The Hindu : Sport : Arsenal scores a facile win

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Arsenal scores a facile win

Sunderland in safety zone

— Photo: AFP

JOYOUS: Mathieu Flamini (left) celebrates Arsenal’s second goal with Francesc Fabregas (right) and Bacary Sagna on Tuesday.

LONDON: Arsenal moved back atop the English Premier League on Tuesday, with a 3-0 win over Newcastle — its second victory over the Magpies in four days.

Emmanuel Adebayor, Mathieu Flamini and Francesc Fabregas all scored for Arsenal, which beat Newcastle 3-0 on Saturday in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Tuesday’s victory improved it to 57 points and put it three ahead of Manchester United.

“For us, it is good to win tonight and see what they will do tomorrow,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. “It is too far to go to just concede at every single result. What’s important for us is to be level with United and Chelsea, going into April, so we need to be consistent and win our games.”

Also on Tuesday, it was: Bolton 0, Fulham 0; Middlesbrough 1, Wigan 0; and Sunderland 2, Birmingham 0.

Adebayor headed Arsenal into the lead in the 40th minute after taking a cross from Mathieu Flamini. It was his 16th league goal of the season.

Flamini made it 2-0 in the 72nd with a powerful shot from distance. Fabregas was set up by Nicklas Bendtner for the third in the 80th.

To safety

Sunderland moved out of the relegation zone, rising from 18th to 14th with its sixth win of the season.

Daryl Murphy converted from Kenwyne Jones’s header to score from six meters in the 15th minute. Rade Prica made it 2-0 in the 65th minute in his club debut six days after joining the team.

“I think today was a big step for us, we needed three points badly,” Jones said.

“Any team that comes to us at home, we definitely do well. It’s about getting every point we can from now until the end of the season and hope for the best.”

Middlesbrough won with a 19th-minute goal from Jeremie Aliadiere, who took a long ball from Stewart Downing.

Fulham earned its first point under manager Roy Hodgson with the scoreless draw against Bolton.

However, the Cottagers remained in 19th place with 16 points.

The results: Arsenal 3 (Adebayor 40, Flamini 72, Fabregas 80) bt Newcastle 0; Bolton 0 drew with Fulham 0; Middlesbrough 1 (Aliadiere 19) bt Wigan 0; Sunderland 2 (Murphy 15, Prica 65) bt Birmingham 0.

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