Aston Villa stun leaders Arsenal, Man City close gap to two points, Liverpool held by Leeds

LONDON, Dec 5 - Aston Villa ignited the Premier League title race with a last-gasp 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal that allowed Manchester City to close the gap to two points on Saturday.

Substitute Emiliano Buendia struck the winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time with virtually the last kick of a sizzling Villa Park duel to leave the resurgent Midlands club just three points behind Arsenal who slipped to their first defeat in 19 games in all competitions.

City enjoyed a routine 3-0 home win against Sunderland with a stunning long-range goal by Ruben Dias paving the way for three points against the season's surprise package.

Champions Liverpool remain 10 points behind Arsenal though after drawing 3-3 at Leeds United despite leading 2-0 and 3-1 -- Ao Tanaka scoring a last-gasp leveller for the hosts.

Fourth-placed Chelsea drew 0-0 at Bournemouth, while Everton are up to fifth as they beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 at home. Tottenham Hotspur claimed only their second home league win of the season as Xavi Simons opened his account for the club with a sensational solo goal in a 2-0 defeat of Brentford.

Second-from-bottom Burnley lost for the sixth game in succession, going down 2-1 at Newcastle United.

After a horrible start to the Premier League season in which they picked up three points from five games and failed to score in any of their first four, Villa are now on a roll.

Their ninth win in their last 10 league games puts them right in the thick of the title mix, even if manager Unai Emery remains reluctant to admit as much.

"This is a race for 38 matches and we are on 15," the Spaniard said.

Emery has enjoyed some notable triumphs over his former club Arsenal, not least a double in the 2023-24 season which proved costly to his successor Mikel Arteta's dream of taking Arsenal to a first English league title since 2004.

Arsenal ended that season second, two points behind City, and after another loss to Villa on Saturday, there was a nasty sense of deja vu for the London club.

"The manner that it happened at the end it was really difficult to take," Arteta said.

Asked if Villa are in the title race, he added: "They are. When you look at where they are, the way they play, they have beaten some big teams, especially at home."

GOALMOUTH SCRAMBLE

Matty Cash drove home a low shot to give Villa the lead in the 39th minute but Leandro Trossard came off the bench at halftime and equalised seven minutes later.

An exhilarating game was then decided as Buendia fired high into the net after a frantic goalmouth scramble at the death.

Arsenal have 33 points with City on 31 after swatting aside Sunderland with far more ease than they did Fulham on Tuesday when they won 5-4 after leading 5-1.

This time it was clinical from City as Josko Gvardiol added to Dias's screamer before Phil Foden wrapped it up with his sixth league goal of the season.

"It was one of our best performances of the season, against a great team, considering what they have done so far," City manager Pep Guardiola said.

Liverpool appeared to be cruising at Elland Road when Hugo Ekitike netted twice in just over two minutes after the break.

But a Dominic Calvert-Lewin penalty and a brilliantly worked goal from Anton Stach in a three-minute spell got Leeds back level only for Dominik Szoboszlai to restore Liverpool's lead.

There was another twist though as Tanaka rifled home an equaliser in a frenetic finale.

Liverpool's draw left them in eighth place while Leeds moved up to 16th spot with 15 points.

Chelsea have gone three games without a win and are eight points behind Arsenal after a stalemate at faltering Bournemouth. The closest either side came to a winner was when Alejandro Garnacho struck the post.

Everton have steadily moved into contention for the European qualification places and got a flying start against Forest when a cross by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall deflected in off Nikola Milenkovic. Thierno Barry made it 2-0 with his first goal since joining from Villarreal and Dewsbury-Hall added the third.

"I'm too old now to say we just want to avoid relegation, but I'm not daft enough to say Europe is possible," Everton manager David Moyes said. "I don't think we are quite ready, but we will keep knocking at the door."

A clash against his former club Brentford had danger written all over it for Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank considering his side's woeful home form.

But Dutch signing Simons set up Richarlison for his side's opener and then raced through after winning a tackle to score an impressive solo effort. Tottenham's first league win at home since the opening weekend put them on 22 points.

Newcastle were cruising with a goal by Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon's penalty in first-half stoppage time.

But Burnley, who had Lucas Pires sent off in the first half, ensured a nervy finish when Zian Fleming struck late on. REUTERS