Saints climb to second as Hammers beat champions City, Sanchez double secures three points for Wenger

Gunning for glory: Alexis led Arsenal to a fine win

Southampton’s 1-0 win at home to Stoke saw the south coast club leapfrog City into second place.

Fresh from last week’s 8-0 home thrashing of Sunderland — Ronald Koeman’s side scored only one goal at St Mary’s this match when Senegal winger Sadio Mane followed up in the 33rd minute after Graziano Pelle’s shot came back off the post.

It was a sixth win in nine Premier League matches this season for a Southampton side who saw £92 million ($148 million, 117 million euros) worth of talent in Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Luke Shaw, Calum Chambers and Rickie Lambert all leave for rival Premier League clubs in the last transfer window, with former manager Mauricio Pochettino joining Spur.

Sunderland conceded just two goals but that was enough to ensure Arsenal won 2-0 at the Stadium of Light.

Alexis Sanchez scored twice, both times seizing on defensive errors. He put Arsenal ahead in the 30th minute following a poor back pass by Wes Brown and then latched on to a ‘gift’ clearance from former Gunners keeper Vito Mannone in he closing seconds.

Liverpool, fresh from their thumping 3-0 Champions League loss to Real Madrid in midweek, were held to a goalless draw by Hull at Anfield.

Underfire Reds striker Mario Balotelli, who had a chance to score with the last kick of the game, was left with a return of just one goal in 11 appearances since his £16 million ($26 million, 20 million euros) move from AC Milan.

Crystal Palace squandered a 2-0 lead in a 2-2 draw away to West Bromwich Albion.

Results

West Ham 2 - 1 Man City
Liverpool 0 - 0 Hull
Southampton 1 - 0 Stoke
Sunderland 0 - 2 Arsenal
West Brom 2 - 2 Crystal Palace