PL: Arsenal stay on top after securing clinical win over Bournemouth, City close in gap for title race

Arsenal staged a thrilling comeback to beat Bournemouth 3-2 and preserve their five-point cushion in the title race, after champions Manchester City turned up the heat earlier on Saturday by beating Newcastle United.

City's 2-0 win earlier in the day sliced Arsenal's advantage to two points, and when the leaders trailed 2-0 against relegation-threatened Bournemouth with an hour gone in north London it appeared their hold on top spot was weakening.

However, goals from Thomas Partey and substitutes Ben White and Reiss Nelson -- Nelson's arriving in the seventh minute of stoppage time -- sparked wild scenes of celebration.

On the flip side, Chelsea eased some of the pressure on manager Graham Potter as a second-half header from France defender Wesley Fofana earned them a nervy 1-0 home win against Leeds United -- their first victory since Jan. 15.

Whereas, fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur's top-four ambitions suffered a dent as they went down 1-0 at Wolverhampton Wanderers, who are gradually pulling clear of the relegation zone.

Arsenal stays on top after stunning win

Arsenal had not won a Premier League game in which they had trailed by at least two goals since 2012, so the omens looked bad for the Gunners as they were rocked by Bournemouth. The visitors needed only 9.1 seconds to take the lead when Philip Billing scored with a close-range finish after an audacious move straight from the kick-off.

It was the second-quickest goal in Premier League history behind Shane Long's 7.69 seconds effort for Southampton against Watford in 2019.

Marcos Senesi rose unmarked to head in a second for his side just before the hour mark, but that provoked a furious Arsenal response with Thomas Partey prodding a shot past Bournemouth keeper Neto within minutes. Eight minutes after that, White's volley crossed the line despite Neto's desperate dive. But Bournemouth appeared to be holding on for a point as the game went deep into stoppage time.

Pandemonium then broke out as the ball fell to Nelson from a corner and he sent a left-foot thunderbolt into the corner of the net to seal an unlikely victory which moved Arsenal to 63 points from 26 games, ahead of City on 58.

"Everybody is overwhelmed a bit. It was madness from the first minute of the game where we defended so poorly and then you have to climb a mountain," a still-buzzing Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta told reporters.

'TRICKY GAME'

There was no such drama at Manchester City with back-in-form Phil Foden scoring an early beauty before substitute Bernardo Silva wrapped up the points in the second half.

Foden, who had been sidelined earlier this season with a nagging foot injury, put City ahead in the 15th minute, weaving through four Newcastle defenders before angling a shot that glanced off defender Sven Botman and past keeper Nick Pope.

Newcastle, who have recorded just one win in their last eight league games, had some chances but Silva came off the bench in the 65th minute to score with a sharp finish from an Erling Haaland flick. The goal was City's 1,000th in the Premier League at home.

"We won the game, we didn't suffer much at the end -- an incredible result for us because it was a tricky game," City manager Pep Guardiola said.