Eberechi Eze delivered a telling blow to his former team by scoring his first Premier League goal for Arsenal in a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday to extend the North London club’s lead at the top of the standings.

Eze, who spent five seasons at Selhurst Park before Arsenal signed him in August, struck in the 39th minute when Gabriel Magalhaes headed Declan Rice’s free kick into his path. The midfielder leapt to steer a first-time finish past Dean Henderson.

The 27-year-old midfielder, who was a key part of Palace’s victorious FA Cup run last season, did not celebrate the goal.

Cash on target as Villa hand Man City first defeat since August

Manchester City suffered their first loss in 10 matches in all competitions as Matty Cash’s first-half strike secured a 1-0 victory for Aston Villa on Sunday, the hosts’ fourth straight win in the Premier League.

City’s first loss since August left them six points behind leaders Arsenal after nine matches. Villa, unbeaten in their last six league games, are a point below City.

“We work a lot on set-pieces, over the last couple of years there have been a lot of set-pieces that have won us games and today is no different,” Cash told the BBC after his second league goal of the season.

“The last month we’ve been really good. Defensively really good. We’ve just stuck together as a group. And at Villa Park they’re always behind us.”

Dyche demands more fitness as Nottingham Forest fall again

here was to be no fairytale return to the Premier League for new Nottingham Forest coach Sean Dyche on Sunday as his side slumped to a 2-0 away defeat by high-flying Bournemouth that illustrated the scale of the task ahead of him.

Dyche’s last game as Everton coach in January resulted in a 1-0 loss away at Bournemouth, and there was more of the same in his return as Forest conceded twice in the first half, with the 54-year-old saying his players need to be fitter and stronger.

“The biggest disappointment was the drop-off physically. You saw a very high pressing team… and we never got to grips with that,” Dyche, a former Forest youth team player, told Sky Sports.