Sports Desk, Apr 4 (EFE).- A first-half strike from Martin Odegaard and an own goal from Daiki Hashioka gave Arsenal a 2-0 win over struggling Luton to bring them back to the top of the English Premier League on Wednesday.
Holders Manchester City maintained the pressure thanks to three sweet left-footed strikes from their academy graduate Phil Foden, which helped them beat Aston Villa 4-1 after two successive draws against Liverpool and Arsenal.
Liverpool can regain their top position should they beat Sheffield United on Thursday, but until that happens, it belongs to Arsenal after they extended their unbeaten league run to 10 matches.
Bearing a tight schedule and Champions League engagement in mind, Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta made five changes from the goalless City draw, the most he had made between Premier League fixtures since September 2021.
But it did not affect their game much as Odegaard drilled the ball low into the net for his ninth goal of the season after a Kai Havertz pass found him unguarded inside the box in 24 minutes.
Two minutes before the end of the first half Smith Rowe linked up with Leandro Trossard to get to the byline and centred towards the path of Reiss Luke Nelson.
Under pressure from the winger, Hashioka flicked the ball into his own net to put Arsenal in a commanding position at the break, and the home side did well enough to maintain the advantage until the end.
Phil Foden was the hat-trick hero as City made it 24 matches unbeaten across all competitions with a win over Aston Villa, the last side to conquer them, at the Etihad Stadium.
Spaniard Rodrigo hammered in to give City an early lead after being picked out by Jeremy Doku, but it was swiftly canceled out by Villa’s Jhon Duran, who linked with Morgan Rogers before tucking his shot inside the far post.
A VAR check found the Colombian forward perfectly onside, prompting City to move on.
Foden stepped onto a free-kick; he won himself on the edge of the box just before the end of half-time and curled his shot in to a rapturous response from City fans at the Etihad.
Villa keeper Robin Olsen denied Julian Alvarez and Bernardo Silva during a period of sustained pressure before the visitors created a chance of their own thanks to Douglas Luiz, whose shot was tipped over by the goalie.
City’s German keeper Stefan Ortega Moreno was made to react soon again to deny Clement Lenglet before Foden gave the side some breathing space with his second goal in the 61st minute.
Foden shifted the ball onto his left foot seven minutes late and unleashed an unstoppable strike into the top corner to complete his hat-trick, his second of the season.
City, with the win, moved to 67 points from 30 matches, putting them level with Liverpool and keeping them just one point behind the league’s new leaders. EFE
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