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• O'Neil: Pressure has given Wolves 'opportunity' to shine

  Wolves boss Gary O'Neil believes his players are beginning to see a deserved reward for their hard work after a difficult start to the Premier League season.

  Matheus Cunha's double caught the eye in their 4-1 win against Fulham, alongside goals from Joao Gomes and substitute Goncalo Guedes, as Wolves showed their attacking quality in equal measure to ease some of the tension surrounding O'Neil.

  The opening months of the 2024-25 campaign have caused pressure to rise on O'Neil's position after they claimed just one point in their first eight games.

  They have now claimed eight points in their last four league games and climbed out of the relegation zone for the first time this season with their victory at Craven Cottage.

  O'Neil praised his players at full-time, referencing the battling qualities shown by the squad after key summer exits, and a run of form that could have seen them lose faith in him.

  "It's probably one of my favourite performances in my time here as a coach. We knew this was going to be a really tough test with the players we were missing," he told BBC Sport.

   

  "It's been a tough run overall, and we had a tough transfer window. Any team who loses its captain and one of its top players will always have to find a new way to do things in the following season.

  "We were given a tough fixture list to start the season with, and the league position brings with it pressure and noise, and that was for us to deal with.

  "That pressure also brought an opportunity for us to stand up and show who we are and every single one of them have done just that. We can enjoy this win, but there is still plenty of work to do."

  Meanwhile, Fulham have lost three of their last six Premier League games (W2 D1), as many as in their previous 12 games in the competition (W5 D4).

  Despite matching Wolves' 10 shots, and creating a similar expected goals (1.01 to Wolves' 1.26), Fulham struggled against their clinical opponents, especially while playing with 10 men following Joachim Andersen's injury, with no substitutions left.

  "It was really weird game. That's the Premier League," Marco Silva told BBC Match of the Day. "It's easy for us to say we were really unfortunate. It was a situation [where we had to] play with 10 men without a red card.

  "We can't just be looking at the score. The two goals when we were with 10 men didn't reflect the game, in my opinion."

• Villa 'deserved more' from draw with Palace, says Emery

  Unai Emery suggested Aston Villa "deserved more" than a point after coming from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Crystal Palace at Villa Park.

  The result sees Villa's winless streak extend to six matches across all competitions (D2 L4), equalling their longest run without a victory under Emery (also six in April-May 2024).

  After Ismaila Sarr's early opener, the hosts needed Ollie Watkins to pull them level before Ross Barkley cancelled out Justin Devenny's strike with 13 minutes to go.

  Yet having seen a penalty saved and hitting the woodwork, Emery felt his team should have got more from the match.

  "We deserved more, but we made some mistakes that we need to correct. We had chances to score, we came back. The penalty was a key moment," he told Sky Sports.

  "In the second half, we pushed and felt close to scoring, but we have to accept one point."

  Youri Tielemans had the opportunity to put Villa ahead on the stroke of half-time from the spot but placed his shot at a saveable height for Dean Henderson, who guessed the right way.

  It allowed Palace to break down the other end through Sarr, who squared to Devenny to send the visitors into the lead just before the break.

  Emery admitted his players are "concerned" about their vulnerability in transitions and rued the mistakes being made.

  "Here at home, we were thinking how strong we were, winning 15 games in a row and how we can recover confidence, impose our gameplan. We are losing some opportunities. We are conceding a few chances for the opponent and making some mistakes," he told reporters.

  "We are not getting three points but deserving here at home to win. We played well against Arsenal, Bournemouth, Man United and here. But we are making mistakes and they are punishing us.

  "Overall we had more chances, we dominated the match. We have to correct matches where we play like we did today and get more points."

  Villa led their opponents comfortably on expected goals (xG), accruing a total of 3.18 compared to Palace's 1.27.

  The visitors also had key players Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton out, leading Oliver Glasner to be pleased with his side's fighting display.

  "I'm very proud of the team's performance. We’re missing some key players in attack, but we still scored two amazing goals," he said.

  "I'm very proud how they played together, worked together, fight together and believed in getting a point here.

  "Overall, it was a good performance for us, and we go home very pleased with the point."

• Arsenal's improved form after Odegaard's return 'not a coincidence', says Arteta

  Mikel Arteta insisted it was "not a coincidence" that Martin Odegaard's presence led Arsenal to a 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest in one of their best performances of the season.

  Arsenal's win was their 2,000th in English top-flight history, making them just the second side to reach this milestone after Liverpool (2,068).

  Odegaard had been sidelined through injury since September with an ankle injury sustained while on international duty with Norway.

  He returned to the starting line-up last time out against Chelsea and now has two assists from two since his return after setting up Bukayo Saka for the opener against Forest.

  Arsenal ran out comfortable winners after Thomas Partey and Ethan Nwaneri extended their lead and Arteta is confident the influence of his captain helped.

  "It's not a coincidence. The team flows in a different way when [Odegaard] is playing," he told BBC MOTD.

  "I think we started really well. The sense I was getting in the last 48 hours after the international break, the boys coming together and were all at it.

  "It was good to see the impact of the substitutes [Thomas Partey - goal; Ethan Nwaneri - goal; Raheem Sterling - assist]. Everyone has to feel important. It was a good afternoon."

  Partey grabbed Arsenal's second just seven minutes after entering the pitch, curling into the left corner from outside the box following Arteta's half-time swap for Jorginho.

  Four of Partey's seven Premier League goals have come from outside the box. Of all Arsenal players to score more than five goals in the competition, he’s the only one to net more than half from outside the box.

  Arteta had particular praise for fellow goalscorer Nwaneri, who, at 17 years and 247 days, became Arsenal’s second youngest-ever Premier League goalscorer, behind only Cesc Fabregas in August 2004 (17y 113d).

  "He is the second youngest [Premier League goalscorer] in our history. That's a story in itself. He's brave. You see the reaction of fans, and they were singing 'he's one of our own'," added the Arsenal boss.

  "I think we have to put brick by brick and make sure the cement doesn't get dry. Hopefully, we can build a beautiful thing with him."

  Arsenal outplayed their opponents, leading them on expected goals (xG) with a total of 1.4 compared to Forest's 0.4 xG.

  "On a day like this, you need to be solid defensively and take your chances. Ultimately it was not good enough, and it was three relatively easy goals for them," James Ward-Prowse told Sky Sports.

  "We are going to have to improve our defensive structure."