Arsenal responded to the pressure applied by Manchester City by beating Brighton 2-1 to retake top spot in the Premier League after Rayan Cherki inspired Pep Guardiola’s side to victory at Nottingham Forest.
Florian Wirtz scored his first Liverpool goal as the Reds beat Wolves 2-1 on an emotional occasion at Anfield as Diogo Jota’s former clubs met for the first time since his death.
City’s 2-1 win in the lunchtime kick-off at the City Ground took them top for a couple of hours.
However, Arsenal hit straight back despite making life difficult for themselves against inferior opposition once more.
The Gunners have been guilty of not killing games off in recent weeks in narrow wins over Wolves and Everton before sneaking past Crystal Palace on penalties in the League Cup quarter-finals in midweek.
Martin Odegaard’s fine strike was all the home side had to show for their first-half domination at the Emirates.
Mikel Arteta’s men had some fortune for the vital second goal when Georginio Rutter turned Declan Rice’s corner into his own net.
But Arsenal nerves were frayed after Diego Gomez pulled a goal back.
David Raya produced a stunning save to deny Yankuba Minteh as Arsenal held on to win by a solitary goal for the seventh time in their 13 league victories this season.
– In-form Cherki –
City were also pushed all the way for an eighth consecutive win as Forest belied their position just above the relegation zone.
But the in-form Cherki produced two moments of magic to keep Guardiola’s men right on Arsenal’s tails.
The Frenchman teed up Tijjani Reijnders to open the scoring early in the second half.
Omari Hutchinson finished off a fine team move to bring Forest level almost immediately.
Cherki, though, drilled in Josko Gvardiol’s knock down on 83 minutes.
“I was overweight after Christmas and now I’ve lost all my kilos,” said Guardiola, who had threatened his players with being dropped if they had over indulged this week. “A really, really, really important three points.”
Third-placed Aston Villa’s title credentials face a stern test later when they travel to Chelsea.
-Jota’s children join tributes –
Two of Jota’s three children and other family members were mascots at Anfield as part of a series of tributes to the Portugal international, who was killed in a car crash in July.
On the field, both teams have suffered since but Liverpool continued their turnaround in fortunes to climb into the top four.
Ryan Gravenberch slammed home the opening goal before Wirtz finally struck for the first time since his £100 million ($135 million) move from Bayer Leverkusen.
Liverpool are now unbeaten in seven games but were still far from convincing against a Wolves side without a league win all season.
Santiago Bueno pulled a goal back for the visitors, who remain on just two points from 18 games.
West Ham are still five points adrift of safety as Raul Jimenez earned Fulham a 1-0 win at the London Stadium.
Burnley are now winless in nine games after a 0-0 draw at home to Everton.
Brentford climbed into the top half with a 4-1 win over struggling Bournemouth thanks to a Kevin Schade hat-trick.
By Agencies
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