Bukayo Saka marked his first appearance in more than three months by scoring as a substitute in Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Fulham that trimmed the gap to Premier League leader Liverpool to nine points on Tuesday.
The England winger entered in the 66th minute to a huge ovation after his long absence because of a hamstring injury and, within seven minutes, was taking the acclaim of the Arsenal fans again after nodding home the second goal at Emirates Stadium.
Mikel Merino scored the 37th-minute opener for second-place Arsenal, which requires an unlikely collapse by Liverpool if it is to capture its first league title since 2004.
Liverpool hosts Everton in the Merseyside derby on Wednesday, after which there are eight rounds left in the Premier League.
Rodrigo Muniz grabbed a stoppage-time consolation goal for Fulham.
Saka, who has been sidelined since sustaining his injury on Dec. 21 in a league match at Crystal Palace, is back in time to face Real Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals starting next week.
Whether Gabriel Magalhaes will be be available against the European champions remains to be seen. The Brazil center back went off with an apparent hamstring injury in the 16th minute against Fulham.
Arsenal stayed four points clear of third-place Nottingham Forest, which beat Manchester United 1-0 to close in on a remarkable qualification for the Champions League.
Elanga’s wonder goalAnthony Elanga showed Man United what it is missing with one of the goals of the season.
The Sweden winger got hold of possession 20 meters inside his own half in the fifth minute and set off on a solo run directly toward United’s goal, first shrugging off backtracking opponent Alejandro Garnacho and then entering the penalty area before shooting left-footed into the bottom corner.
Elanga, who left Malmo at age 11 to move to Manchester with his mother and sisters and was soon recommended to United, celebrated in muted fashion against the team that brought him into the pro ranks before selling him to Forest in 2023.
He is now a key player in Forest’s unlikely march toward Champions League qualification for the first time. It won’t be the team’s first time in Europe’s top competition, of course — Forest was famously the European Cup winner in 1979 and ’80 under Brian Clough.
Forest, which was battling relegation last season, is 10 points clear of sixth-place Newcastle. The top five are likely to qualify for next season's Champions League.
United had an effort cleared off the line by Forest defender Murillo in one of the last kicks of the game in an exciting finish at the City Ground.
Wolves ease relegation concernsIn the night's other game, Wolverhampton beat West Ham 1-0 thanks to Jørgen Strand Larsen's 21st-minute goal to push further clear of relegation danger.
Wolves stayed in fourth-to-last place but moved 12 points clear of the bottom three.
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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
