Premier League: Arsenal reclaim top spot from Manchester City; Liverpool, Brentford register wins

New Delhi: Rayan Cherki starred as Manchester City defeated Nottingham Forest 2-1 to put the pressure on Arsenal in the Premier League title race on Saturday, December 27. The hosts got the chance to open the scoring in the early stages, when Morgan Gibbs-White failed to connect a stunning whipped cross from Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Manchester City scored the first goal of the match after Rayan Chereki provided a brilliant assist to Reijnders, who netted past John Victor. Forest fought back valiantly after falling behind, with Omari Hutchinson netting the equaliser in the 54th minute of the match.

John Victor then denied Phil Foden's shot from close range, but Cherki scored the winning goal for Pep Guardiola's side in the 83rd minute to send City to the top of the table, at least temporarily.

Arsenal beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-1 at home to return to the top of the Premier League table on Saturday. The Gunners started the match in second position after having been displaced by Manchester City earlier in the day.

Captain Martin Odegaard's season has been hampered by a knee injury, but he showed his class, scoring the opening goal with a left-footed low shot in the 14th minute of the match. The hosts played dominant football and doubled their lead with an own goal from Georginio Rutter in the 52nd minute.

Diego Gomez netted the first Brighton goal with a rebound in the 64th minute after Yasin Ayari's shot came back off the post. The visitors had the chance to equalise, but Arsenal keeper David Raya produced a stunning save to keep out Yankuba Minteh's curling effort. Arsenal moved to the top of the table with 42 points from 18 games.

Liverpool defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 on Saturday to climb into the top four. Ryan Gravenberch and Florian Wirtz netted a minute apart in the first half, securing victory for the defending champions.

Wolves played well to frustrate Liverpool fans before Gravenberch scored the first goal in the 41st minute. Wirtz netted his first Liverpool goal a minute later, after latching onto Hugo Ekitike's through ball before hitting past goalkeeper Jose Sa.

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Wolves also scored one back in the 51st when Tolu Arokodare's header was saved by Alisson Becker, but Santiago Bueno netted with the rebound.

In other matches, Brentford thrashed Bournemouth 4-1, and Fulham beat West Ham United 1-0, while Burnley and Everton played a goalless draw.