Man United wins again to make it four in a row for Carrick, Arsenal extends lead to 9 points

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — It's four Premier League wins in a row for Manchester United under Michael Carrick and a season that was unraveling just weeks ago now looks full of promise.

United won 2-0 against Tottenham on Saturday to extend Carrick’s 100% start as head coach and boost hopes of a return to the Champions League after missing out for the last two years.

Arsenal powered nine points clear at the top, with Viktor Gyokeres coming off the bench to score two goals in a 3-0 win against Sunderland.

Second-place Manchester City plays Liverpool on Sunday while Aston Villa, in third, slipped further adrift after a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth.

Cole Palmer scored a first-half hat trick in Chelsea’s 3-1 win at last-place Wolves.

Victory for United will further strengthen Carrick's case to be given the job on a long-term basis.

“Michael has won everything here and he knows what it means for these fans, what it means for the club to win and how much is needed to win at this football club. I think that adds something special to the team,” United captain Bruno Fernandes told TNT Sports.

Bryan Mbeumo and Fernandes scored in each half at Old Trafford after Spurs went down to 10 men when captain Cristian Romero was sent off in the 29th minute.

It is the first time in two years that United has won four straight Premier League games.

Carrick has transformed United's fortunes since he was parachuted in to replace the fired Ruben Amorim last month. Initially given a contract until the end of the season — having previously had a three-game interim spell in 2021 — his impressive impact will likely put him in serious contention to keep the job as the club's hierarchy consider its long-term plans.

“I think Michael came in with the right ideas of giving the players the responsibility,” said Fernandes. "He's very good with the words.

“I think he still remembers what I told him the last time he was our manager for our last game. I was sure that Michael could be a great manager, and he’s just showing it.”

Fernandes’ goal, with a controlled finish off his shin in the 81st, was his 200th goal involvement since joining United in 2020.

United is fourth and after moving up to 44 points, the 20-time English champion has already exceeded last season's total of 42 points for the entire campaign.

It has been eliminated from both domestic cup competitions, but Champions League qualification would represent a successful season.

Arsenal’s title charge looks in good shape after sweeping aside Sunderland.

Gyokeres took his season’s tally to 13 goals and extended his streak to six in eight games. Even more impressive was the fact that his double arrived after coming on as a 60th-minute substitute at the Emirates.

His run comes after overcoming a difficult start since his move from Sporting Lisbon last summer, when questions were raised about his ability to repeat the outstanding scoring form he showed in the Portuguese league. He managed only three goals in his first 11 games.

“He’s very demanding of himself, he’s constantly trying to improve and that’s really, really good,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta. “When you feel confident, when you feel important, when you feel at your best, that’s when you can really take your game to the highest level.”

Martin Zubimendi opened the scoring in the first half for his sixth goal of the season.

Arsenal's title pursuit has been helped in recent weeks by its title rivals slipping up. On Saturday, a bookmaker said it was paying out on Arteta's team being crowned champion for the first time since 2004.

Arteta said the size of Arsenal's lead meant “nothing, we still have to win so many games to achieve what we want."

City has won one of its last six league games and faces the daunting task of a trip to Anfield on Sunday. Villa, meanwhile, dropped points for the second time in as many games.

Despite going ahead through Morgan Rogers at the Vitality Stadium, Villa was held to a draw after Brazilian Rayan’s equalizer after the break.

Chelsea is fifth after cruising to victory at Wolves. Palmer's hat trick included two penalties.

The England international is the first player to score three first-half hat tricks in the Premier League.

Three wins in four have given West Ham hope of avoiding the drop.

Crysencio Summerville and Valentin Castellanos scored first-half goals to secure a 2-0 win at fellow relegation fighter Burnley.

Nottingham Forest's loss to Leeds on Friday means West Ham is just three points behind its nearest rival in the battle for survival, and just six back from Tottenham.

Newcastle has lost its last three in the league, and won just one in eight in all competitions, after a 3-2 defeat to Brentford at St James' Park.

Dango Ouattara scored the winner in the 85th, six minutes after Bruno Guimaraes' penalty had leveled it at 2-2.

Everton came back from a goal down to win 2-1 at Fulham.

James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Aston Villa's Jadon Sancho, left, and Bournemouth's Alex Scott battle for the ball during their English Premier League soccer match in Bournemouth, England, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (Peter Tarry/PA via AP)

Chelsea's Cole Palmer celebrates scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea in Wolverhampton, England, Saturday Feb. 7, 2026. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)

Arsenal's Viktor Gyoekeres reacts after scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Sunderland in London, England, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Tottenham's Cristian Romero walks off after receiving a red card during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Tottenham in Manchester, England, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes celebrates after scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Tottenham in Manchester, England, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Manchester United's Bryan Mbeumo reacts after scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Tottenham in Manchester, England, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Manchester United's coach Michael Carrick watches the play during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Tottenham in Manchester, England, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes celebrates after scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Tottenham in Manchester, England, Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

TOKYO (AP) — Polls opened Sunday in parliamentary elections that Japan's popular Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi hopes will give her struggling party a big enough win to push through an ambitious conservative political agenda.

Takaichi is hugely popular, but the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed Japan for most of the last seven decades, has struggled from funding and religious scandals. She called Sunday’s snap elections only after three months in office, hoping to turn that around before her popularity fades.

She wants to make progress on a right-wing agenda that aims to boost Japan’s economy and military capabilities as tensions grow with China. She also wants to nurture ties with her crucial U.S. ally, and a sometimes unpredictable President Donald Trump.

The ultraconservative Takaichi, who took office as Japan’s first female leader in October, pledged to “work, work, work,” and her style, which is seen as both playful and tough, has resonated with younger fans.

The latest surveys indicated a landslide win in the lower house for the LDP. The opposition, despite the formation of a new centrist alliance and a rising far-right, is seen as too splintered to be a real challenger.

Takaichi is betting that her LDP party, together with its new partner, the Japan Innovation Party, will secure a majority in the 465-seat lower house, the more powerful of Japan’s two-chamber parliament.

Recent surveys by major Japanese newspapers show a possibility that Takaichi’s party could win a simple majority on its own while her coalition could win as many as 300 seats, a big jump from a thin majority it held since a 2024 election loss.

If the LDP fails to win a majority, “I will step down,” she said.

A big win by Takaichi’s coalition could mean a significant shift to the right in Japan’s security, immigration and other policies, with its right-wing partner JIP's leader Hirofumi Yoshimura saying his party will serve as an “accelerator.”

Japan has recently seen far-right populists gain ground, such as the anti-globalist and surging nationalist party Sanseito.

Takaichi has pledged to revise security and defense policies by December to bolster Japan’s offensive military capabilities, lifting a ban on weapons exports and moving further away from the country’s postwar pacifist principles.

She has been pushing for tougher policies on foreigners, anti-espionage and other measures that resonate with a far-right audience but ones that experts say could undermine civil rights.

Takaichi also wants to increase defense spending in response to Trump’s pressure on Japan to loosen its purse strings.

Though Takaichi said she is seeking the public's mandate for her “nation splitting policies,” she avoided contentious issues such as ways to fund soaring military spending, how to fix diplomatic tension with China and other controversial issues.

In her campaign speeches, Takaichi enthusiastically talked about the need for “proactive” government spending to fund “crisis management investment and growth,” such as measures to strengthen economic security, technology and other industries. Takaichi also seeks to push tougher measures on immigration and foreigners, including stricter requirements for foreign property owners and a cap on foreign residents.

The snap election after only three months in office “underscores a problematic trend in Japanese politics in which political survival takes priority over substantive policy outcomes,” said Masato Kamikubo, a Ritsumeikan University politics professor. “Whenever the government attempts necessary but unpopular reforms ... the next election looms.”

There are some uncertainties. The hastily called election that gave little time for people to prepare has already invited complaints.

Sunday’s vote also began under fresh snowfall across the country, including in Tokyo. Record snowfall in northern Japan over the past few weeks, which blocked roads and was blamed for dozens of deaths nationwide, could hinder voting or delay vote counting in hard-hit areas. How her popularity will translate into votes among younger voters, notorious for their low turnout, during bad weather is unpredictable.

Kazuki Ishihara, 54, said she voted for the LDP for stability and in hopes for something new under Takaichi. “I have some hope that she could do something” her predecessors could not.

A 50-year-old office worker Yoshinori Tamada said his interest is wages. “I think a lot when I look at my pay slip, and I cast my vote for a party that I believe I can trust in that regard.”

Associated Press video journalist Mayuko Ono in Tokyo contributed to this report.

A voter fills in a ballot in the lower house election at a polling station Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

A voter fills in a ballot in the lower house election at a polling station Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

A voter fills in a ballot in the upper house election at a polling station Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

A voter casts a ballot in the upper house election at a polling station Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)

A voter casts a ballot in the upper house election at a polling station Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Louise Delmotte)