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SMITH ROWE, SAKA ON TARGET AS ARSENAL EDGE BRENTFORD TO CLOSE IN ON TOP FOUR

Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka scored second-half goals as Arsenal beat Brentford 2-1 and moved within one point of the top four.

The Gunners started quickly at Emirates Stadium, with Saka testing David Raya shortly before Alexandre Lacazette tapped in a Granit Xhaka cross, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.

Smith Rowe eventually broke the deadlock with Arsenal’s 17th shot of the match, cutting in from the left and finding the bottom-right corner on 48 minutes.

Arsenal’s second goal came 11 minutes from time as Saka finished well off the far post.

Christian Norgaard got a goal back for Brentford in second-half stoppage time but it was too late to prevent Arsenal recording back-to-back victories.

The Gunners remain sixth but have at least two matches in hand on all of the teams above them.

Brentford stay 14th with 24 points, six points clear of the bottom three.

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Martinelli and Smith Rowe fire Gunners into top four

Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe struck in the second half to earn Arsenal a 2-0 win over West Ham at the Emirates Stadium to move the Gunners into the Premier League’s top four.

Following a keenly contested first half in which Kieran Tierney struck the bar, Martinelli raced into the box in the 48th minute to slot a classy finish into the bottom corner.

The Gunners continued to assert their dominance in the second half as Alexandre Lacazette won a penalty, with Vladimir Coufal receiving a second yellow and a red for the challenge, but the France international’s spot-kick was saved by former Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.

However, substitute Smith Rowe lashed home late on to secure an important result that sees Arsenal leapfrog the Hammers into fourth place, one point clear of their London rivals after 17 games.

The Gunners went close before the interval, Tierney racing onto a loose ball and blasting towards the top-left corner, only for Fabianski to get the slightest of touches to turn it onto the crossbar.

Martinelli scored the decisive goal shortly after the restart, latching onto Lacazette’s sublime throughball to curl firmly into the bottom-right corner.

Lacazette was involved again in the 66th minute as Coufal slid in to win the ball from him in the box, fouling the striker and being sent off for a second bookable offence, but the Arsenal forward’s penalty was kept out in the bottom-right corner by Fabianski.

With only 10 men, West Ham were caught out as they pushed for an equaliser, with Smith Rowe coming off the bench to drive towards the edge of the box and steer a left-footed drive into the bottom-right corner to seal an important win.

Arsenal’s victory sees the Gunners move one point clear of West Ham and into fourth in the Premier League table, at least temporarily.

Manchester United are just two points behind in sixth, and have a game in hand on the north London side.

Martinelli’s winning strike was his seventh Premier League goal; the only Brazilian with more in the competition before their 21st birthday is Gabriel Jesus (16).

Arsenal have now failed to convert three consecutive penalties in the Premier League for the first time since August 1992, when they failed to score with each of their first five penalties in the competition.

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EMILE SMITH ROWE SCORES TO HELP ARSENAL EDGE 10-MAN WATFORD

Arsenal go into the international break fifth in the Premier League after Emile Smith Rowe hit the only goal of the game to see off 10-man Watford.

Smith Rowe has hit three in his last three league games and has five in eight across all competitions with his second-half strike here enough to earn a 1-0 win at the Emirates Stadium, with Juraj Kucka sent of for the visitors late on.

Smith Rowe’s form was not enough to earn him a first senior England call-up but Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta will be pleased that his strike here was enough to secure the win in his 100th game in charge.

Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang endured a wholly more frustrating day at the office, seeing a penalty saved and a goal ruled out for offside.

Arteta’s men are now on a 10-game unbeaten run stretching back to August – the longest such streak of the Spaniard’s tenure.

Watford battled valiantly with Claudio Ranieri having made five changes from the home defeat to Southampton – but they had Ben Foster in goal to thank for keeping them level for so long.

The experienced stopped saved his ninth Premier League penalty since 2010, with Aubameyang now missing his last two spot-kicks.

Arsenal thought they had hit the front early on, Watford giving the ball away on the edge of their own box before Bukayo Saka would eventually turn home – only for the England man to be called offside following a VAR check.

The game became scrappy with both sides picking up a couple of cautions, before Arsenal were awarded a penalty just after the half-hour.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles miscued a long-range effort which fell towards Alexandre Lacazette, who was clattered by Danny Rose.

Referee Kevin Friend pointed to the spot but Aubameyang’s penalty was brilliantly saved by Foster.

The incident seemed to spur on Watford, with Kucka having a shot blocked behind and Rose scuffing a strike from the resulting corner.

Arsenal were still creating chances of their own, Foster again in fine form to keep out a Gabriel Magalhaes header just before the break.

The Gunners would impose themselves on the game in the second half but were still unable to click as they have in recent weeks when attacking.

That was until Smith Rowe continued his fine run of form by opening the scoring after 56 minutes.

Benjamin White rode a number of challenges before being tackled, with the ball breaking into the path of Smith Rowe, who added to his goals against Aston Villa and Leicester by finishing well.

Aubameyang’s off-day continued when he slid in to convert substitute Martin Odegaard’s cross-cum-shot on the line, only to see the offside flag rule out the tap-in.

Odegaard gestured in frustration with replays showing his effort would have gone in without Aubameyang’s touch.

Watford had a glorious chance to level as White and Aaron Ramsdale left a clearance for one another and Joshua King stole in but opted to shoot from an acute angle, hitting the side netting of Arsenal’s empty goal.

The Hornets would be reduced to 10 men in the closing stages as Kukca was shown a second yellow card for catching Nuno Tavares in an attempt to clear the ball from the edge of the box.

Albert Sambi Lokonga stung the palms of Foster as Arsenal looked to put the game to bed in stoppage-time, seeing out the six additional minutes to seal another three points.

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EMILE SMITH ROWE, BUKAYO SAKA STAR AS ARSENAL OUTCLASS TOTTENHAM IN NORTH LONDON DERBY

Arsenal produced a superb first-half performance to beat north London rivals Tottenham 3-1 and leapfrog their neighbours in the Premier League table.

Spurs had no answer for their hosts, who were spurred on by academy graduates Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka – both scoring and assisting in an impressive victory.

Smith Rowe opened the scoring and captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang doubled the lead before Saka struck in a first 45 minutes dominated by Mikel Arteta’s side and Son Heung-min hit a late consolation for the beleaguered visitors.

Questions are already being asked of Nuno Espirito Santo’s suitability for the role of Tottenham boss, just 88 days since he took charge – this was the first time in 18 years that Spurs have conceded three goals in three successive Premier League games.

They sat top of the league ahead of the international break, their fans taking great pleasure in seeing Arsenal propping up the table.

This emphatic win, however, sees Arsenal go above their neighbours as they continue to recover from a poor start to the campaign.

Son and Aubameyang both had early chances which were missed before ultimately being flagged offside.

It was the hosts, however, who had started the game the brighter and they duly delivered the opening goal just 12 minutes into the contest.

Martin Odegaard had time and space to spread the ball wide to Saka, whose low cross into the box was swept home by Smith Rowe, who arrived unmarked to send the ball past Hugo Lloris.

Thomas Partey then stung the palms of Lloris with a rasping effort before Aubameyang sent an effort whistling over the crossbar.

Arsenal did look nervy when Spurs could attack, mixing up a clearance before Son drew a smart stop out of Aaron Ramsdale.

Soon after and the home side had doubled their lead, countering at pace as Smith Rowe this time turned provider – bursting into the box and squaring for Aubameyang to finish.

Tottenham wanted the goal chalked off for a foul on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg but the challenge from the returning Granit Xhaka was deemed legitimate by referee Craig Pawson.

Things would get even better for the Gunners as Saka would get in on the act to make it 3-0.

Partey stole the ball off Harry Kane and Arsenal again broke behind the Spurs defence with three passes.

Smith Rowe found Saka – who ran into the box and was challenged well by a backtracking Kane, only for the loose ball to roll back into the path of his England team-mate who then finished low past Lloris.

Nuno reacted at the interval, introducing Oliver Skipp and Emerson Royal in place of Dele Alli and Japhet Tanganga.

It made little difference at the start of the second half, Arteta up in arms as he wanted a penalty for a foul on Gabriel Magalhaes as Arsenal pushed for a fourth goal.

Spurs were wanting their own spot-kick soon after as Ben White seemed to trip Kane, but Pawson and the VAR remained unmoved.

It did, at least, finally warrant a reaction from Spurs, Ramsdale saving low from a Kane shot which appeared to be heading behind.

The England skipper would then be guilty of missing a fine chance as he outmuscled Takehiro Tomiyasu and ran through on goal only to lift his shot wide of Ramsdale’s right-hand post.

Arsenal were happy to keep possession as the game wore on but Lloris had to be alert to push a low Saka shot wide.

Spurs would get on the scoresheet with 11 minutes remaining, Arsenal’s defence this time granting Son the freedom of their area for the forward to score from Sergio Reguilon’s centre.

A comeback never looked likely but Ramsdale did superbly to tip a deflected Lucas Moura shot onto the crossbar in stoppage time as Arsenal saw out the remainder of the game to go 10th in the table, one place above Spurs.