Arsenal beat Tottenham 4-1, with Eberechi Eze scoring twice to extend their lead. Liverpool won 1-0 against Forest thanks to Alexis Mac Allister's late goal. Fulham triumphed 3-1 over Sunderland, while Crystal Palace edged Wolves 1-0 with a stoppage-time winner.
London: Liverpool needed a goal from Alexis Mac Allister in the 97th minute to defeat Nottingham Forest 1-0, while Eberechi Eze was the bane of Tottenham once more as his double gave Arsenal a five-point lead at the top of the Premier League in a 4-1 victory on Sunday.
Eze scored his first goals since scoring a hat trick in the season's first North London derby in November. Eze was on the verge of joining Spurs before going to Arsenal from Crystal Palace in August.
After Manchester City closed the gap at the top with back-to-back draws against Brentford and Wolves, Arsenal was under pressure to react.
In Igor Tudor's first game as temporary Tottenham manager, Mikel Arteta's team stepped up to the plate and caused additional suffering to their local rivals. "I think you have to bring context to the situation, and this is the beauty of football," Arteta said, adding, "We lift everyone up immediately." We must now demonstrate our abilities. That has to do with your mindset and how you handle a challenging situation.
In recent weeks, Arteta has preferred other choices, and Eze has even struggled for minutes.
However, he returned to the starting lineup, repaying his manager's trust.
Shortly after the break, the England international scored the first goal from close range, but Randal Kolo Muani of Tottenham tied the score nearly thereafter.
Early in the second half, Viktor Gyokeres gave Arsenal their lead again with his most important goal to date.
After Bukayo Saka was denied by Guglielmo Vicario, Eze was there to slide in his second goal.
In stoppage time, Gyokeres completed the score.
When the top two meet in April, City will have home advantage and a game in hand in the title chase.
However, the much-needed win provides Arsenal some breathing room as they attempt to win the league for the first time in twenty-two years.
Tottenham is still only four points clear of relegation.
Tudor remarked, "It was a difficult game," "It was a lesson!"
We need Liverpool to 'improve'
Although Liverpool secured a vital victory in their fight for Champions League qualifying, Mac Allister acknowledged that "nothing was good" about a large portion of their play.
Vitor Pereira, Forest's fourth manager of the season, was leading the team for the first time in the league, and until a thrilling conclusion, it appeared that they would gain a well-earned point.
When he charged down Ola Aina's clearing in the waning moments, Mac Allister's goal was disallowed.
The Argentine midfielder was judged to have been hit by the ball on the arm.
Forest, however, disregarded the warning and fell to within two points of the bottom three, much to Pereira's ire.
Following the save of Virgil van Dijk's header, Mac Allister swept home a rebound.
Liverpool is still in sixth place, but they are now within six points of Aston Villa and tied with Chelsea and Manchester United.
Mac Allister remarked, "I think it's a really good day in that sense because I love scoring and winning, but I don't think we played very well." There are several areas that require improvement.
Fulham were just the second visiting team to win at the Stadium of Light this season, moving up into the top half of the standings and surpassing Sunderland.
With Raul Jimenez's double, Marco Silva's team won 3-1.
Crystal Palace's second victory in 16 games helped to quell growing resentment at Selhurst Park.
In the 90th minute, Palace defeated 10-man Wolves 1-0 thanks to a goal from Evann Guessand.
