Arsenal's Premier League title hopes have been given a huge boost by Brentford's shock victory over Aston Villa.
Mikel Arteta's side did their job by cruising to an emphatic 4-0 away victory over Leeds United at Elland Road. Goals from Martin Zubimendi, Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyokeres and Gabriel Jesus saw the Gunners overcome Daniel Farke's side.
However, the victory over the newly promoted side,one week after the home defeat to Manchester United, looks even more precious, as Unai Emery'smen succumbed to a home defeat to ten-man Brentford. It meant Arsenal will end the weekend seven points ahead of the Midlanders, who have been threatening a stunning title challenge of their own throughout the campaign.
As the match ticked towards half time, Villa looked primed to secure an important victory at Villa Park. Brentford hitman Kevin Schade lashed out at Matty Cash with his studs and was given a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Minutes later, Bees forward Dango Ouattara found the net on the stroke of half time to leave Villa Park nervous. Villa thought they has equalised in the second half when Tammy Abraham, who returned to the club after signing from Besiktas, scored from close range.
VAR intervened and disallowed the goal, stating the ball had gone out of play around 20 seconds before Abraham stuck the ball into the net. This would have left Emery and his Villa players furious, considering the amount of time which had passed between the incident and the goal.
But if anybody would have been celebrating this controversial moment, it's Arteta and his Arsenal stars. The home loss to United was a huge bump in the road, particularly with Villa and Manchester City both winning.
It will be a close to perfect weekend for Arsenal if fiercest rivals Tottenham Hotspur can secure a second victory of the season over Manchester City. Pep Guardiola's side will move within four points of Arteta's team if they overcome Thomas Frank's side.
The only concern from the weekend for Arsenal will be the injury Bukayo Saka picked up, minutes before kick off at Elland Road. Saka pulled up and started limping in the warm-up, forcing him to be taken out of the starting eleven.
He was replaced with Madueke, who scored direct from a corner and contributed a vital assist against Leeds. After the match, Arteta praised his side's display, saying: "Very, very happy obviously.
"A very impressive performance, a very impressive result. And in the context that we've done it, when you have the difficulty of the game and the opponent that we're facing, with the recent form and the style of play that they have at the moment.
"The energy that the stadium brings, and then the fact that after three results that didn't go our way in the league. We really wanted to show how much we wanted it. And I think we've certainly done that today."
Arsenal host Chelsea in the second-leg of their League Cup semi-final tie, before welcoming Sunderland to the Emirates Stadium on February 7.
