🔬 The Debrief as Marmoush stuns, is Nwaneri the new Messi? Delap strikes | OneFootball

There were seven Premier League fixtures to enjoy on Saturday as Arsenal faced struggling Leicester City and Manchester City faced a tough test at home to Newcastle.

Here's what we made of it all.

What happened? 📝

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Arsenal left it late to beat Leicester City, with the Foxes keeping Mikel Arteta's side goalless until the 81st minute, when Mikel Merino popped up with a six-minute brace to keep the pressure on Liverpool at the top. As far as Leicester are concerned, that's nine defeats in the last 10 games under Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Manchester City eased the memory of their tough defeat to Real Madrid with a 4-0 win over Newcastle, with Omar Marmoush netting a hat-trick.

Relegation-threatened Ipswich earned a hard-fought draw with Aston Villa, despite having gone down to ten men. The in-form Liam Delap supplied the opener for the Tractor Boys, only for Ollie Watkins to fire home the equaliser.

A fourth-minute strike from Kevin Schade was enough for Brentford to take all three points from Graham Potter's West Ham, and Southampton's misery continues as they lost 3-1 at home to Bournemouth.

Nottingham Forest lost ground in the race for second place as they were defeated 2-1 by Fulham, with Chris Wood having netted his 18th goal of the campaign.

Everton's Beto scored again as the Toffees took the lead over Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, only for another man of the moment – Jean-Philippe Mateta – to bag an equaliser early in the second half. Moyes' men hit back through Carlos Alcaraz to take all three points and continue their resurgence under the Scotsman.

Player of the day 🔥

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Having arrived at Manchester City from Eintracht Frankfurt in January, striker Omar Marmoush announced himself to the Premier League in some style, netting a lightning-fast 14-minute hat-trick against Newcastle at the Etihad Stadium.

It was his first senior hat-trick of his career, and it certainly seems like this could be the first of many for the Egyptian ace.

Stat of the day 📊

Marmoush wasn't the only one grabbing the headlines for Manchester City as Pep Guardiola's men put their midweek disappointment against Real Madrid firmly to bed.

Is Ederson the best example of a modern-style goalkeeper the Premier League has ever seen?

What this means 🤔

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Arsenal closed the gap to Liverpool at the top of the Premier League to four points, with Arne Slot's side due to play Wolves on Sunday.

Fulham's win meant they put pressure on seventh-placed Newcastle in the race for Europe, now sitting just two points behind Eddie Howe's side.

Bournemouth are also flying, sitting in fifth place, just two points behind Manchester City above them.

At the bottom, Southampton look doomed with just nine points to show for their entire campaign so far, but Ipswich have given themselves a fighting chance, now just two points behind Wolves pending Sunday's result.

What they said 🗣️

"It was a good day to score because I forgot to get my wife anything for Valentine's," admitted Arsenal's Mikel Merino. "So I think she'll appreciate this more than a rose or some chocolate."

"Amazing day," said Omar Marmoush after his hat-trick. "The feeling is crazy of course, it’s the first hat-trick of my career so it’s a really, really nice feeling," he said.

"From the beginning of the match we came, from the first minute, really focused on the job and we got the job done."

When asked about comparisons between Ethan Nwaneri and Lionel Messi, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was in agreement. "Well, what he’s showing basically, that’s him," said the Arsenal boss. "Obviously, his age is always something that puts a question mark on how we have to deal with him. But every sign that he’s given us is ‘Let me go for it, let me go, let me go, let me go.’ When a player is giving you all those signs, you should not stop it."

What's next? 👀

There's another big day of Premier League action on Sunday, as league leaders Liverpool hope to bounce back from their Merseyside derby disappointment with a home fixture against Wolves, while Tottenham host Manchester United with both sides desperate for a win.

📸 OLI SCARFF - AFP or licensors