Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will be glad with the triumph, but disappointed in the aggravation of Fabregas’s hamstring injury—this being the reason he did not start the game.
Aston Villa lost their first Premier League game since Nov. 4. Their unbeaten run had led them to fourth place in the table, right behind Arsenal.
Fabregas, who had been fouled by Richard Dunne, got the Gunners on the board by curling in the resulting free kick in the 65th minute.
Fabregas made it two when Theo Walcott threaded a ball through for him to run onto. The Arsenal captain hit it home off the breakaway.
Abou Diaby finally wrapped up the win in injury time for the Gunners.
Arsenal read Villa’s game plan well and was able to restrain the attacking speed of Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor while matching the power of James Milner and Emile Heskey.
Looking forward, Wenger recently commented on the club’s Web site about dipping into the transfer market in January to find a replacement for injured forward Robin van Persie.
“We have an interested eye on the transfer window and if the right player turns up then we will do it,” said the Arsenal manager.
With the victory, Arsenal is now four points back from first place Chelsea. They have also played one fewer game than Chelsea.
Birmingham 0, Chelsea 0
English Premier League leader Chelsea failed to get on the score sheet for the first time in 34 games as they were held to a draw away at Birmingham on Saturday.
Birmingham goalkeeper Joe Hart made two superb saves to deny Daniel Sturridge and Frank Lampard.
Chelsea still holds top spot in the English Premier League with Manchester United two points back.
Birmingham manager Alex McLeish told the BBC, “Both teams had their chances, with a wee bit of luck on the day, we may even have sneaked it.”
“We played a good match, we had a lot of chances. There were some very good saves by their goalkeeper Joe Hart, who played very well,” Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said.
Hull 1, Manchester United 3
Manchester United edged past Hull on Sunday with a less than great performance.
Wayne Rooney put the visitors ahead in first-half injury time but later gifted Hull a late Christmas present. His terrible back pass led to a penalty shot for Hull, which was converted by Craig Fagan.
But Rooney made up for his gaffe when he drove a low cross into the Hull box that was deflected into their own net by defender Andy Dawson.
Bulgarian forward Dimitar Berbatov put the game beyond Hull’s reach when he took a sharp pass by Wayne Rooney and scored United’s third goal.
Hull sensed they could win this game after pulling even. They pushed forward but were left open to the counterattack.
The flash point of the match came when Hull’s Australian international Richard Garcia was in on goal only to be taken down by United defender Nemanja Vidic, which sparked furious protests from Hull.
Referee Alan Wiley, whose fitness was recently called into question by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, sided with United by not giving Hull the penalty.
With the busy schedule during the holiday season, Chelsea is back in action on Monday, at home to Fulham. Arsenal and Manchester United get an extra day off and face Portsmouth and Wigan respectively.
