LONDON: Mohamed Salah struck twice for Premier League leaders Liverpool but it was not enough to earn them victory at Newcastle United as a thrilling 3-3 draw meant the gap at the top of the table was cut to seven points on Wednesday. Liverpool were minutes away from a 12th victory from their opening 14 league games but Newcastle defender Fabian Schar capitalised following a mistake by keeper Caoimhin Kelleher to equalise in the 90th minute at St James’ Park. Arne Slot’s side have 35 points with Chelsea and Arsenal both on 28 after convincing wins. Chelsea thrashed 10-man bottom club Southampton 5-1 away to go second on goal difference ahead of Arsenal, who inflicted a first defeat on Manchester United’s new manager Ruben Amorim, winning 2-0 at The Emirates with goals by Jurrien Timber and William Saliba. Champions Manchester City returned to form as they ended a seven-match winless run by beating Nottingham Forest 3-0 and are nine points behind Liverpool. Everton crushed Wolver h­ampton Wanderers 4-0 to ease away from the bottom three while Aston Villa got back to winning ways with a 3-1 home victory against Brentford. Newcastle twice led against Liverpool but Salah’s brace loo­ked like sealing victory for the visitors until Kelleher misjudged the flight of a cross and Schar turned in a half volley from an acute angle in the 90th minute. “We were outstanding in the second half but the first half we were not good enough,” Slot said. “They were really aggressive and forced us to make mistakes. But the second half was so much better and we had much more control. 3-3 was probably what the game deserved. We were happy to still be in it at halftime.” The in-form Salah has now scored and assisted in 37 Premier League games in his career — a new record — and leads this season’s Premier League scoring chart with 13 goals. Newcastle had dominated the opening period and thoroughly deserved the lead given to them by Alexander Isak’s spectacular shot from the edge of the area in the 35th minute. Liverpool were a different proposition in a sensational second half, however, and Salah’s superb pass with the outside of his foot enabled Curtis Jones to make it 1-1 before Anthony Gordon restored Newcastle’s lead. Salah twice converted Trent Alexander-Arnold assists to turn the game around, taking his tally for the season to 15 goals. However, there was a late sting in the tale as a rare error from Kelleher allowed Schar to equalize. “He has done remarkably well for us and even today he was good. Unfortunately, he misjudged the situation,” Slot said of Kelleher’s blunder. Amorim has had a positive start with United and arrived in north London on the back of a 4-0 win over Everton. But the Portuguese got a reality check at Arsenal as Timber and Saliba both scored in the second half. Once again Mikel Arteta’s Gunners were able to rely on their prowess from set-pieces to get the job done. Timber broke the deadlock, heading in Declan Rice’s corner nine minutes into the second half. Saliba did not know much about the second, as he diverted in Thomas Partey’s header from Bukayo Saka’s corner, but the Frenchman did not care as Arsenal had the breathing space they craved. “Until the set pieces the game didn’t have too many opportunities for both sides, the set pieces killed the game,” former Sporting manager Amorim said after his first domestic league defeat for a year. “They can put a lot of players near the goalkeeper and it’s almost impossible to fight for the ball. We already know we have to be better.” A fourth consecutive win in all competitions confirmed Arsenal’s return to form and applied a little pressure on Liverpool. “A special day. It’s a joy to play in this stadium with that energy, it’s something incredible,” Arteta said. “We scored two set-pieces, but we could’ve scored from open play many more.” Chelsea put Southampton to the sword at St Mary’s even before the hosts were reduced to 10 men when Jack Stephens pulled Marc Cucurella’s hair. Chelsea took the lead in the seventh minute through Axel Disasi’s header but Joe Aribo drew Southampton level four minutes later before a goalkeeping howler allowed Christopher Nkunku to put the visitors back ahead. Noni Madueke extended Chel­sea’s lead before Stephens saw red in a bizarre incident as he jostled with Cucurella from a Saints corner. Cole Palmer made sure he got in on the act with Chelsea’s fourth before Jadon Sancho’s first goal since his loan move from Manchester United rounded off the scoring. Pep Guardiola’s City bounced back from their barren run thanks to captain Kevin De Bruyne’s return to the starting line-up for the first time in nearly three months. “Today is hopefully a first step to improve,” De Bruyne said. “It’s good to change the momentum. In some games we lost there were periods we weren’t playing bad.” The Belgium playmaker provided the cross for Bernardo Silva to give City an eighth-minute lead against Forest at the Etihad Stadium. He produced a trademark finish to sweep the ball past goalkeeper Matz Sels in the 31st to put City on course for a first win in eight games. Jeremy Doku made it 3-0 in the 57th, but it was De Bruyne’s performance that stood out after seeing much of his season disrupted by a groin injury. He left the field in the 74th to an ovation from the home crowd. “Definitely we needed that after many games without winning,” Guardiola said. “Kevin De Bruyne was excellent. When he’s fit he’s so important for us. It’s just one game but it was important to break this run.” A first win in six games for Everton moved Sean Dyche’s team further away from the relegation zone, while back-to-back losses for Wolves left the club second from bottom of the standings. Ashley Young became Ever­ton’s oldest ever goalscorer as the 39-year-old’s free kick put his side ahead and Orel Mangala put the Toffees 2-0 up at half-time against Wolves for whom Craig Dawson scored two own goals. Victory lifts Everton five points clear of the relegation zone, while Wolves sink to 19th with nine points and fans vented their anger at manager Gary O’Neil. Aston Villa ended an eight-match winless streak as they sped into a 3-0 halftime lead against Brentford with Morgan Rogers, an Ollie Watkins penalty and a Matty Cash shot putting Unai Emery’s side in command. Mikkel Damsgaard pulled one back early in the second half for Brentford.