Arsenal passes latest test to go 5 points clear at top of Premier League. Man United rises to third

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Arsenal passed the latest test of its Premier League title credentials with a crucial 2-1 win against Chelsea on Sunday, and Manchester United climbed up to third by beating Crystal Palace 2-1 to boost its pursuit of a return to the Champions League.

Jurrien Timber's second-half goal saw Arsenal re-establish a five-point lead over second-place Manchester City after Pep Guardiola's team kept the pressure on at the top by beating Leeds on Saturday.

Victory against Chelsea saw Arsenal overcome another of its major rivals and move a step closer to a first league title since 2004. It leaves the visit to City next month as potentially the last major hurdle for Mikel Arteta's team, which has no other games against the rest of the current top seven in the standings.

“We have the feeling that we have to win and win and win. You win so many games, but it is not enough to open the gap. That is the level of this league,” Arteta said.

Benjamin Sesko's seventh goal in eight games sealed victory for United against Palace and moved it above Aston Villa in third on goal difference.

At the other end of the standings, Tottenham's winless run extended to 10 games after a 2-1 loss at Fulham — leaving it mired in a fight to avoid relegation. Nottingham Forest also failed to pull further away from the drop zone after a 2-1 loss at Brighton.

Arsenal had to respond after City closed the gap to two points a day earlier. And if Arsenal goes on to claim the title, it may well look back on this win as a decisive moment.

Even when down to 10 men, after Pedro Neto was sent off in the second half, Chelsea pushed deep into added time for an equalizer.

David Raya produced a stunning save to push Alejandro Garnacho's goalbound cross away as the seconds ran down at the Emirates. And the home fans breathed a sigh of relief when Liam Delap's goal was ruled out for offside in the dying moments.

In the end, Arsenal's threat from set pieces proved the difference again. William Saliba put the home team in front, converting from a corner after 21 minutes.

And after Piero Hincapie's own-goal got Chelsea back into the game in first-half added time, Timber headed in from another corner in the 66th.

With 16 goals from corners this season, Arsenal has tied the record for a Premier League season, according to stats provider Opta.

“It feels like a big result,” United captain Bruno Fernandes said after his team beat Palace.

United's latest win boosted its push for a return to the Champions League and further strengthened Michael Carrick's credentials to be given the coach's job on a long-term basis.

He remains unbeaten since being given a contract to the end of the season in January, with a record of six wins in seven games. His cause may also have been helped after overcoming a Palace team coached by Oliver Glasner, who was one of the early favorites to get the job when United fired Ruben Amorim at the start of the year.

Over two spells as United coach, Carrick has picked up 23 points from nine games. Opta said it was the joint highest points total for a manager after his first nine games in the league's history — equaling Ange Postecoglou's start at Tottenham.

“This place means a lot to me so to have the sort of positivity and everyone enjoying going to the games and watching it and for me to have an influence on that, I’m not going to lie, it feels good,” Carrick said.

Glasner was widely seen as a leading contender for the United job. His reputation has grown after winning the FA Cup with Palace last season and he will be a free agent at the end of the current campaign. And when Maxence Lacroix headed Palace in front after just four minutes, Glasner had the chance to claim a statement win in front of United's hierarchy.

But Carrick has instilled a resilient streak in his team in just a short space of time and United leveled in the 57th after Lacroix dragged back Matheus Cunha in the box and was sent off for denying a clear scoring opportunity.

Fernandes stepped up and converted from the penalty spot for his seventh goal of the season.

Sesko, who has been a scoring substitute in recent weeks for United, was given a chance from the start and struck again with a powerful winning header in the 65th.

“We were behind so we had to show some character,” Fernandes said. "The result gives us the chance of getting third but there are a lot of games still to go. We have a lot to do and it is important we don’t feel like we are already in the place we want to be.”

Tottenham is still without a league win in 2026 after new coach Igor Tudor made it back-to-back losses in his first two games in charge. Spurs have equaled their longest winless streak in the Premier League — matching a record that dates back to 1994, according to Opta.

Last week's 4-1 rout at the hands of north London rival Arsenal was followed by another defeat at Fulham.

First-half goals from Harry Wilson and Alex Iwobi gave Fulham a 2-0 lead at the break. Richarlison pulled one back in the second half.

Tottenham is 16th -- four points and two places above the relegation zone with 10 rounds to go.

Forest is 17th and two points clear after its defeat at Brighton.

Vitor Pereira became Forest's fourth coach of the season when hired last month, but has fallen to two straight losses in the league.

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

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

Tottenham Hotspur's Richarlison after their English Premier League soccer match against Fulham in London, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (John Walton/PA via AP)

Arsenal players celebrate after a goal during the Premier League soccer match between Chelsea Arsenal in London Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Arsenal's Jurrien Timber celebrates after scoring during the Premier League soccer match between Chelsea Arsenal in London Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Manchester United's Benjamin Sesko scelebrates after scoring during the Premiier League soccer match between Manchester United and Crystal Palace in Manchester, England, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Brighton and Hove Albion's Diego Gomez, left, celebrates scoring during the English Premier League soccer match between Brighton and Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest in Brighton, England, Sunday March 1, 2026. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)

Fulham's Harry Wilson, right, celebrates after scoring his sides first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and Tottenham in London, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (John Walton/PA via AP)

Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes celebrates after scoring during the Premiier League soccer match between Manchester United and Crystal Palace in Manchester, England, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Manchester United's Benjamin Sesko scelebrates after scoring during the Premiier League soccer match between Manchester United and Crystal Palace in Manchester, England, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Manchester United's Benjamin Sesko scelebrates after scoring during the Premiier League soccer match between Manchester United and Crystal Palace in Manchester, England, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The folksy wisdom and jokes that were a staple of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting for decades when Warren Buffett was leading the show will be missing Saturday, but shareholders still started lining up at midnight outside a Nebraska arena to listen to new CEO Greg Abel.

Attendance is down significantly this year with the arena only a little over half full as the meeting started. That’s much different from the past few years when more than 40,000 attended to listen to the 95-year-old Buffett and — before his death in 2023, Buffett’s longtime partner Charlie Munger was always part of the fun. Buffett gave up the CEO title in January, but he remains chairman and will be sitting with the rest of the Berkshire board on the floor to listen at the meeting.

Saturday’s meeting began with a video tribute to Buffett filled with clips from the previous 60 years of annual meetings. The first clip showed the standing ovation Buffett received last year after he surprised shareholders by announcing that he would step down.

Abel then announced the symbolic move of retiring jerseys with Buffett’s and Munger’s names on them that will hang in the rafters of the arena.

Buffett took the microphone briefly to praise Abel and recognize Apple CEO Tim Cook, who attended the meeting. Buffett said Abel has done a tremendous job so far, and Cook helped Berkshire's initial $35 billion investment in Apple grow to be worth $185 billion today. Cook even got a longer round of applause than Buffett did when he was introduced.

“Greg is doing everything I did and then some,” Buffett said, so his decision to step down has worked out great so far.

Abel has been on stage next to the legendary investor at the annual meetings for several years, but this year is his first time running the show. Investors expect the conversation to focus more on how the dozens of companies Berkshire owns are doing. The conglomerate owns major insurers like Geico, several major utilities like Pacificorp, BNSF railroad and an assortment of manufacturers, retail and service businesses.

Signs of the transition are peppered throughout the 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall where shareholders buy products from Berkshire companies. A caricature of Abel playing his favorite sport of hockey is front and center on commemorative boxes of See’s Candy with Buffett and Mrs. See in the background in hockey gear. At the Pilot Travel Center booth pictures of Abel and Buffett are plastered on the windshield of a semitrailer truck, but Abel is in the driver’s seat. And this year Jazwares created a Squishmallow version of Abel to go with the latest versions of Buffett and his longtime partner Charlie Munger as stuffed dolls that shareholders lined up to buy.

“Sadly we miss Warren and Charlie and that show which was fun, but it’s a business meeting for a lot of us and hearing what the businesses are doing is what it’s all about,” investor Chris Bloomstran, who is president of Semper Augustus Investments Group said.

Abel opened the meeting that way with a detailed discussion of how Berkshire's biggest businesses are performing. He gave a granular explanation about the performance of Berkshire’s insurers, its railroad and its utilities. And he emphasized the way Berkshire is using artificial intelligence “to solve problems at our companies.”

But also many people travel to Omaha primarily to meet up with like-minded value investors, who practice the approach that Buffett employed, and attend some of the investment conferences and meetings that are scheduled around Berkshire’s shareholder meeting.

“That’s why I’m really here, really here is to network with other people,” said Bob Robotti, who runs his own investment company. He doesn’t expect surprises from Abel and the other Berkshire executives at the meeting. “They shouldn’t say anything that would be shocking and surprising because they’re consistent with what they do.”

Many investors are watching closely for any changes Abel might make, but there’s not a lot of reason expect anything big. After all, Abel has been with Berkshire for more than 25 years, and he had already been managing all of the conglomerate’s noninsurance businesses for nearly eight years by the time he was promoted.

Abel did make a few administrative changes to establish a team to help support him, but he has promised to maintain Berkshire’s culture that allows the CEOs of all of its businesses to largely run their day-to-day operations while consulting with headquarters on any major investments and sending any extra cash to Omaha.

The CEOs of Dairy Queen, See’s Candy, Jazwares and Brooks Running all said very little has changed since Abel was promoted other than they now report to NetJets CEO Adam Johnson who is overseeing 32 retail and service businesses.

“I think this is a very deeply rooted culture that Warren has created, and I believe the transition to Greg is going to be rooted in those values that Warren has for 60 years instituted and will continue,” Brooks CEO Dan Sheridan said.

For years Buffett always said he was having too much fun running Berkshire to ever retire, but once the shock of his announcement in the final minutes of last years meeting wore off the company’s executives quickly agreed this plan for the transition was better so Buffett can still be around to advise Abel.

“Berkshire is as strong today as it’s ever been and Warren is still part of it,” DQ CEO Troy Bader said as his staff sold Dilly Bars to shareholders. “Warren is still present. So that’s the greatest combination right now, to be able to have that transition in leadership where Greg and Warren can still work together.”

Abel is known to be a more demanding and hands-on boss than Buffett ever was, but he does that by challenging Berkshire’s CEOs to strengthen their competitive advantages while taking care of their customers. Abel asks tough questions and offers advice that his CEOs appreciate, but he doesn’t tell them exactly what to do.

And with Buffett remaining Berkshire’s chairman and its largest shareholder it’s unlikely that Abel will make any drastic changes. So shareholders shouldn’t expect Berkshire to start paying a dividend or that Abel will suddenly split the company up. Instead, Abel will continue building on the foundation Buffett established over 60 years.

Robotti said the performance of Berkshire’s businesses should be much more important to shareholders than the entertainment value of the annual meetings.

“My hope and expectation are they’re picking people who have competency in running a business and not necessarily public speakers and presenters,” Robotti said.

Berkshire said Saturday morning that its profits more than doubled in the first-quarter to $10.1 billion, or $7,027 per Class A share, as the value of its investments grew and most of its businesses improved.

The paper value of Berkshire’s investments always has a major impact on its bottom line, and it did record a $5.8 billion gain on the stocks it did sell. The value of the portfolio did slip to just over $288 billion.

Berkshire’s massive cash pile continues to grow, and it hit $397.4 billion at the end of the first quarter.

Most of Berkshire’s varied businesses reported better operating earnings this year. The insurance unit that includes Geico and a number of other companies reported an underwriting profit of $1.7 billion, up from $1.34 billion last year. Profits also grew somewhat at BNSF railroad and Berkshire’s utility and manufacturing companies.

But Abel acknowledged there is more improvement needed — especially at BNSF.

“We see a lot of opportunity here to continue to get better,” Abel said about the railroad.

Portraits of Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, left, and CEO Greg Abel sit in a semi truck at the Pilot display in the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, May 2, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)

Shareholders arrive inside the CHI Health Center Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, May 2, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)

Shareholders enter the CHI Health Center Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, May 2, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)

Shareholder Anna Larsen, 16, left, of Underwood, Iowa, poses for photo with her friend Ainsley Roberts, 17, in the Hello Kitty portion of the Squishmallows display in the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, May 2, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)

Shareholder Alex Vacca of Milwaukee poses for a photo in a foam hat in the Justin display od the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, May 2, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)

Author and former Omaha World-Herald reporter Steve Jordan signs copies of his book at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders event on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)

A Berkshire Hathaway shareholder takes a selfie in front of a Pilot truck stops semi truck with pictures of Berkshire's top two executives behind the wheel: new CEO Greg Abel and Chairman Warren Buffett on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)

Berkshire Hathaway shareholders stand in line to purchase Squishmallows versions of the company's top executives: CEO Greg Abel, Chairman Warren Buffett and former Vice Chairman Charlie Munger on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)

Berkshire Hathaway shareholders line up to buy products at the Pampered Chef booth behind a cutout of longtime CEO Warren Buffett who stepped down in January on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)

Shareholders line up to take pictures with depictions of Berkshire Hathaway's new CEO Greg Abel and Chairman Warren Buffett on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)