Harry Kane's future at Tottenham is at a curious stage, having become more settled during Antonio Conte's tenure.

Kane has scored 10 goals in all competitions this term, including nine in the Premier League with Spurs starting strongly to sit third.

The England international had pushed to move to Manchester City in mid-2021 but ultimately was convinced to stay.

TOP STORY – SPURS PUSH TO OPEN KANE CONTRACT TALKS

Tottenham are eager to commence talks with Harry Kane on a new deal, but the England forward is holding off, claims Football Insider.

Antonio Conte's future at Spurs is a factor for Kane, with the Italian out of contract at the end of this season.

Bayern Munich have been linked with Kane who signed a six-year deal with Spurs in June 2018, tying him down until 2024.

ROUND-UP

– Fabrizio Romano says Liverpool are not considering a move for Barcelona's unsettled midfielder Frenkie de Jong, following reports to the contrary.

Napoli are weighing up a potential move for Tottenham's Tanguy Ndombele who is on loan with the Italian club, reports Inside Futebol. The Frenchman's release clause is €30 million, which Napoli are willing to trigger.

– Calciomercato claims Denis Zakaria is set to return to Juventus in January with Chelsea planning to terminate his loan deal, having failed to play a minute of first-team football since joining on deadline day.

– Italian champions Milan may make a move for Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek in January, reports Calciomercato.

Erik ten Hag defended his decision to substitute Cristiano Ronaldo during Manchester United's 0-0 draw with Newcastle United on Sunday, insisting he wants to keep the striker fresh for a packed fixture schedule.

Ronaldo, starting a Premier League for the first time since August 13, managed just a single shot before he was hauled off in the 72nd minute for Marcus Rashford.

The Portuguese superstar looked visibly annoyed as he walked off the pitch, and continued to shake his head in the dugout as United struggled to break down Eddie Howe's side.

United face Premier League matches against Tottenham and Chelsea over the next week, and Ten Hag said Ronaldo was brought off with a view to preserving him for those games.

"We have to recover as we have four games in 10 days and especially for the strikers, I want to keep them fresh," Ten Hag said.

"I want to keep them all fresh, we have to rotate because of some problems we have.

"[Anthony] Martial is not available in this moment, then Rashy [Rashford] was not well, so he did not have energy for the whole game.

"We had to plan to cover for the four games because we want to win or at least get a result in all four games."

The result was United's 76th Premier League goalless draw, 31 of which have come since Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013 (41 per cent) – the most of any side in the competition since the start of the 2013-14 season.

Despite the disappointing result, Ten Hag was pleased with his side's display and believes they deserved to claim all three points.

"I'm disappointed with the result, but I'm happy with the performance," the Dutchman added.

"A lot of elements of the team, the way of playing, we transferred on the pitch. We have seen that.

"The pressing the whole game was good. The second half possession was better. We made an improvement after half-time.

"Then you saw we dominate that game in the second half by far and also in the end the physical, again the mentality, how we kept going.

"You saw the problems they had and that is one of the best physical teams in the league. They all had cramp and we didn't because we let them run because we were good on the ball and our pressing was good."

The result left the Red Devils fifth in the Premier League, three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea and still one ahead of Newcastle.

Jurgen Klopp admitted he deserved to be sent off against Manchester City, but the Liverpool manager also aired his disappointment at the officiating during his team's 1-0 win at Anfield.

Mohamed Salah scored the only goal of a frenetic game on Sunday, latching onto a long pass from Alisson with 14 minutes remaining to finish past Ederson.

It was City's first Premier League defeat of the season, but the visitors were left frustrated when Phil Foden's second-half strike with the score at 0-0 was chalked off after referee Anthony Taylor was asked to look at the pitchside monitor by the video assistant referee, which showed Erling Haaland pulling over Fabinho in the build-up.

City boss Pep Guardiola and Klopp both showed frustration at Taylor's decisions through the game, with the latter shown a red card after objecting to a challenge on Salah with five minutes remaining going unpunished.

"Yeah, it's about emotion of course... red card, my fault," Klopp conceded at his post-match press conference.

"I went over the top in the moment, I don't think I was disrespectful to anybody but when you look at the pictures back – I know myself for 55 years that the way I look in these moments is already worth a red card.

"I lost it in that moment and that is not OK, but I think a little bit as an excuse I would like to mention, how can you not whistle that foul [on Salah]? How on earth is it possible? And I wish I could get an explanation.

"I don't know what Pep said now in here, probably not a lot, probably very disappointed or frustrated or whatever. But during the game we agreed completely that Anthony Taylor just let the things run. Why would you do that? Both teams, it was not one, but I heard now that people said it was Anfield that made the VAR decision [to disallow Foden's goal].

"With a foul on Mo, Anfield had no chance to make any impact. It's a foul on Fabinho, I think we agree on that. Is it not enough to pull somebody down?

"So there was already the first moment where Pep and I were pretty animated, both, but actually for the same reason to be 100 per cent honest. For the same reason, we were not arguing with each other, not at all.

"Then [the red card] situation, I just had the perfect view, and the linesman, and you can imagine we are 1-0 up and we have a free-kick there or a counter-attack there. That is pretty much a 100 per cent difference and that was when I snapped and again, I am not proud of that, but it happened."

One negative for Klopp was seeing Diogo Jota injured late on. The Portugal international has only recently returned from injury, but his manager did not sound hopeful, saying: "Diogo, I wish I wouldn't have to talk about it.

"When I saw he goes down and there was not a lot of contact, you can see a little bit that somebody kicks his foot and maybe the muscle got overstretched, [playing for] 96 minutes, that's not good for the muscle. He felt it immediately and now we have to wait to see how bad it is."

Klopp already had to make changes to his line-up due to injuries, with Ibrahima Konate missing out and James Milner starting at right-back, meaning Joe Gomez moved back into the middle of the defence.

The 25-year-old helped to keep Haaland and company quiet, and Klopp praised his "outstanding talent", along with Milner's efforts.

"It's just great for Joey that he can show what a player he is," he said. "Outstanding, outstanding talent, a great player and can play different positions, obviously.

"Today was sensational, a mature performance together with Virgil [van Dijk] and the two full-backs.

"I'd like to mention – and it's fine, Joey deserves all the praise – but I am pretty sure before the game a lot of people thought, 'Oh, James Milner against Phil Foden.' The way James Milner played was absolutely unbelievable. Joey as well."

Pep Guardiola was left confused by the decision to disallow Phil Foden's goal in Manchester City's 1-0 defeat to Liverpool 

Foden appeared to have put the Premier League champions ahead early in the second half on Sunday, having lashed home on the rebound following Alisson's failure to keep hold of Kevin De Bruyne's pass.

Yet Liverpool were infuriated by what they claimed was a foul on Fabinho from Erling Haaland in the build-up and, despite initially waving play on, referee Anthony Taylor changed his decision after consulting the pitchside monitor.

To compound City's frustration, Mohamed Salah raced clear in the 76th minute and, having earlier seen a golden opportunity saved by Ederson, clipped a cute finish over City's goalkeeper to seal the spoils.

Guardiola, though, believes referee Taylor – who let plenty of physical challenges go unpunished through the game – showed inconsistency in the decision to disallow Foden's goal, with City's manager seemingly suggesting the fact the match was at Anfield played into the official's call.

He told Sky Sports: "The referee came to the coaches and said play on, play on. There were a million fouls.

"But after we scored a goal, he decided it is not play on. This is Anfield."

Of his side's display, Guardiola had few complaints.

"We had [enough] chances. We had some fantastic chances," he added.

"All the game we were brave, we played the game we should play and I don't have any complaints or regrets over how we have done it. We had chances but not enough to [win]."

Guardiola conceded the electric atmosphere at Anfield in the wake of Salah's goal – a strike that moves the Egyptian ahead of Steven Gerrard into second place in Liverpool's all-time list of Premier League scorers – made matters more difficult for City, though indicated his team had not found the occasion overwhelming prior to the deadlock being broken.

"After the goal, yeah, it's Anfield," Guardiola said. "Before the goal, it was OK."

Chelsea head coach Graham Potter says that injured Reece James "will give everything" in his race to make England's World Cup squad.

The defender has been sidelined for eight weeks after sustaining a knee injury during the Blues' Champions League victory over Milan on Tuesday.

But the 23-year-old is clinging onto his hopes of playing at the World Cup, which begins on November 21 with England opening their campaign against Iran.

While Potter is unsure on James' chances of appearing in Qatar, the Chelsea boss insists the full-back will not give up without a fight.

"In terms of his involvement in the World Cup, I don’t know. It will depend on how he recovers," he said following the Blues' 2-0 victory over Aston Villa. 

"He will give everything. I'm sure he will. But he is in a brace for four weeks and that slows everything down.

"He's naturally disappointed, naturally upset because he's injured for us. He misses games for us when he was in a fantastic moment.

"His performance at Milan was incredible in both games, so he's got himself into a real good moment of form and as you can imagine, he's really disappointed to be injured.

"He'll fight, try his best to get back as quickly as he can and when he is, he will be a top, top player.

"It wouldn't be my place to predict what's going to happen. He will be in a brace for four weeks, and that has implications in terms of what he needs to do to get fit from there, but our job is just to help him in the short term now and get him back."

Chelsea's resurgence under Potter continued with the 2-0 win at Villa Park, the former Brighton boss masterminding five successive victories for the first time in his managerial career.

Meanwhile, the Blues have recorded four successive triumphs across all competitions without conceding, while doing so consecutively in the Premier League for the first time since March.

"I think it's a collective desire to do the ugly stuff in the game; a collective idea to help each other and to be together," Potter said.

"If we have to suffer, we will suffer. We have humility, and we know sometimes the opponent can get the better of us, that is normal in football.

"But you can see the players running and can see players getting bodies in the way to block shots. That is an important part of the game because we've got the quality in the group."

Liverpool have condemned a group of Manchester City fans for singing "vile" chants relating to tragedies at football stadiums during Sunday's game at Anfield.

The Reds were 1-0 victors thanks to a Mohamed Salah goal in the second half of a thrilling match.

But the encounter left a sour taste for Liverpool, with some City fans' grim songs audible during the match.

Liverpool also claim the concourse of the away end was vandalised with graffiti centred on a similar subject.

"We are deeply disappointed to hear vile chants relating to football stadium tragedies from the away section during today's game at Anfield," a Reds statement read.

"The concourse in the away section was also vandalised with graffiti of a similar nature.

"We know the impact such behaviour has on the families, survivors and all those associated with such disasters.

"We are working with the relevant authorities, and we will also work with Manchester City in order to do our utmost to ensure these chants are eradicated from football altogether."

 

Mohamed Salah condemned Manchester City to a first Premier League defeat of the season as Liverpool took all three points in a brilliant game at Anfield.

A long ball from Alisson was latched onto by Salah before he fired past Ederson to earn Liverpool just their third league win of the campaign.

Chelsea beat struggling Aston Villa 2-0 and Arsenal secured a 1-0 victory over Leeds United at Elland Road, while Manchester United and Newcastle United played out a hard-fought goalless draw at Old Trafford.

Here, Stats Perform picks out the best facts from the day's Premier League action.

Liverpool 1-0 Manchester City: Salah maintains Reds' unbeaten Anfield record

Liverpool's impressive home form continued as they made it 28 Premier League matches unbeaten at Anfield (21 victories, seven draws) with a win over the champions.

Salah's strike makes it 14 goal involvements for him against City in all competitions, more than against any other opponent, while he is the second player to score in four consecutive Premier League home appearances against the Citizens, after Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink between 2000 and 2004.

Alisson has now assisted Salah three times in the Premier League, more than any other goalkeeper-outfield player combination in competition history.

The defeat for City means Pep Guardiola has now lost 11 games against Jurgen Klopp, at least four more than against any other coach.

Aston Villa 0-2 Chelsea: Mount double adds to Gerrard pressure

Steven Gerrard's job security was already coming into question before Graham Potter's Blues took victory at Villa Park on Sunday with two Mason Mount goals and an impressive display from goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Since Gerrard took over as Villa head coach in November 2021, only Watford (12) and Norwich (nine) have lost more home Premier League games than the Villans (eight).

Chelsea were fired to victory by Mount, who scored his 25th and 26th Premier League goals for the Blues, becoming the second-youngest player to reach the 25-goal landmark for the club (23y 279d), after Eden Hazard (23y 271d).

Potter's impressive start to life as Chelsea boss continues with his fifth win in six games since taking over (one draw). Those five victories have come in the last five matches, the joint-longest winning run of Potter's managerial career.

7 - Kepa Arrizabalaga made seven saves while keeping a clean sheet against Aston Villa, his most saves without conceding in his top-flight league career. The Spaniard was expected to concede at least two goals based on the placement of the on-target shots he faced. Rejuvenated. pic.twitter.com/RPJNZeqImR

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 16, 2022

Leeds United 0-1 Arsenal: Saka strikes again as Gunners continue strong start

Bukayo Saka's 35th-minute goal at Elland Road was enough for Arsenal to record a ninth win in their opening 10 Premier League games, the first time in their history they have managed this in a top-flight campaign.

Arsenal were forced to ride their luck in the second half though, as Patrick Bamford put a penalty wide for Leeds with their first missed spot-kick in the Premier League since Alan Smith was denied by Brad Friedel against Blackburn in 2002.

The Gunners failed to register a second-half shot on target, while they failed to score after half-time in the Premier League for the first time this season.

Another defeat for Leeds means they are now winless in six Premier League games, losing four of these while drawing the other two as they remain without a top-flight win since August.

Manchester United 0-0 Newcastle United: Red Devils lacklustre in home draw

Manchester United were held by a Newcastle side who may feel disappointed not to have earned victory, having twice struck the woodwork through Joelinton.

The Red Devils went close on a couple of occasions late on but could not prevent the match finishing goalless, United's 76th Premier League game ending in a 0-0 scoreline and their 31st since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

Newcastle picked up a point at a stadium where they have struggled in the past, with their 3.6 per cent Premier League win rate (one win in 28 games) at Old Trafford their joint-lowest at any ground where they have played 10 or more times in the competition.

The visitors could have had all three points after an impressive first-half display, but their inability to find a decisive goal means they have now drawn six Premier League games this season, two more than any other side.

Two players with reason to be pleased were the goalkeepers, with David de Gea earning a shutout in his 500th Premier League appearance for United while Nick Pope enjoyed his 50th clean sheet in the top flight, with no English stopper keeping more since Pope's debut in the competition in September 2017 (level with Jordan Pickford).

Bernardo Silva does not think Manchester City should have had a goal disallowed in Sunday's defeat to Liverpool as the midfielder criticised referee Anthony Taylor for a lack of consistency.

City suffered their first league defeat of the season as they fell to a 1-0 loss at Anfield, with Mohamed Salah scoring a brilliant second-half winner.

Before that, Phil Foden had a goal wiped out following a VAR review, with referee Taylor urged to watch a replay on the pitchside monitor – a shirt-pull by Erling Haaland on Fabinho in the build-up led to the strike being disallowed.

That ultimately cost the champions a point, and Silva was particularly disgruntled by Taylor's decision given how he had refereed the game until that moment.

He told Sky Sports: "What we expect from the referees is consistency in the decisions.

"When you go through a path of not whistling little contacts through the whole game, you need to keep those decisions and keep going that way.

"If you want to whistle all of them, whistle all of them, but if from the beginning of the game you are not whistling all the little fouls, and we saw in this game the referee was letting us play, which is good, it's fine.

"Then, if there's a goal, you cannot whistle that soft one.

"If you want consistency from the referee, you cannot change just because there's a goal and just because it's a tough decision.

"You have to make the tough decision and keep the goal in my opinion."

Mohamed Salah insisted Liverpool's win against Manchester City does not mean they are back in the title race, despite a hard-fought victory over the Premier League champions at Anfield on Sunday.

The Egyptian scored the only goal of a typically fast-paced encounter between the two rivals, racing on to a long pass from Alisson before slotting past Ederson with 14 minutes remaining.

The loss was City's first in the league this season, but was also just Liverpool's third win from nine league outings, and Jurgen Klopp's men remain down in eighth place, 14 points behind leaders Arsenal and 10 behind City and Tottenham with a game in hand.

Salah said he and his team-mates are still "far away" from the top, but will try to get themselves back into it over time.

"No, we are still far away from [the title race]," he told Sky Sports. "We just need to focus on each game and take it one at a time, we don't have to think about the title at the moment.

"Of course, personally I always love to play for a title and in my head we are going to fight for it… we don't have to feel pressure because there is still a gap to first and second.

"You can see everybody here [is] unbelievable, and we should be in a better position than we are. The players are excited to win again and I think that will give us a good push for the next games."

Virgil van Dijk and the rest of the Liverpool backline did a solid job of keeping Erling Haaland quiet, with the Norwegian still getting off six shots but being denied by Reds stopper Alisson.

"It takes a lot to get three points [against City]," the Dutchman told Sky Sports. "It was always going to be very intense."

The Anfield crowd was at its best as the home fans roared Liverpool on to victory, and Van Dijk acknowledged their contribution.

"It's always like that [the atmosphere] and when certain moments happened in the game it added fuel to the fire," he said.

"It started with the hard work we put on the pitch, and that’s the minimum that’s expected here at this beautiful football club.

"That's what we gave, and the energy we had back today [from the fans] was definitely needed in order to push us forward and keep hold of the 1-0 advantage.

"They played a big part and that's what we need for the rest of the season, especially after a difficult start."

Erling Haaland has quickly become the darling of the Premier League, with his record-breaking start to the season swiftly elevating him to a status of being probably the most-feared player in the division.

At the same time, Mohamed Salah has largely endured an underwhelming start to the campaign. But after a Champions League treble in midweek, the forward made the difference as Liverpool beat reigning champions Manchester City 1-0 at Anfield on Sunday.

Salah's winning goal was just the tip of the iceberg. His performance showed he's truly back, and Liverpool's fighting spirit proved they are still – despite what the table says – one of England's two best teams.

The wider context of the game was nothing like what we've come to expect of this fixture, which in recent years has become the Premier League's biggest event and even decided the eventual destination of the title.

Jurgen Klopp conceded on Friday that while this may well be a title-deciding match again in some respects, it wasn't going to be Liverpool's trophy hopes on the line – realistically, such a challenge is surely already beyond them even after winning.

With Liverpool going into the game 12th in the table, it was their pride at stake. Much has changed since the Reds had too much for City in the Community Shield a week before the start of the season; the perception of Haaland, first and foremost.

Back then, most would've been predicting another straight shoot-out between City and Liverpool for the title, though the relative lack of jeopardy at Anfield on Sunday didn't take anything away from a riveting, fiery contest.

Klopp highlighted the potential importance of a packed Anfield, and the stadium was certainly rocking. Even minor duel successes for the hosts were cheered like goals early on; it was fierce, with meaty tackles flying in all over the place, while on the touchline the two managers snarled and barked at poor decisions and questionable refereeing calls like rabid rottweilers – Klopp's late red card wasn't particularly surprising.

Of course, for City all eyes were on Haaland. It's fair to say he's more than proven his point since a pretty dreadful – by his standards – outing against Liverpool in the Community Shield. Though, for someone as ultra-competitive as the Norwegian, there was still probably a part of him desperate to be decisive because of that day.

City certainly seemed eager to give him that opportunity, and that was arguably to their detriment in the first half. The visitors almost seemed a little too intent on finding the big blonde behemoth, as if a victory would only count if Haaland played a crucial part.

One such incident saw an opening carved open for Phil Foden, but instead of a first-time shot after being fed by Haaland, he checked back, ran into danger and then the attack petered out.

Not that Haaland didn't have his chances. One lob attempt after being released behind Virgil van Dijk troubled Alisson, then he should have buried a header from Kevin De Bruyne's cross but put it straight at the goalkeeper.

On the other side of things, Salah looked eager to remind people he was the Premier League's top attacker. The Egyptian took the game to City and was electric in the first half. His movement, strength and dribbling all troubled the visitors' defence – the problem was opportunities weren't necessarily flowing.

That changed at the start of the second half. Salah spun Ruben Dias and latched on to a Thiago Alcantara pass into the City half, playing him through on goal. He seemed destined to spark bedlam in the Kop behind the goal he was charging towards, but a remarkable fingertip save from Ederson denied him.

Alisson soon produced a similarly vital stop to thwart Haaland at the other end, having only recently seen a Foden goal disallowed for a foul by the Norway striker in the build-up.

At this point, City were dominating more than ever, but Salah had looked a threat throughout on the break. Another opportunity was certain to arrive, and it was one such moment that brought Liverpool the breakthrough.

Alisson's long punt went straight to Salah, who used his body brilliantly to spin away from Joao Cancelo before racing towards goal. Ederson could not repeat his earlier heroics – Salah coolly converted.

City piled the pressure on in response. Both teams scrapped, Bernardo Silva and Salah scrapped with each other. Klopp was sent off. Diogo Jota ran himself into the ground and on to a stretcher. The imperious Van Dijk denied Haaland a certain goal.

Liverpool held on amid a gripping and tense finale, seeing out a victory that could transform their season. But beyond that, this fixture was a showcase of such quality.

Salah's moment of brilliance was befitting as the decisive action, though there were exceptional performances on both sides. Joe Gomez, Van Dijk, James Milner, Alisson, Ederson, Haaland, De Bruyne – the list goes on. All showed their varied qualities as we were once again reminded of why this fixture has become such an anticipated duel in recent years.

Forget the table. Liverpool are one of England's two best teams, and Salah remains one of the Premier League's two best forwards.

Liverpool handed Manchester City their first Premier League defeat of the season thanks to a Mohamed Salah strike in an enthralling encounter at Anfield.

The Egyptian raced onto a long pass from Alisson with 14 minutes remaining before slotting past Ederson to give the Reds just their third league win of the season.

City were frustrated to see Phil Foden’s second half goal ruled out following a VAR check for a foul by Erling Haaland in the build-up.

The result leaves Pep Guardiola’s men four points behind league leaders Arsenal, while Liverpool move up to eighth after a much-improved showing.

A high-octane start to the game did not lead to many early chances, with Ilkay Gundogan forcing the first save from either goalkeeper in the 15th minute, but his hopeful strike from 25 yards was easy for Alisson to deal with.

Liverpool's first opportunity came through Diogo Jota, who could only place his header from a cross by Harvey Elliott straight at Ederson, before Andrew Robertson received the ball on the left of the penalty area after the City stopper had palmed away a James Milner cross, but the Scot fired his effort over the crossbar.

Bernardo Silva sliced a shot into the Kop from the edge of the box on the half-hour mark, while Haaland tested Alisson on two occasions, also seeing a header loop over the bar.

The hosts should have been ahead shortly after the restart when Salah was played through on goal by Elliott, but Ederson got the slightest touch to it to tip the Egyptian's finish just wide of the right-hand post.

City thought they were ahead moments later when Haaland burst through, forcing a save from Alisson before Foden put the ball in the net on the rebound, but referee Anthony Taylor ruled it out after the VAR asked him to check the monitor, with Haaland having fouled Fabinho in the build-up.

It was Liverpool who took the lead on 76 minutes when Alisson caught a Kevin De Bruyne free-kick before launching it downfield to Salah, who outfoxed Joao Cancelo before finishing calmly past Ederson.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp was sent to the stands by Taylor late on after reacting furiously to the referee's refusal to award his team a free-kick, but it did not matter as Liverpool held on for a win that could turn around their slow start to the campaign.

Mohamed Salah ended his Premier League goal drought by finding the net against Manchester City to move ahead of Steven Gerrard into second place in Liverpool's all-time list of scorers in the competition.

The Egypt international matched Gerrard's tally of 120 league goals for Liverpool in August's 2-1 defeat at Manchester United, but he had gone five top-flight matches without scoring since then.

However, Salah raced clear of the City defence on Sunday to usurp Gerrard with his 121st goal and move to within seven strikes of matching Robbie Fowler's club-record haul of 128 in the Premier League.

Salah now has three goals in nine appearances in the competition this season and has scored at least 19 league goals in each of his five full seasons as a Liverpool player to date, meaning Fowler's record looks destined to fall in the near future.

When it does, it will represent the latest in a long series of landmark goalscoring achievements for the talismanic winger. 

Salah's 32 goals in 2017-18 remain the most scored by any player in a single Premier League campaign, and he has found the net at least 20 times in four separate seasons.

Liverpool have had a player reach that tally on 11 occasions throughout their Premier League history, with Salah responsible for twice as many instances as any other Reds player.

Meanwhile, Salah has overtaken Gerrard's tally despite the former captain playing over 300 more Premier League games than the 30-year-old, who was making his 189th league appearance for Liverpool in the meeting with Bournemouth. 

Mikel Arteta declared "thank God" for VAR after Premier League leaders Arsenal held on for a 1-0 win at Leeds United.

Sunday's game at Elland Road was suspended just a couple of minutes after it started, as a power cut was affecting Hawk-Eye and communications between referee Chris Kavanagh and the VAR.

The match resumed following a delay of around 40 minutes and Bukayo Saka's fourth goal in three matches gave the Gunners a half-time advantage, the England international becoming the first player to register 50 goal involvements during Arteta's reign.

Leeds dominated the second half, Patrick Bamford having a goal disallowed for a push on Gabriel Magalhaes within a minute of coming on before missing a penalty.

Bamford wasted further clear-cut chances as Aaron Ramsdale kept Leeds at bay and there was one final twist when the Leeds striker was awarded another spot-kick after being kicked by Gabriel, who was shown a red card for retaliating.

However, referee Kavanagh instead awarded Arsenal a free-kick and showed Gabriel a yellow card, having seen on the pitchside monitor that Bamford had shoved the centre-back to the ground.

A seventh consecutive victory put the Gunners four points clear ahead of second-placed Manchester City's trip to Liverpool and Arteta was relieved after an action-packed afternoon in West Yorkshire.

Asked to reflect on the match, the Arsenal boss told Sky Sports: "Hectic! It is always really intense here, we were exceptional in the first half and should have been two or three up.

"Credit to Leeds in the second half, we made so many errors and did not generate momentum but I just love the relentless passion the team played with and how we found a way to win."

He added on the late VAR decision: "I have not seen it but everyone is saying the decision was clear. Thank God they made the system work, that delay was worth it because without VAR I don't know what would have happened!"

Arteta praised the character shown by his players on the back of a 1-0 Europa League win at Bodo/Glimt, where Saka scored the only goal of the game following his double in the 3-2 victory over Liverpool last weekend.

The Spaniard said: "This is something special. This is not a coincidence it shows the willingness that I see in the eyes of the players to win, to compete.

"A lot of players played in Norway two and a half days ago, travelled back on Friday and were still willing to win so credit to them."

Erik ten Hag felt Manchester United "deserved the win" after they were held to a goalless draw by Newcastle United at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The hosts had chances to break the deadlock late on, with Fred and Marcus Rashford both missing opportunities as Ten Hag's men pressed for a winner in the dying minutes.

And the visitors themselves could feel disappointed not to have earned all three points, after twice striking the woodwork in the first half through Joelinton.

But Ten Hag was pleased with his team's performance and felt they did enough to emerge victorious, telling BBC's Match of the Day: "The performance was good.

"A clean sheet, we pressed well, we controlled the game and in stages we were good on the ball – especially in the second half.

"We dictated the game and in the end we could – we should – have scored the winning goal. One from Fred, and then Rashford had to score.

"In the end we could have got the win, we deserved the win, and it is a big compliment to the team that we deserved this with a physical performance against one of the most physical teams in the league. They [Newcastle players] all had cramp and we kept going.

"The team understands from front to back we cooperate together. We are hard to beat and we must keep that going."

The result left the Red Devils fifth in the Premier League, three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea and still one ahead of Newcastle. 

Chelsea coach Graham Potter said Aston Villa made his side "suffer" as both he and goalscorer Mason Mount paid tribute to Kepa Arrizabalaga's masterful performance in their 2-0 victory.

The Blues kept their unbeaten record under the former Brighton and Hove Albion boss with a Premier League win at Villa Park, secured through Mount's brace.

But the visitors spent long stretches on the ropes, particularly in the first half, by a relentless slew of counter-attacks from Steven Gerrard's side, with Kepa called upon to make a flurry of superb saves.

Having stepped into the starting line-up at the end of Thomas Tuchel's tenure to replace the injured Edouard Mendy, the Spaniard has kept his place amid excellent form, and Potter was quick to hail him as key to their victory.

"It was a tough game," Potter told Sky Sports. "Aston Villa made us suffer, especially in the first half even though we took the lead. They put us under pressure, and our goalkeeper made some good saves.

"It was a world-class performance, especially in the first half. I'm really pleased for him. He has had a tough period for us at times, but he contributed to the game."

Mount, whose first finish came from a defensive mistake by Tyrone Mings, with his second a beautiful free-kick, concurred with Potter's assessment.

"Kepa was on fire, and his quick saves kept us in the game," he added. "He has been brilliant over the last couple of weeks.

"We have to keep pushing and keep winning games – that's our goal to finish as high as we can. Today was not the best performance, and we're not happy with it, but [we have] come away with a 2-0 win."

Mount's double came in front of England manager Gareth Southgate, who was watching at Villa Park but did not get to see World Cup injury doubt Reece James.

Three Lions midfielder Mount acknowledged he had done his chances of making the starting XI for the finals in Qatar no harm, adding: "I have to just keep focused on doing well for the club.

"We know there's a massive World Cup around the corner, and you want to play as well as you can going into it and hopefully get picked."

Potter also praised his playmaker, adding: "We believe in Mason Mount a lot. We love him as a player, and he is a great guy. You can see the influence he has on the team, and he works really hard for us."

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