Premier League: The Gunners cannon roars as Gabriel strikes late to earn Arsenal win over Newcastle United

Gabriel headed a last-gasp winner as Arsenal produced a dramatic late fightback to defeat Newcastle United 2-1 at St James' Park on Sunday and close the gap with Premier League leaders Liverpool.

The win helped Arsenal climbed to second place in the table with 13 points from six matches while Newcastle are in 15th with six points from the same number of games.

The Gunners are now within two points of leaders Liverpool.

The Gunners were heading for a fourth consecutive defeat at St James' Park after falling behind to Nick Woltemade's first-half header.

However, Mikel Merino headed in the equaliser before Gabriel Magalhaes powered in from a 96th-minute corner to net the winner for the Gunners.

The late win saw Arsenal take full advantage of Liverpool's first defeat of the season after the Merseyside club's 1-2 loss at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

That game was also decided by a stoppage-time winner by former Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah.

For a long time it looked like Mikel Arteta's men would let that opportunity slip by in a bad-tempered encounter on Tyneside. However, it was Arsenal's turn to produce a late flourish after trailing much of the match.

Earlier in the first half, Arsenal were furious when Newcastle goalkeeper Pope escaped conceding a penalty.

Referee Jarred Gillett initially pointed to the spot, but was instructed by VAR to review the incident and overturned his original decision for a touch on the ball by Pope before he wiped out Viktor Gyokeres.

Earlier, Aston Villa won for the first time in the league this season with a 3-1 victory against Fulham.

COLLATED RESULTS

Aston Villa 3 (Watkins 37, McGinn 49, Buendia 51) Fulham 1 (Jimenez 3)

Newcastle 1 (Woltemade 34) Arsenal 2 (Merino 84, Gabriel 90+6)

Played on Saturday

Brentford 3 (Thiago 8, 20, Jensen 90+5) Manchester United 1 (Sesko 26)

Chelsea 1 (Fernandez 24) Brighton 3 (Welbeck 77, 90+10, De Cuyper 90+2)

Crystal Palace 2 (Sarr 9, Nketiah 90+8) Liverpool 1 (Chiesa 87)

Leeds 2 (Rodon 37, Longstaff 54) Bournemouth 2 (Semenyo 26, Kroupi 90+3)

Manchester City 5 (Esteve 12-og, 65-og, Nunes 61, Haaland 90, 90+3) Burnley 1 (Anthony 38)

Nottingham Forest 0 Sunderland 1 (Alderete 38)

Tottenham 1 (Palhinha 90+4) Wolves 1 (Santiago Bueno 54)

Monday fixture.

Everton v West Ham (8pm local time; Tuesday, September 30 12.30 am IST)

(with inputs from agencies)