Goal scorer Merino and returning Saka launch Arsenal, Espirito Santo as Clough, Nottingham heads towards the Champions League...

The return of the Premier League after the break was marked by victories for the Gunners over Fulham (2:1) and Nottingham Forest against Manchester United (1:0).

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Arsenal's second top scorer: Mikel Merino, Photo: Reuters
Arsenal's second top scorer: Mikel Merino, Photo: Reuters
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

While there is a theoretical chance, Arsenal will not give up on the Premier League - Mikel Arteta's men showed that in the 30th round.

The Gunners, as usual, easily dealt with Fulham at home - with goals from Mikel Merino and the recovered Bukayo Saka, they won 2:1.

The second-placed team in the Premier League has thus reduced its huge advantage over leaders Liverpool to minus nine, with the Reds playing their next match of the round tomorrow in the Merseyside derby against Everton.

Due to injury problems, Arteta has recently been using midfielder Merino as a striker, and the guy who has previously shown that he has a flair for goal, does not stop as a "number nine" - he scored after a pass from Ethan Envaneri for 1:0.

It was his sixth goal in the championship this season - only Kai Havrec (9) has scored more.

And then a moment happened that delighted the home fans, especially before the match against Real Madrid in the Champions League - Saka returned to the pitch after three months and headed the ball into the net seven minutes later..

Fulham only managed to reduce the deficit when Rodrigo Muniz scored in the 94th minute.

Another night and once again Nottingham Forest showed how serious they are on their way to the Champions League - more precisely, it seems that no one can stop the two-time European champions from returning to the elite.

Nuno Espirito Santo's team also defeated Manchester United (1:0), and the Portuguese expert became the first "Forest Rangers" coach since 1992 and the legendary Brian Clough to defeat the giants from "Old Trafford" twice in the same season.

The winning goal and explosion at the always noisy "City Ground" was scored by the former talent of the "devil" - Anthony Elenga rushed from his own half, "swallowed" the pitch and the visitors' defenders and checked Andre Onana.

Ruben Amorim's team tried to turn things around in the second half, attacking and forcing the hosts to defend fiercely, but that hasn't been a problem for Nottingham this season. Not even when Murilo had to make a goal-line save in the 96th minute after Harry Maguire's shot.

Tuesday also brought the match between Wolverhampton and West Ham, and the "wolves" celebrated with a goal, this season's great, Jorgen Strand Larsen.

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