Football writer Ben McAleer looks at the talking points from Saturday’s Premier League action, including key results in the title race and battle to avoid the drop.
Arsenal had the perfect opportunity to open up a six-point lead over rivals Manchester City on Saturday evening, and it was one they grabbed with both hands. Fulham are no pushovers, but the Gunners showed why they remain in the driving seat to secure a first Premier League title in over 20 years.
Mikel Arteta needed his players to lay down a marker to pile the pressure on City. And it didn’t take long for Arsenal to take the initiative as the returning Bukayo Saka fired in a low cross for Viktor Gyokeres, who made no mistake from six yards out.
That goal was the Swede’s 20th of the season as Gyokeres became the first player to bag at least 20 goals across all competitions in their first season at the club since Alexis Sanchez in the 2014/15 season.
The roles were reversed for Arsenal’s second as Gyokeres turned provider for Saka, the winger beating goalkeeper Bernd Leno with a low-near post drive to double Arsenal’s advantage.
Watch: Gyokeres' performance v Fulham
Arteta’s side went in at the break 3-0 ahead with Gyokeres bagging his second - and the north London side’s third - by timing his run to perfection to head Leandro Trossard’s cross past Leno.
Arsenal survived a couple of hairy second-half moments, but their dominant opening 45 minutes ensured a morale-boosting victory ahead of their midweek UEFA Champions League visit of Atletico Madrid. It’s all-square at 1-1 ahead of the second-leg showdown on Tuesday with a place in the final at stake.
"I got a really good feeling on Thursday already when we had a meeting before we got on the plane [after the Atletico game], because we talked about everything that we have to do now," Arteta told the official club website.
"It's about energy and showing how much we want it, and that hunger. And the team clicked immediately, the boys delivered what we planned against a really tough opponent, and we were very efficient.
"Now we have one of the biggest games in the history of this stadium, for sure on Tuesday, in front of our people and we're going to try to make it happen."
City now also need to respond to Arsenal’s comfortable 3-0 victory, a result that improved the club’s goal difference, which could prove decisive.
Pep Guardiola’s side face Everton on Monday at Hill Dickinson Stadium, and then welcome Brentford next Saturday. They could well be level on points with Arsenal by the time Arteta’s side are next in league action.
“I think both the performance and result was important. We controlled the game very well. At this stage we have to win the games that are left,” Gyokeres said after Saturday's win.
And on the title race, he added: "We've never stopped believing and we're not going to. We will keep going.”
In a crunch relegation match, West Ham United made the short trip across the capital in one of three 15:00 BST kick-offs to face London rivals Brentford. The Hammers had a great chance to open up some daylight between themselves and the relegation zone in their bid to beat the drop.
Brentford, meanwhile, headed into their home encounter with Nuno Espirito Santo’s side on a six-game winless run. The Bees, though, delivered a hammer blow to West Ham’s hopes of avoiding relegation.
Konstantinos Mavropanos inadvertently put the ball into his own net after Michael Kayode’s initial effort cannoned off the woodwork. It was the defender’s fourth own goal in a West Ham shirt, more than any other player in the club's history.
The Greek centre-back thought he’d made amends five minutes later after powering El Hadji Malick Diouf's free-kick past Caoimhin Kelleher.
However, Mavropanos’ header was chalked off by VAR and although West Ham had chances to haul themselves level, they were made to pay 10 minutes into the second half.
Brentford's top scorer Igor Thiago made no mistake from 12 yards to bag his 22nd league goal of the season, sending 'keeper Mads Hermansen the wrong way after Dango Ouattara had been fouled by Diouf.
Watch: All of Thiago's goals this season
No player has now scored more penalties in the Premier League than the eight of Thiago since he made his debut in November 2024. The Bees have also scored a competition-high eight penalties this season.
Mikkel Damsgaard, who missed an open goal in the first half, made amends with a sweetly struck 82nd minute effort. There was a touching end to a memorable afternoon for Brentford when Josh Dasilva replaced Damsgaard in the dying embers of Saturday’s 3-0 win to make his first appearance for the Bees in over 800 days.
Watch: Dasilva's heartwarming reception from Brentford fans
“It’s going to be a big challenge for all of us with the impact of this tough day,” Nuno said after the Brentford loss. Your move, Tottenham Hotspur.
Just as Brentford ended a winless run, so too, did Newcastle United as the Magpies welcomed Brighton & Hove Albion to St James’ Park.
Newcastle were stuck on a four-game losing streak ahead of their meeting with the in-form Seagulls. However, Eddie Howe's side drew first blood on home turf as William Osula bagged his fifth league goal of the campaign following some good work by Jacob Murphy.
Murphy was brought down by goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, who in turn committed his fourth error leading to an opposition goal, a record this season, but the winger recovered well to dig out a cross for Danish striker Osula.
Watch: Murphy's assist for Osula v Brighton
Newcastle were two goals to the good midway through the first half as Dan Burn connected superbly with Bruno Guimaraes' corner. Jack Hinselwood halved the deficit on the hour mark; however, Harvey Barnes settled the clash in second-half stoppage time to end Newcastle’s winless run.
On the 3-1 victory over the Seagulls, head coach Howe said: "A big win for us. It has felt like a run of negative results, we needed a big performance to turn that around and we did that.
"It wasn’t beautiful today, but I thought it was highly effective and I thought the players played really well."
Elsewhere, Wolverhampton Wanderers may be relegated, but they’re going down with a fight. Keen to give their fans something to cheer about in their penultimate home game of the season, Rob Edwards' side welcomed Sunderland to Molineux.
However, it was the Black Cats who struck first as Nordi Mukiele headed Granit Xhaka’s corner past Dan Bentley in the 17th minute. Seven minutes later, and the tie swung in the home side’s favour as Sunderland defender Dan Ballard received his marching orders for pulling Tolu Arokodare’s hair.