LONDON, England (AFP) — Arsenal ignored their injury woes to close the gap on English Premier League leaders Liverpool as Mikel Merino inspired a 2-0 win against Leicester, while Omar Marmoush’s hat-trick fired Manchester City’s 4-0 rout of top four rivals Newcastle on Saturday.

Mikel Arteta’s side were in danger of wasting a chance to put pressure on Liverpool in the title race as they laboured to make the breakthrough at King Power Stadium.

With his attacking options limited by a host of injuries, Arteta sent on Spain midfielder Merino to act as a makeshift striker in the closing stages.

It proved an inspired move as Merino netted twice in the last nine minutes to extend Arsenal’s unbeaten run in the league to 15 games.

In the 81st minute Ethan Nwaneri swung a pinpoint cross into the Leicester area and Merino found space to thump his header past Mads Hermansen from six yards.

Seven minutes later, Leandro Trossard whipped a cross into the six-yard box and Merino’s well-timed run eluded the Leicester defence as he slotted home to move second-place Arsenal within four points of Liverpool.

With Kai Havertz ruled out for the season after suffering a hamstring injury while blocking a shot during Arsenal’s recent training trip to Dubai, Arteta was left with a threadbare attack.

Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli were already sidelined by injuries.

Having lost 2-0 at Newcastle in the League Cup semi-final second leg before an extended break due to their early FA Cup exit, the Gunners returned to action with a vital victory.

“The first half, we struggled to get momentum because we did a lot of simple things wrong, but the second half was very different,” Arteta reasoned.

“Mikel obviously made a huge impact to score the two goals.”

Liverpool can increase the lead back to seven points if they beat Wolves at Anfield on Sunday.

At Etihad Stadium, Egypt forward Marmoush scored his first City goals since arriving from Eintracht Frankfurt during the January transfer window.

Marmoush ended a run of four games without a goal in the 19th minute as he sprinted onto Ederson’s long kick and deftly lobbed Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka.

Just five minutes later, Marmoush found the back of the net again with a powerful blast that took a deflection off Kieran Trippier as it whistled past Dubravka.

The 26-year-old wasn’t done, though, as he completed his 14-minute hat-trick in the 33rd minute.

Savinho’s pass found Marmoush in the Newcastle area and he was granted time and space to slot home for the first treble of his career.

James McAtee’s 84th-minute volley capped a much-needed boost for City after Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League play-off round first leg.

But there was a scare for City when Norway striker Erling Haaland was forced off with a potential knee injury in the closing stages.

Now fourth in the Premier League, Pep Guardiola’s men head to Madrid on Wednesday needing a second-leg revival to avoid European elimination.

“The way we played, we remembered what we were and what we have not been this season,” Guardiola said.

“I’m really pleased with the pace and intensity. Marmoush did really well in Germany, a player with quality and pace.”

Seventh-placed Newcastle are three points adrift of the top four in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League.