AFP, LONDON: Arsenal showed there was plenty of life after Alexis Sanchez as they beat Crystal Palace 4-1 in the Premier League on Saturday without the Manchester United-bound Chilean forward.

With Sanchez moving slowly but surely towards a £35 million (39.6 million euros, $48.5 million) transfer to Old Trafford, Gunners manager Arsene Wenger left him out of his match day squad.

Any fears Arsenal would struggle up front without him proved groundless as they surged into a 4-0 lead inside 22 minutes at the Emirates Stadium.

An unmarked Nacho Monreal headed in from a corner in the sixth minute against a Palace side managed by former England boss Roy Hodgson.

Monreal turned provider for Alex Iwobi before Laurent Koscielny scored Arsenal's third.

Palace's defence collapsed again when a sweeping move involving Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere ended with the onrushing Alexandre Lacazette firing home from 12 yards.

Luka Milivojevic's volley 12 minutes from time denied Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech a clean sheet.

Arsenal remain outside the top four but heartened manager Wenger said: “We played our real game in the first half, real pace and real combination.” Manchester United moved to within nine points of runaway league leaders Manchester City with a 1-0 win at Burnley.

A game where United midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, the proposed makeweight in the Sanchez deal, was left out by Jose Mourinho, was decided in the 54th minute when striker Anthony Martial scored his third league goal in as many matches.

City, however, will restore their double-figure lead if, following a 4-3 defeat by Liverpool last week that ended their unbeaten league run, they beat struggling Newcastle at the Etihad.

As for his prospects of signing Sanchez, Mourinho said: “Expect soon or never. So close, so close, so close...I know my people doing absolutely everything they can.”

But Wenger warned: “Sanchez will only happen if Mkhitaryan comes here, that will be decided in the next 48 hours.”

Chelsea won 4-0 away to Brighton as the reigning Premier League champions leapfrogged Liverpool into third place, 48 hours before the Reds play Swansea. The Blues' first win of 2018 saw Eden Hazard score twice, his opener and a goal from Willian making it 2-0 inside six minutes before second-half goals from Hazard and Victor Moses sealed victory.

“We started with a lot of worries, for injuries and suspensions, but the response of the team was incredible,” said Chelsea coach Antonio Conte.

On a day when all Premier League fixtures were preceded by a minute's applause in memory of the former West Bromwich Albion and England forward Cyrille Regis, a trailblazer for black players who died aged 59 last week, the Baggies drew 1-1 with Everton.