City, Villa falter in Premier League title race

Manchester City and Aston Villa missed the chance to make significant inroads into Arsenal's Premier League lead on Wednesday as managerless Manchester United were held at lowly Burnley.

Elsewhere on a frantic night of action, 10-man Chelsea went down 2-1 at Fulham in front of new boss Liam Rosenior and Antoine Semenyo scored a fairytale winner for Bournemouth against Tottenham.

Erling Haaland scored his 150th City goal from the penalty spot to put Pep Guardiola's team ahead at the Etihad but Kaoru Mitoma levelled in the second half.

Norway forward Haaland has reached 150 goals in all competitions in his 173rd appearance – 28 games faster than any other Premier League player.

Kaoru Mitoma silences the Etihad 💥

Brighton are back on level terms with the hosts 🍿

📺 Stream #MCIBOU on DStv: https://t.co/B0jLrQW5cc pic.twitter.com/jBTxpZVs4z
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) January 7, 2026

But he and his teammates squandered a succession of chances as they drew a third game in a row.

City are now on 43 points, five behind Arsenal, who can go eight clear with a home win against Liverpool on Thursday.

Villa are level on points with City following a costly goalless draw at Crystal Palace.

Guardiola bemoaned his team's profligacy in front of goal.

"The way we played I'm so, so pleased," he told Sky Sports. "We miss a lot (of chances). Scoring goals – you have to do it, but we didn't do it."

He added: "We have three games we didn't win. It's more difficult (to win the league now). We will continue."

-- NIGERIA ONLY --

ROSENIOR WATCHES CHELSEA DEFEAT

Chelsea's new boss Rosenior watched his new charges from the stands at Craven Cottage.

Chelsea's new manager watches on at Craven Cottage 📸

📺 Stream #FULCHE on DStv: https://t.co/B0jLrQW5cc pic.twitter.com/d12nNvoVl1
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) January 7, 2026

The Englishman, who replaced the departed Enzo Maresca this week, will be in the dugout for the first time at second-tier Charlton in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

The former Strasbourg boss said before kick-off that the team "need to hit the ground running for the rest of the season".

But, still under the interim leadership of Calum McFarlane, they were reduced to 10 men midway through the first half when Marc Cucurella was shown a straight red card for hauling down Harry Wilson.

Liam Delap cancelled out Raul Jimenez's opener but Wilson scored what proved to be the winner from the edge of the area.

Harry Wilson finally gets his goal at Craven Cottage ⚪🤌

📺 Stream #FULCHE on DStv: https://t.co/B0jLrQW5cc pic.twitter.com/ERta06Xkce
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) January 7, 2026

Bournemouth beat troubled Tottenham 3-2, with Semenyo scoring from outside the area deep into stoppage time on his 26th birthday.

Pure pace and power 😮‍💨

Antoine Semeneyo wraps it up for the Cherries in style 🍒💥#BOUTOT | #SSPremierLeague pic.twitter.com/6yLAXNxXo3
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) January 7, 2026

The winger, expected to join City in the next few days, was given a standing ovation when he was substituted moments before the final whistle.

Defeat heaps the pressure on Spurs boss Thomas Frank, who has overseen just two wins in his past 12 Premier League matches during his first season at the London club.

"It's extremely painful to be on the Tottenham side after the game," the Dane told the BBC. "We put everything into the game, the boys worked really hard, the staff worked hard to come down here and try and get a result."

Igor Thiago scored his 15th and 16th Premier League goals of the season as Brentford beat Sunderland 3-0 to climb to fifth in the table.

Everton, reduced to nine men late in the match, held on to draw 1-1 with bottom club Wolves.

Manchester United travelled to relegation-threatened Burnley under the temporary leadership of former midfielder Darren Fletcher, two days after the sacking of Ruben Amorim.

Benjamin Sesko doubled his Premier League tally for the season, scoring twice as United came back from a goal down at Turf Moor.

But Jaidon Anthony finished smartly past the diving Senne Lammens as United drew 2-2, dropping more valuable points.

Harvey Barnes scored a dramatic winner in the 102nd minute as Newcastle, who had been trailing heading into stoppage time, beat Leeds 4-3 at St James' Park.

The home fans chanted for former manager Kevin Keegan as the club posted the words "We're all with you King Kev" on the big screen.

The club earlier shared a statement from Keegan's family announcing the ex-England boss had been diagnosed with cancer.