Sports
For a team topping the Premier League table, Arsenal haven’t looked convincing enough
LONDON — One own goal, two injuries but three points. Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win over Brighton on Saturday, which once again highlighted the fine margins the Gunners are currently operating within.
Mikel Arteta’s side deserved this victory, and now they sit two points clear of Manchester City.
This is despite Arsenal continuing to battle a varied list of fitness problems, the latest of which was Jurriën Timber‘s enforced absence before kick-off and the last-minute loss of Riccardo Calafiori to injury in the warm-up. The end result was Declan Rice operating as a makeshift right-back with Myles Lewis-Skelly drafted in on the opposite flank.
Man City’s late win at Nottingham Forest earlier in the day raised the stakes, too, but when Georginio Rutter headed Rice’s 52nd-minute corner into his own net to put the home side 2-0 up, this should have been a comfortable afternoon.
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Martin Odegaard had earlier opened the scoring with a crisp 20-yard drive that you would call his trademark had it not been his first goal since May 25. They ended the first half with 15 shots to Brighton’s zero. And yet, even at 2-0 up, out of calm came chaos. Yasin Ayari hit the post, Diego Gómez converted the rebound and suddenly Brighton had belief. For a few minutes at least, Arsenal, essentially, froze.
Everybody except goalkeeper David Raya, that is. Yankuba Minteh lined up a curling shot hit with ferocious pace yet Raya arched his body and got the fingertips of his right hand to tip the ball over the crossbar.
The tension increased. Gabriel Magalhães came on for his first appearance since Nov. 8 but Arsenal only stabilised a little. Substitute Gabriel Martinelli wasted a glorious chance to win the game when blazing over Bukayo Saka‘s cross from seven yards, prompting Arteta to spin on his haunches and almost fell to his knees.
They scrambled the ball to the corner. Five minutes of injury time ticked by in slow motion. But Arsenal hung on. The stadium announcer bellowed out that their team were top again.
And yet, it shouldn’t be this stressful, should it? Arsenal are expending an awful lot of emotional energy and we’re not even into January.
This was another game settled by a one-goal margin — Wolves, Everton and today either side of a penalty shoot-out win against Crystal Palace after conceding in stoppage-time — and therefore the third at home in succession in which they have faced a needless nervous finale.
They have now also benefitted from four own goals in their last four matches across all competitions. The results suggest consistency and reliability in a manner that the performances do not. Which is not to say Arsenal are playing badly but more that they lack the authority of a team who has been there and done it before.
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The scars of three consecutive second-place finishes seem to be on show each week at the moment, the exorcism of past hauntings yet to take place.
Can Arteta feel the nervousness in the crowd?
“When you just conceded in the last minute, the game before against [Crystal] Palace as well, when we didn’t really concede nothing, and then they score with the first shot that they had obviously it is this,” he said.
“But then we have to be able to go through that as well with normality, showing composure and understanding that, ‘OK, if you don’t do that well, you are not efficient in your opponent, then you have to be incredibly good in your own.’ That’s a good way as well to go through that.
“It’s the willingness to win. We all want to win so badly, that it’s like, ‘no, I don’t want to lose what I have.’ We have to play to continue to score and show that composure and that ability. We should have scored the third one.”
Is it sustainable to be this emotionally fraught on a weekly basis?
“Yes, from my side, yes,” said Arteta. “If you win, I think you win, you learn and you go again. The knock-on effect of winning is incredibly powerful.”
Arsenal possess the best squad in the league and should they recover their lost players and begin clicking in the final third in a manner they often threaten, then City face a difficult task in winning the title.
But carry on like this, and Arsenal are in for five tortuous months in pursuit of their first title since 2004. There is at least a sense of togetherness fostered through their mounting injury problems.
Arteta said: “There is an injury with Jurrien, he landed awkwardly and there’s something with Richy, it was something as well, very, very strange but you speak to Declan and tell him he needs to play there as a right back, and he said, ‘Okay, I’m up for a challenge, I’m going to do my best.’ And the attitude is great to witness.
“At the moment we survived six months, so let’s see, there’s another five and a half to go, so hopefully things will get better.”
A few more comfortable matches wouldn’t go amiss. But next up at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday is the team that offers a reminder of how Arsenal have been playing with this fine margins for longer than they would have liked: Aston Villa.
Emiliano Buendía scored a 95th-minute winner to earn Villa a 2-1 at the beginning of the month. It was a game that was in the balance until the end. And so it continues.
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The 2026 INDYCAR season has already delivered stellar moments, even before “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
That highly anticipated race happens on Sunday, May 24, with the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
Coverage for the Indy 500 begins at 10 a.m. ET.
You can watch the Indy 500 pre-race and race broadcasts on FOX and stream the broadcasts on FOX One, FOX Sports.com and the FOX Sports App.
Ahead of all the action, we’ve rounded up the best drivers to grace the course.
Here are the 10 best Indianapolis 500 drivers of all time.
10 Best Indy 500 Drivers Of All Time
10. Dario Franchitti
Although he had one of the shorter Indy 500 careers on this list, Franchitti managed to compile some impressive results. He earned three victories at the track between 2007-2012. Moreover, he added three other top-10 finishes to his name despite participating in just 10 races. His best stretch was when he claimed six top-seven finishes in seven attempts from 2005 and 2012.
9. Arie Luyendyk
Luyendyk won the Indy 500 twice, but it was a mixed bag overall. He raced in the event every year from 1985 to 2002 and withdrew in 2003, but he finished outside the top 10 in 10 different races. Still, few can match the success he found, with seven top-10 finishes at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
8. Louis Meyer
The first three-time winner in the race’s history, Meyer is one of the top drivers who isn’t talked about nearly enough. He had a truly remarkable race in 1936, becoming just the second racer in history — and last — to win the Indy 500 from a starting position of 28th or lower. Meyer grabbed first and second, respectively, in his first two tries in Indianapolis.
7. Bobby Unser
It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. Never has that been more true than with Unser, who had just one top-10 finish in his first four tries at Indy. However, Unser would eventually win the Indy 500 three times (1968, 1975 and 1981). In his last four starts, he had three top-six finishes, including winning the event on his last time at the track at age 47.
6. Johnny Rutherford
Another three-time Indy 500 winner, Rutherford claimed his victories between 1974 and 1980. Rutherford had a bit of a slow start to this race, finishing 18th or lower in each of his first nine times at the track. He then turned in four straight top-10 finishes, including winning in 1974 and 1976 and grabbing second in 1975.
5. Wilbur Shaw
As good as Rutherford’s three-year stretch was, Shaw one-ups him with his bonkers four-year run. From 1937 to 1940, Shaw placed first, second, first and first. A run like that automatically vaults you into the top five in the history of the Indy 500. Before that, it had been an up-and-down race for Shaw, but you cannot overlook just how dominant he was overall, with three victories and seven top-five finishes.
4. Helio Castroneves
Castroneves is the first of four drivers on this list tied for the most wins (four) at the Indy 500. He earned his most recent victory in 2021, while his previous three wins came between 2001 and 2009. He’s also one of just six drivers to claim back-to-back Indy 500 victories, doing so in 2001 and 2002. Perhaps the most remarkable part of his driving career at IMS is the fact that he owns the record for the longest span between his first and last win — 20 years.
3. Al Unser Sr.
Unser isn’t just tied for the most Indy 500 wins, claiming his four in 1970, 1971, 1978 and 1987. He’s also the oldest winner ever at 47 years, 360 days old, slightly edging out his brother, Bobby. In his second-to-last race at IMS in 1992, Unser finished in third, while his son, Al Unser Jr., was the winner.
2. A.J. Foyt
Foyt is undoubtedly deserving of one of the top spots on this list as the first four-time winner in the race’s history, finishing in first place in 1961, 1964, 1967 and 1977. Most impressive about his career in Indy, though, is that Foyt has the most starts there of any driver (35), including racing in every single one from 1958 to 1992.
1. Rick Mears
The other driver tied for the most wins at IMS, Mears dominated in Indy. He started 11 times on the front row, with six of those times coming consecutively from 1986 to 1991 — both of which are records at the track. He has also claimed a record six pole positions at the event and is one of just 12 racers to earn back-to-back pole positions.
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US airports ramp up Ebola screenings amid Africa outbreak
Health officials at U.S. airports are implementing enhanced Ebola screenings for travelers arriving from Congo, Uganda and South Sudan. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is working with airlines to identify possible exposures following over 130 deaths and nearly 600 suspected cases in Africa. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has criticized the response efforts of the CDC and World Health Organization (WHO).
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Congo is dealing with an outbreak of Ebola, and executive director of the White House Task Force for the World Cup Andrew Giuliani said the Congolese national soccer team must isolate if they want to enter the United States for the global tournament.
The U.S. has told FIFA, the Congolese government and national soccer team, that they must isolate for 21 days in order to enter the country for the World Cup. The team is currently training in Belgium and is scheduled to play two warmup games there.
“We’ve been very clear to Congo that they should maintain the integrity of their bubble for 21 days before they can then come to Houston on June 11,” Giuliani told ESPN. “We’ve made it very clear to the Congo government as well that they need to maintain that bubble or they risk not being able to travel to the United States. We cannot be any clearer.”
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Meschack Elia of Congo reacts during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Play-Off final match between Congo DR and Jamaica at Estadio Guadalajara in Zapopan, Mexico, on March 31, 2026. (Agustin Cuevas/Getty Images)
“We want to make sure that there is nothing that’s going to come in or near our borders here on this,” he said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been monitoring two American doctors who were in quarantine in Europe after being exposed to Ebola, Giuliani said. He said they have discussed sending staff to Belgium to check on the Congo team.
In Congo last week, they had a confirmed outbreak of Bundibugyo, a rare type of Ebola. It is thought to have killed more than 130 people, with nearly 600 suspected cases.
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Lens’ DR Congo defender Arthur Masuaku and Malian midfielder Amadou Haidara attend a training session at Stade de France stadium in Saint-Denis on May 21, 2026, ahead of the French Cup final against Nice on May 22, 2026. (Franck Fife/AFP)
“If there are other people that are going to be coming in, they need to have a separate bubble from that team. If they end up coming, and any of those people end up symptomatic, they are risking the entire team being able to come and compete in this World Cup,” Giuliani said.
The CDC announced this week that all foreign nationals who had been in Congo, Uganda and South Sudan within the past three weeks would be banned from entry into the United States for 30 days.
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Renaldo Cephas of Jamaica and Brian Cipenga of Congo compete for the ball during the FIFA World Cup 2026 play-off final at Estadio Guadalajara in Zapopan, Mexico, on March 31, 2026. (Agustin Cuevas/Getty Images)
The Congo canceled a planned farewell by the team to fans and a three-day World Cup preparation training camp on Wednesday.
Congo is in Group K and is scheduled to play Portugal in their opening game in Houston on June 17. Their next two games are against Colombia in Guadalajara, Mexico, on June 23, and Uzbekistan in Atlanta on June 27.
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Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch died Thursday from complications related to “severe pneumonia [that] progressed into sepsis,” according to a family statement obtained by FOX Sports on Saturday.
“The medical evaluation provided to the Busch Family concluded that severe pneumonia progressed into sepsis, resulting in rapid and overwhelming associated complications,” the statement, according to FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass, read.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
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