Last night's English Premier League (EPL) matches delivered thrilling moments but the results were not exactly surprising in the context of this season where Manchester United has struggled for form and cohesion while Arsenal has been more or less in good nick.

Arsenal secured a hard-fought victory, with goals from M Merino (37th minute) and B Saka (73rd minute). Fulham's lone goal came from R Muniz Carvalho (90+4' minute), but the late effort in stoppage time wasn't enough to overcome Arsenal's dominance. The Gunners maintained their position in the top four with this win. However, its happiness may have been reduced as key defender Gabriel Magalhaes limped off injured. 

In the Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United clash, Forest's defensive resilience paid off. Anthony Elanga scored the opener in the first half against his former side. It is now eight points clear of Chelsea in fourth while Manchester United is languishing at 13th. Elanga was discarded by United in 2023. 

United's coach was left in predictable misery this season.  Ruben Amorim couldn't hide his disappointment, but left ruing the missed chances. He was quoted in post-match chat as saying: "This season is like that. We had a lot of shots on goal, we pushed the opponent to the last third, but in the last third we had a lack of quality." He added: "We should have won this game, not even drawn, but in the end we have lost three points." United has not won two matches on the trot this season. And that sums up its pathetic state. 

At the bottom of the table, Wolves pulled ever closer to survival with a 1-0 win over West Ham. Jorgen Strand Larsen scored the only goal at Molineux as Wolves moved 12 points clear of the relegation zone. West Ham's attacking efforts were thwarted by Wolves' disciplined defence.