Argentine striker, Julian Alvarez, in an attempt to settle the score, but Brentford took advantage of a quick counterattack, during which Josh Dasilva passed a perfect cross, which Tony followed from close range into the net ((90 + 8) amid shock inside the Etihad Stadium .
Tony raised his tally to 9 goals in the league this season.
"The better team won," Guardiola said. "Usually, we manage to press and recover the ball, but the opponent knew how to make long passes forward that we couldn't intercept. We also faced some good defenders."
For his part, Brentford's Danish coach Thomas Frank praised his players and said, "Amazing performance. Speaking to some people from the club, this is probably the biggest result ever, against one of the richest clubs in the world, and we have one of the lowest budgets in the league."
And Newcastle continued its impressive results in recent times and achieved its fifth successive victory when it deepened the wounds of its guest, Chelsea, by defeating it with a single goal scored by Joe Willock with a wonderful shot from the edge of the area (67).
And Newcastle strengthened its position in third place with 30 points, while Chelsea, who failed to win in its last five matches in the league, suffered a third loss in a row and fourth in various competitions after leaving empty-handed from the League Cup competition by falling to Manchester City 0-2 Wednesday in the third round.
And Tottenham regained its balance, making up for its fall at home to Liverpool in the last stage, when it snatched a difficult victory from its guest Leeds United 4-3 in an exciting match during which it fell behind three times.
The London team found itself lagging early, specifically in the tenth minute, through Dutchman Chrisencio Summerville, and international Harry Kane equalized after 15 minutes (25), but Spaniard Rodrigo re-advanced the guests two minutes before the end of the first half.
Defender Ben Davis succeeded in equalizing at the beginning of the second half (51), and Rodrigo scored his second and third personal goal for Leeds United in the 76th minute), before Uruguayan international Rodrigo Bentancur turned the tables on the guests and scored a double in two minutes (81 and 83), giving victory to coach Antonio's men. Conte.
Tottenham strengthened its position in fourth place with 29 points.
Liverpool continued its revival with its second successive victory and sixth this season when it beat its guest Southampton 3-1.
Liverpool first scored through its Brazilian striker Roberto Firmino, specifically in the sixth minute, with a backhand kick, following a side free kick that Scottish full-back Andrew Robertson set out for, but his joy only lasted three minutes, as the guests equalized through the other Scot, Che Adams, with a header from close range. Side free kick (9).
Uruguayan international striker Darwin Nunes imposed himself as a star of the match by scoring a double for Liverpool, as he gave him the lead again when he took advantage of a cross from Harvey Elliott, followed by his left “on the fly” from close range to the left of the goalkeeper (21), then dealt the fatal blow to the guests by scoring his second and third personal goal for his team. When he took advantage of a cross pass to Robertson inside the area, he followed it with his right to the right of the goalkeeper (42).
It is Nunes' fifth goal in the league this season.
Liverpool rose to sixth place temporarily, with 22 points, with a match postponed, by one point, against Brighton, which hosts Aston Villa on Sunday, and Chelsea.
Nottingham Forest finished last by defeating Crystal Palace with a single goal scored by Morgan Gibbs-White (54).
Palace Ivory Coast striker Wilfried Zaha missed a penalty kick in the 41st minute.
Bournemouth honored its guest, Everton, with a clean triple, which was scored by Marcus Tavernier (18), Welshman Kiefer Moore (25) and Jaydon Anthony (69).
West Ham United suffered its third loss in a row when it fell to Leicester City with two clean goals scored by James Madison (8) and Harvey Barnes (78).
Belgian Youri Tielemans missed a penalty kick for Leicester in the 42nd minute.