Arsenal held on to beat battling local rivals Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 away and remain a point clear at the top of the Premier League after an emphatic first-half display and a nervous second period in an electric derby atmosphere yesterday.
An own goal by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and efforts from Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz put the Gunners in control at halftime and although Spurs fought back through Cristian Romero’s strike and a Son Heung-min penalty, the visitors claimed the three points.
Victory kept Mikel Arteta’s Gunners ahead of second-placed champions Manchester City, whose 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest later yesterday put them within a point with a game in hand.
Liverpool are four points behind City in third spot, but like Arsenal having played 35 matches with three games left.
Tottenham’s defeat hit their hopes of playing Champions League football next season as they stand seven points off fourth-placed Aston Villa, albeit still with two games in hand.
Having built such a commanding lead it looked as though Arsenal could inflict humiliation on their arch-rivals but in the end they were happy to hear the final whistle – the players celebrating in the corner with their fans.
Arsenal arrived at the home of their neighbours desperate for a win to boost their title challenge and got the perfect start after 15 minutes when midfielder Hojbjerg headed the ball back into his own net from a corner.
Tottenham reacted to going behind and defender Romero hit the outside of the post from a James Maddison cross.
The hosts thought they had equalised when Micky van de Ven placed the ball past keeper David Raya after Pedro Porro’s strike deflected to him and the stadium erupted but after a long delay the goal was ruled out by VAR for offside.
The Gunners extended their lead just before the half hour mark, though, when a counter-attack was calmly finished by Saka after Spurs’ Dejan Kulusevski slipped in the Arsenal area.
Havertz added the third with a simple header from a corner that eluded the home defence and the visitors were flying.
It was the first time shell-shocked Tottenham had fallen 3-0 behind at home by halftime to bitter rivals Arsenal since 1959.
Spurs replaced Rodrigo Bentancur with Pape Matar Sarr at halftime and they pulled a goal back through Romero just past the hour after Raya played the ball straight to him and the Argentine found the bottom corner to lift the home fans.
Tottenham were awarded a penalty after a VAR check in the 87th minute after Declan Rice kicked Ben Davies just inside the area when the Arsenal midfielder tried to clear the ball and Son stepped up to convert the spot-kick as the noise level rose.
Spurs piled on the pressure but could not breach the Arsenal defence again and the visitors were left to celebrate the win.
Manchester City took another step in their bid to win a fourth consecutive Premier League title with a 2-0 victory over relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest, with Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland on target.
Forest had matched City in a nervous first half at the sundrenched City Ground before Gvardiol got the holders on the scoreboard with his second career league goal when he headed in Kevin De Bruyne’s corner kick from the near post in the 32nd minute. Forest had only 10 men on the pitch at the time following an injury to Neco Williams.
Haaland made a quick impact when he entered the game as a substitute in his first action since missing two matches with a muscle injury.
The Norwegian took a pass from De Bruyne in the 71st minute, took three steps, then launched it into the far corner for a league-leading 21st goal of the season. He had previously been level with Chelsea’s Cole Palmer.
Forest, who are a point above the drop zone in 17th, looked little like a team facing potential relegation and had travelling City fans – including musician Noel Gallagher – breathing sighs of relief at several times.
The home side had 14 shots to City’s 11, including an absolute sitter that a wide open Chris Wood missed when he got his feet tangled up in front of the net.
Forest have won just two of their last 15 league games, going back to December 30.
City’s Stefan Ortega replaced keeper Ederson at halftime. The visitors were also missing Phil Foden, who scored five goals in his previous two league appearances, to illness.
City’s final four games are against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United.
Goals from Marco Senesi, Enes Unal and Justin Kluivert gave Bournemouth a comfortable 3-0 home win over Brighton & Hove Albion to ensure the club’s highest points total in the Premier League era with three games left to play.
The 10th-placed Cherries have amassed 48 points, two more than their previous best total of 46 achieved in the 2016-17 season. South-coast rivals Brighton, who finished sixth last year, are 12th on 44 points.