LONDON: Arsenal’s lead over Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table was trimmed to two points after they were frustrated by Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Southampton in a 1-1 draw on the south coast.

Gunners’ manager Mikel Arteta was disappointed at the outcome after Arsenal took an 11th-minute lead through Granit Xhaka. The Switzerland midfielder’s goal was his fourth of the season in all competitions. This equalled his best single-season total for Arsenal back in 2018-19.

It was also the first time Xhaka had scored in successive club matches since September 2016. He had scored the winning goal on Thursday night against PSV in the rearranged Europa League tie.

Arsenal’s run of eight consecutive wins in a row in all competitions owed much to wingers Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka plus centre-forward Gabriel Jesus. This time they were out of luck. Martinelli had a shot deflected wide and Jesus was denied by Southampton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu.

Southampton tightened up at the back after Hasenhuttl changed formation to a back five which provided the foundation for Stuart Armstrong’s equaliser in the 65th minute. Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard had what would have been a winning goal disallowed because the ball had gone out of play in the build-up.

Arteta said: “It should have been a different outcome. Credit to Southampton, they did well. We started to concede a lot of long throws. We created the two biggest chances in the second half but it wasn’t enough to win the game. We had enough chances. It’s very disappointing.”

A 4-0 defeat at Manchester City earlier this month – Saints’ fourth in a row in the Premier League – had increased pressure on Hasenhuttl though that will have been eased by a third successive match without defeat. Saints have now rescued eight points from losing positions in the league this season.

Hasenhuttl said: “In the first half we were lucky only to be one goal down. After that, you saw what happens when you have belief. We had a few issues in the beginning with the shape, but we made some changes and coped better after that. Especially considering we were 1-0 down, it’s a good result.”

Newcastle stun Spurs

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Newcastle continued to repay their Saudi owners’ ambition and investment by storming into fourth spot after a superb 2:1 win at third-placed Tottenham.

Spurs missed a host of first-half chances and were punished by goals from Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron. Harry Kane pulled a goal back after the interval for a Spurs team also beaten at Manchester United in midweek.

Kane is the fourth player to score at least 10 goals in nine consecutive league seasons, after Sergio Aguero, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard. Defeat ended their 100pc home record.

Now Spurs, missing both injured Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski, must recover quickly before Wednesday’s Champions League tie with Sporting.

Marsch in danger

Jesse Marsch’s future is in doubt after Leeds dropped into the relegation zone after a 3-2 home defeat by Fulham. Marsch, appointed in February, has not seen his team win in the league since August. Fans booed Marsch throughout the final 10 minutes of the game.

He said: “We had a good start to the game and some decent moments in the second half but our confidence is being tested. I understand the fans’ anger directed at me and I’m trying every way I can to come up with solutions.”

Aston Villa responded to the midweek sacking of manager Steven Gerrard by defeating Brentford 4:0. Caretakeer Aaron Danks was in charge for only Villa’s third win of the season.

They were 3-0 ahead after only 15 minutes through Leon Bailey and Danny Ings (two). England striker Ollie Watkins scored No4. Gerrard, ex-Liverpool captain and Rangers boss, was sacked on Thursday after a 3-0 defeat at Fulham.

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