Leaders beat Brighton while Man City slip up on a night of key results throughout the table

It was a big night at both ends of the Premier League table, and on a momentous evening for Bukayo Saka, the winger showed again how influential he has become for Arsenal.

The club added a small detail to the back of his shirt to mark a special occasion: "300" printed beneath the collar to commemorate his 300th appearance for the Gunners.

At 24 years and 180 days, he became the fourth-youngest player to reach that milestone for Arsenal, behind David O’Leary, Cesc Fabregas and Liam Brady.

It took him only nine minutes to score Arsenal’s 99th goal of the season – one of the more fortunate in his 300 games – when his shot took a deflection that wrong-footed Bart Verbruggen and slipped through the Brighton goalkeeper’s legs.

It was the decisive only goal in a hard slog of a game. Brighton made life difficult - Gabriel Magalhaes's header off the line was one of six clearances in the opening half an hour – but Arsenal dug in, worked hard and defended doggedly to earn a win that takes them seven points clear at the top.

The title, crucially, is no longer in Manchester City’s own hands as they dropped points at home against Nottingham Forest.

Antoine Semenyo is staking a strong claim for Player of the Season as he continues the fine form that earned him a move to Man City at his new club, but goals from the Ghanaian and Rodri were not enough to win the game.

Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson always said he disliked signing players in January because they took too long to settle, but at their cross-town rivals Semenyo is proving there is value to be found.

The forward scored 10 goals for AFC Bournemouth in the first half of the season and already has seven in 12 games for Pep Guardiola’s side since his January transfer.

Guardiola has embraced Semenyo’s versatility, playing him both on the wing – where he mainly played at Bournemouth – and as a striker in a front two.

Forest, however, signalled their intent with three shots in the opening 72 seconds, and Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson twice levelled for Forest to earn a contrasting point: vital for Forest to keep them out of the relegation places on goal difference, and a damaging one for Man City.

Three minutes after Rodri had restored Man City’s lead, Crysencio Summerville scored the goal that briefly moved West Ham out of the bottom three and dropped Forest into it, before Anderson's equaliser reversed those positions again.

It has been a staggering turnaround by West Ham head coach Nuno Espirito Santo. West Ham appeared destined for relegation after going on a 10-game winless run from late November to early January.

Summerville scored his first goal of the season when they beat QPR in the FA Cup to end that awful form and he has barely stopped, netting a further six goals in nine games to drag West Ham towards safety.

They are now level on 28 points with Forest and one behind Spurs, who have a game in hand.

How close they remain after facing Man City and Aston Villa in their next two league fixtures remains to be seen, but for now West Ham fans are entitled to believe safety is back on.

Villa, meanwhile, no longer resemble the side that spent half the season as outsiders in the title race. They suffered a bruising defeat to Chelsea with major implications for UEFA Champions League qualification.

Playing Joao Pedro as a fixed striker has been an inspired move by Liam Rosenior since he took over at Stamford Bridge, and the Brazilian tore Villa apart.

Joao Pedro played predominantly as a No 10 at Watford in the Championship and was often found there or on the wing for Brighton & Hove Albion.

His combination of strength, speed and finishing make him a versatile player (he even occasionally played in central midfield for Brighton).

Rosenior’s hand was forced by an injury to Liam Delap and Nicolas Jackson leaving on loan, but Joao Pedro has been a revelation since being given a run as No 9, with 10 goals in 11 games.

He added three of those against Villa – the second a superb run and delicate chip over Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez – and set up Cole Palmer for Chelsea’s fourth.

At the other end, Rosenior made a bold call by dropping goalkeeper Robert Sanchez for Filip Jorgensen.

“Rob is an outstanding goalkeeper and I just saw Filip in training and sometimes as a manager you have to go with your gut," Rosenior told BBC Match of the Day. "Filip gave us something different and they will both be fighting it out for the rest of the season."

The Dane justified it with a crucial save, flicking out his arm to stop Ollie Watkins’ powerful shot in the first half when Chelsea were trailing to Douglas Luiz’s early goal.

The huge win moved Chelsea to within three points of Villa and Manchester United, who suffered a costly defeat of their own, and just three points now separate the teams between third and sixth place.

It was Carrick’s first defeat as Man Utd manager, having been unbeaten in 10 games stretching across two spells as interim manager.

Newcastle – in 12th – are having a disappointing season and for most of the second half it looked as though it was going to be another win for Carrick.

In a frenetic first-half stoppage time, Jacob Ramsey was sent off, Anthony Gordon scored a penalty then Casemiro equalised.

It was who else but Bruno Fernandes with the assist for the goal. Only David Beckham has ever provided more assists for Man Utd in a single Premier League campaign, having set up 15 goals in 1999/00.

Like Rosenior, Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe made a big call to drop first-choice goalkeeper Nick Pope for Aaron Ramsdale, and it was vindicated when the former Arsenal goalkeeper pulled off several key saves to keep Newcastle in the game.

Then William Osula came off the Newcastle bench to bend a sensational solo goal into the corner, 12 years after winning Man Utd’s Soccer School World Skills Final as an 11-year-old. (premierleague.com)

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