The Premier League title contenders were back in action last weekend after a break for the FA Cup, and Manchester City and Aston Villa were hoping to gain ground on table-toppers Arsenal. The Gunners, meanwhile, sought to get back to winning ways after being held to a 0-0 draw by Liverpool on 8th January. As it turned out, Arsenal could only manage another 0-0, this time away at Nottingham Forest. Thankfully for Mikel Arteta and his men, the sides chasing the Gunners for the title both slipped up, allowing the north London side to extend their lead to seven points.
Let’s take a look back at the action from the teams involved in what has become a three-horse title race, starting with the early kick-off on Saturday, the Manchester Derby.
Manchester United 2-0 Manchester City – Carrick’s Winning Start Delights Old Trafford
Michael Carrick’s Manchester United put in a barnstorming performance at Old Trafford to earn a deserved 2-0 victory over neighbours Manchester City. In truth, the scoreline could have been even more emphatic. United had a couple of goals disallowed, they had seven shots on target (to Man City’s single effort on target), and City keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma made several fine saves. Despite enjoying the bulk of the possession, Pep Guardiola’s side appeared unable to live with the high-energy and determined tackling of the home side, and second-half goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu ultimately made the difference.
That defeat left City trailing Arsenal by six points ahead of the Gunners’ match against Forest later in the day. Guardiola was left kicking himself, and he clearly feared his title rivals would take all three points in Nottingham. It didn’t work out like that, however.
Nottingham Forest 0-0 Arsenal – Disappointing Point Might Prove Priceless
Going into this match, Arsenal fans sensed a real opportunity for their side to stamp their authority on the title race. Nottingham Forest and their astute boss Sean Dyche had other ideas, however. The home side stifled Arteta’s side brilliantly to the point that the visitors didn’t muster a single shot on target in the first half, and only managed three in the second period. It’s worth mentioning that Forest didn’t find a single shot that troubled Arsenal’s goalkeeper in the whole match, but given that Dyche’s men are sitting precariously above the relegation zone, a point against the Gunners is an exceptional result.
Arsenal did create enough chances to win the match with 15 shots in total, but several instances of fine goalkeeping from Matz Sels kept the home side afloat. It was one of those rare occasions on which Arsenal couldn’t truly find their cutting edge, and they wasted lots of good opportunities. Arteta’s decision to begin with Bukayo Saka on the bench (perhaps with one eye on Tuesday’s trip to Inter Milan) might also be questioned. With Villa not playing until the following day, Arsenal fans had a nervous wait to see if the West Midlands side could take advantage and move to within five points of the leaders.
Aston Villa 0-1 Everton – Villa’s Amazing Home Record Halted by Determined Toffees
After winning 11 home matches in a row, Aston Villa came into this match high on confidence. They were further buoyed by Arsenal and Man City dropping points, and Unai Emery’s men were determined to take full advantage. Everton came into the game having lost two and drawn one of their games in January: a 4-2 defeat at home to Brentford, a 1-1 home draw against struggling Wolves, and a defeat (on penalties) to Sunderland in the FA Cup. But no side managed by David Moyes is likely to roll over for any opposition, and the Toffees certainly had the bit between their teeth at Villa Park.
The visitors got off to a fast start, and it was almost the perfect start, Merlin Rohl hitting the post within seconds of the kick-off. Despite the Villans having more of the ball (63.5% over the course of the match), it was Everton who produced the better chances to score in the opening 45 minutes. The visitors got the breakthrough after around an hour when Thierno Barry took advantage of Villa keeper Emi Martinez’s inability to hold on to a shot from Dwight McNeil.
Despite pushing for an equaliser, Villa were unable to find a way to penetrate Everton’s stout defence, and Moyes and co celebrated the victory as they moved up to 10th in the table. For Villa, it was a real opportunity missed, and for Arsenal, it was a big sigh of relief that their dropped points didn’t prove more costly.