Crystal Palace ended a nine-game winless run in the Premier League in the best manner possible as they beat rivals Brighton and Hove Albion 1-0 away on Sunday.

Ismaila Sarr scored the only goal on the south coast, ending an hour of tedium when he lifted a shot over Bart Verbruggen to break the deadlock.

It was Palace’s first effort on target.

Victory eased Palace’s relegation worries as they leap-frogged Brighton into 13th place with 32 points, nine points above the drop zone.

“It was a relief. We can talk and analyse but you can never replace a win,” Palace manager Oliver Glasner said.

“We deserved it at the end, we couldn’t expect to play our best football but we were very compact and aggressive.

“Everyone did their job.”

-Reuters

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• Summary

• Gyokeres nets double in Arsenal win over Sunderland
• Caretaker boss Carrick stays perfect with Man Utd
• High-flying Aston Villa stumble at Bournemouth
• West Ham earn vital win in battle to avoid relegation

Arsenal marched nine points clear in the Premier League title race as Viktor Gyokeres hit two goals in a 3-0 victory over Sunderland on Saturday as Manchester United made it four wins out of four for coach Michael Carrick in their top-four push.

Third-placed Aston Villa dropped further behind Arsenal as they drew 1-1 with Bournemouth while Chelsea’s Cole Palmer bagged a hat-trick in a 3-1 victory at bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers, including two penalties.

Eighteenth-placed West Ham United earned three vital points in their bid to avoid relegation, Crysencio Summerville and Taty Castellanos sealing a 2-0 win at second-from-bottom Burnley whose survival hopes now look remote.

Everton scored two late goals as they came from behind to win 2-1 at Fulham, the win lifting them to eighth.

The celebrations at the final whistle at The Emirates were loud and long as joyous Arsenal fans displayed their belief that a first title since 2004 is now in sight.

Sunderland proved a tough nut to crack but Arsenal remained patient and were rewarded with a fourth successive victory in all competitions.

Arsenal dominated the first half at The Emirates but had to wait until the 42nd minute to get ahead when Martin Zubimendi’s sweetly-struck low drive crept inside the post.

Gyokeres has struggled at times during his first season in north London since his move from Sporting, but he swept in a clinical finish in the 66th minute to make it 2-0.

Gabriel Martinelli then played in the Swede for his second deep into stoppage time.

No Premier League player has scored more goals across all competitions since the turn of the year than Gyokeres (six) and Arteta praised the Swedish striker’s resilience.

“He doesn’t seem too affected by the real highs or the lows and that’s what we need – stability. He’s very demanding of himself. He’s constantly trying to improve,” Arteta said.

Arsenal have 56 points from 25 games with Manchester City, who face Liverpool away on Sunday, on 47 from 24. Villa also have 47 points but their challenge is fading.

ROMERO SENDING OFF HELPS MAN UTD

Manchester United are on 44 points after their 2-0 home win against Tottenham Hotspur, who played three quarters of the game with 10 men after captain Cristian Romero was sent off for a tackle on Casemiro.

Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur – Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain – February 7, 2026 Tottenham Hotspur’s Souza in action with Manchester United’s Amad Diallo REUTERS/Phil Noble

Bryan Mbeumo put United in front 10 minutes after Romero’s dismissal, applying the final touch to a clever corner routine involving Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo.

Fernandes wrapped up the points in the 81st minute.

While caretaker manager Carrick’s resurgent United are well-placed for a return to the Champions League, Tottenham are slipping too close to the relegation zone for comfort after their run without a league win extended to seven.

They have 29 points in 14th place, six ahead of West Ham, who are in the last relegation place.

Villa, who could have gone second, took the lead in the 22nd minute at Bournemouth when Morgan Rogers linked up with Jadon Sancho before powering a shot high into the net.

The hosts earned their 10th league draw of the season, though, as Brazilian teenager Rayan scored his first goal in English football.

Chelsea’s Palmer became the first player in Premier League history to score three hat-tricks in the first half of a match, having also done it against Everton and Brighton and Hove Albion.

He now also has more Premier League hat-tricks than any other Chelsea player, after grabbing a fourth.

Palmer put Chelsea ahead from the spot in the 13th minute after a foul on Joao Pedro and repeated the trick in the 35th minute after another foul on the same teammate.

Palmer’s hat-trick came as he fired home from Marc Cucurella’s pass. New manager Liam Rosenior has now won four successive league games with his side bouncing back from their League Cup semi-final defeat by Arsenal on Tuesday.

Chelsea are fifth with 43 points, four points above champions Liverpool in sixth.

In the late game, Brentford’s Dango Ouattara struck in the 85th-minute for a 3-2 victory at Newcastle United in a see-saw contest, with the win moving Keith Andrews’ side up to seventh.

At the bottom, Wolves and Burnley look doomed to relegation with eight and 15 points respectively, but West Ham are now only three points behind 17th-placed Nottingham Forest.

-Reuters

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Teenage striker Chido Obi, one of the most exciting Nigerian-heritage prospects at Manchester United, has continued his development with a one-on-one training session alongside former Premier League marksman Papiss Cissé, as attention grows around his long-term international future.

Obi, 18, was recently filmed undergoing a personal finishing and movement session with Cissé, arranged by UK-based skills coach Kwaku Ohemeng, who also works with United winger Patrick Dorgu. The session focused on striker intelligence, particularly body positioning and timing in front of goal, as the young forward seeks to sharpen the finer details of his game.

The Denmark-born striker, who is of Nigerian parentage, broke into the Manchester United first team last season during an injury-hit period, making eight senior appearances. Although he failed to score in 212 minutes of action, he impressed with his movement and composure, going closest to finding the net in an FA Cup outing against Fulham.

This season, Obi has returned largely to academy football, where he has continued to underline his promise with eight goals in 21 appearances across competitions. Coaches at United remain cautious but optimistic, aware that his early exposure to senior football has accelerated both expectations and scrutiny.

Former Newcastle United striker Cissé, who scored 44 goals in 131 Premier League appearances, now lives in Cheshire and remains active at a veteran level. During the training session, the 40-year-old passed on practical advice drawn from his top-flight experience, offering mentorship to a striker widely regarded as one of United’s most natural finishers at the youth level.

United’s former Under-21s head coach, Travis Binnion, previously highlighted the challenge facing Obi after his rapid rise.

“People look at him like he’s a big kid, but the key thing is he’s still very young and still learning his game,” Binnion said. “That development phase is crucial.”

Born in Glostrup, a suburb of Copenhagen, Obi remains eligible to represent Denmark, Nigeria or England at the senior international level. He has already featured across multiple youth national teams, switching between Denmark and England at the Under-16 level before re-committing to Denmark, where his prolific scoring earned him progression to the Under-17s and later the Under-20s.

At the 2025 Maurice Revello Tournament, Obi announced himself on the global stage with late heroics for Denmark’s U20 side, scoring a 96th-minute winner against Congo and adding another goal in a victory over Japan before Denmark exited in the semi-finals.

With Nigeria continuing its global search for elite diaspora talents, Obi’s steady rise at Manchester United and his deliberate effort to refine his craft have ensured that Nigerian football watchers will be following his next steps closely — both at club level and in the battle for his international allegiance

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