PA Media/dpa
London
Arsenal remained a point clear of Manchester City at the Premier League summit after both won on Sunday, the Gunners edging Tottenham 3-2 in the north London derby before the reigning champions triumphed 2-0 at Nottingham Forest.
The Gunners looked to be in complete control against their local rivals and had established a 3-0 lead by half-time.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s own goal set the visitors on their way in the 15th minute, before Spurs defender Micky van de Ven saw an equaliser ruled out by VAR over a tight offside call.
Bukayo Saka raced clear to score Arsenal’s second in the 27th minute and Kai Havertz headed in a third shortly before the break.
Spurs, though, were gifted a way back into the match with 26 minutes left when Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya chipped the ball straight to Cristian Romero.
Son Heung-min then coolly converted a penalty - which had been given after referee Michael Oliver was sent to the pitchside monitor to reviewed a kick by Declan Rice on Ben Davies - to set up a tense finale, but Mikel Arteta’s side closed out a crucial win.
Saka expressed his relief as he told Sky Sports: “That last 20 minutes wasn’t nice but it was worth it. We know it’s a big derby and they don’t want to lose 3-0 at home.
“Once they got one the crowd was up and the momentum shifted their way, but we fought to the end and we got the three points.”
City - who have a game in hand on the Gunners - later kept up the heat by emerging victorious at the City Ground.
Josko Gvardiol headed in at the near post from a corner to give City the lead in the 32nd minute.
Forest started the second half brightly, but were made to pay for not taking their chances when Erling Haaland, who had not long come off the bench, slotted in with 20 minutes left to make sure of the points.
“First of all it was an important win, that’s the most important thing. It doesn’t matter how we did it, it’s about winning and it’s good to be back,” Haaland said “We know where they are in the league so we knew it was going to be a fight, and it’s not the easiest pitch to play on, but we can’t complain about that. It’s about winning and that’s exactly what we did.” Elsewhere on Sunday, Bournemouth beat Brighton 3-0 to set a new club Premier League points record.
Marcos Senesi put the Cherries ahead from a corner in the 13th minute at the Vitality Stadium, before Enes Unal’s towering header doubled the lead early in the second half and Justin Kluivert added a late third.
Andoni Iraola’s side now sit in 10th place on 48 points - already two more than Bournemouth achieved under Eddie Howe at the end of the 2016-17 campaign - while Brighton saw their winless run stretch to six league games.
