London, Jan 16 (IANS ) Arsenal narrowed Liverpool's lead at the top of the Premier League to four points thanks to a 2-1 win at home to Tottenham Hotspur in the north-London derby.
Mikel Arteta's side was under pressure going into the game after consecutive home defeats, and things got even worse when Son Heung-min put Tottenham ahead in the 25th minute when his volley following a corner was deflected into the net.
A header from Gabriel Magalhaes forced a Dominic Solanke own goal from a 40th-minute corner to get Arsenal level.
Leandro Trossard scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the 44th minute when he was given acres of space to advance down the left before beating Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky with a bouncing shot, reports Xinhua.
Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard all passed up chances to increase the home side’s lead in the second half, meaning they had to survive a nervy finish to secure the victory.
"We played with a real purpose to hurt them. We created an unbelievable atmosphere. We know how important the game is. It's a gift we can make the supporters very happy. The attitude we played with, not feeling sorry for ourselves, was phenomenal.
"We played 120 minutes three days ago. We had some big chances and big situations. At the end we had to suffer more than we wanted," Arsenal manager Arteta said.
"When you have opportunities (to close the gap) you have to take them. We are on a really consistent run in the Premier League. It's about recovery tomorrow and Aston Villa on Saturday, going and going," he added.
Arsenal reclaim second place from Nottingham Forest following the victory, while Spurs are 13th in the table.
Elsewhere, Alexander Isak scored for the eighth consecutive league match as Newcastle United extended their winning run to nine matches in all competitions with a 3-0 win at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Swede's first goal of the game took a big deflection from outside the penalty area in the 34th minute, before he doubled the lead in the 57th minute after beating Wolves' offside trap.
Anthony Gordon made it 3-0 in the 74th minute after Isak turned provider for the winger's tap-in.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace took a huge step towards survival with a 2-0 win away to Leicester City, who has now lost six consecutive league games.
Jean-Philippe Mateta was put through for the opening goal in the 52nd minute, and Marc Guehi doubled the lead in the 78th minute with a left-foot shot following a well-worked free kick.
Ollie Watkins ruined David Moyes' return to Goodison Park as Everton coach as he scored the only goal in Aston Villa's 1-0 win, although Everton will lament Dominic Calvert-Lewin blazing over from six yards in injury time with the goal at his mercy.
Liverpool drew 1-1 away to Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.
Courtesy Media Group: IANS