Arsenal have beaten Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0 at home with second-half goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, as the north London side moved back to the top of the English Premier League standings.
Victory moved Arsenal a point clear of Aston Villa, who moved up to second on 38 points. Third-placed Liverpool are a point further behind, before their game against rivals Manchester United.
Brighton had won on their last three trips to Emirates Stadium in all competitions, but all the first-half action was in their box, as Arsenal pressed forward with waves of attacks.
The Seagulls did not have a single shot in the first half, as they weathered the storm, with keeper Bart Verbruggen standing strong.
Arsenal were also guilty of not taking their chances, with Gabriel Martinelli coming closest with a shot that went just over, as the two teams went into the break at 0-0.
Brighton's resistance ended eight minutes into the second half, when defender Jan Paul van Hecke accidentally flicked a corner kick into the path of the unmarked Jesus at the far post and the Brazilian striker headed home.
Arsenal were not content to sit on a one-goal lead and continued to pepper the Brighton goal with shots. On his 25th birthday, Skipper Martin Odegaard had a shot palmed away, while Havertz saw his header fly over.
Brighton looked passive all game, but they had a golden chance to equalise in the 82nd minute, when Kaoru Mitoma slipped past his marker and crossed the ball into the box, only for Pascal Gross to shoot wide.
The Gunners sealed the three points with a counterattack in the 87th minute, when substitute Eddie Nketiah put Havertz through on goal and the German forward rifled into the bottom corner.
Missed chance
Liverpool missed out on reclaiming top spot, when they were held to a 0-0 draw by Manchester United at Anfield, ending their perfect home record this season.
Juergen Klopp's side were knocked out of first place by Arsenal earlier and would have recaptured a place at the summit with a win, but lacked their usual goal threat.
A United side shorn of confidence, after a miserable week, held on grimly for their point, although they have now scored just once in their last eight league visits to Liverpool.
The closest the hosts came to scoring was a Trent Alexander-Arnold shot narrowly wide midway through the second half, while Danish forward Rasmus Hojlund had United's best chance.
The visitors finished with 10 men, after Diogo Dalot was sent off in stoppage time for two yellow cards - both for dissent.
Liverpool partly opened their newly revamped Anfield Road Stand for the first time, bumping up the attendance to 57,000 - the largest for 50 years at their stadium.
They were expected to make it 12 home wins out of 12 in all competitions, but the inter-city derby, traditionally one of the most feisty in England, failed to really ignite, as they never looked like repeating the 7-0 rout of last season.
While United's performance was hardly one to celebrate, they at least showed some spirit, after last week's 3-0 loss to Bournemouth and a meek defeat by Bayern Munich midweek that sent them crashing out of Europe.
"We're disappointed we couldn't make it more of a game and create more opportunities," said Scott McTominay, United's captain in the absence of the suspended Bruno Fernandes. "The boys will be pleased not to lose, but also definitely not happy we didn't win."
Klopp says Liverpool dominated more than in last season's 7-0 and the statistics show they had 34 goal attempts to the six of United, but the end product was missing.
"We tried everything and the numbers we created - in terms of shots - is crazy, but with that amount of shots, they should be a few more on target," said Klopp. "That was our fault today and we go from here."
The atmosphere was muted in a tepid first half in which Liverpool began brightly, but failed to exert sustained pressure on a United side many thought were there for the taking.
United withstood the fast start by Liverpool and looked reasonably comfortable, despite 15 goal attempts by the hosts in the first half.
Virgil van Dijk's header from a corner forced United goalkeeper Andre Onana into a smart save, while Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch had a volley deflected wide.
Klopp made a switch on the hour, bringing in Joe Gomez and pushing Alexander-Arnold further forward, and it almost reaped rewards, when the latter grazed the post with a low shot.
United managed only one shot on target when, in a rare piece of fluent attacking play, Hojlund played a one-two with McTominay but his angled shot was blocked by keeper Allison.
In a breathless spell, Onana then had to dive theatrically to push away a shot by Mo Salah. Liverpool pressed hard late and United survived a scare, as a ball struck the arm of Luke Shaw in the area, but a penalty was not awarded.
Villa salvage win
Ollie Watkins scored a late winner against his former club and sparked a goalmouth melee with his celebrations, as Aston Villa came from behind to win 2-1 at Brentford.
Villa moved fleetingly into second place in the standings, but dropped back down to third after Liverpool's 0-0 draw with Manchester United.
Villa started brightly, but spurned several first-half chances, with Matty Cash and Jacob Ramsey both putting efforts wide from close range.
Instead, the Bees broke the deadlock just before halftime through Keane Lewis-Potter, who reacted first to win the second ball at a corner and fire home his first Premier League goal.
Brentford's Ben Mee was sent off after 71 minutes for a reckless lunge on substitute Leon Bailey, after video referee intervention to upgrade the yellow given by referee David Coote.
Bees manager Thomas Frank says Mee's challenge was "not a red card, not at all".
He says Brentford should have had a penalty in the first half, when John McGinn appeared to drag Mee to the floor, and also for a challenge on Neal Maupay shortly after Mee's red.
"That would be 2-0... and then it would be, if not game over, then a very good position," said Frank.
Villa made the numerical advantage count six minutes later, when Bailey found Alex Moreno unmarked at the back post to level the contest with a cool header.
The visitors then took the lead after 85 minutes through Watkins, who nodded home Ramsey's corner and celebrated in front of his former fans, prompting ugly scenes in the Brentford net.
Watkins says he still loves Brentford, where he spent three seasons, but his reaction was directed at "one person who was abusing me all game".
"I feel like I've done so much for the club and they've done so much for me" he said. "Football's football and you can have a bit of banter, but not when it's personal."
Villa boss Unai Emery says he did not know what exactly had happened, and that he will speak to Watkins and his players about the game on Monday.
Villa's Boubacar Kamara was also sent off for grabbing Yehor Yarmoliuk by the neck in added time, after Villa keeper Emi Martinez's attempt to drag Maupay to his feet prompted another flashpoint, as an entertaining game ended in chaos.
Coote booked 10 players in total, plus both managers - Frank for his complaints after Mee's red card and Emery for going on to the pitch to restrain Martinez - with all 14 cards coming in the second half, as tensions boiled over.
The win - Villa's fifth in six league games - put them on 38 points, the same as Liverpool, who have a better goal difference, and one point behind leaders Arsenal.
Reuters
