Telegraph-Admin 
Arsenal overcame the hurdle of a north London derby and an anxious finale to maintain momentum in the Premier League title pursuit with a vital victory at Tottenham. Mikel Arteta’s side briefly moved four points clear at the top of the Premier League, but second-place Manchester City reduced it to just one point after breezing past Nottingham Forest in a later kickoff.
The Gunners’ meeting with their bitter rivals was seen as arguably the most treacherous of their remaining fixtures, but they took ruthless advantage of Spurs’ defensive flaws to establish a three-goal lead by half-time. Arsenal were then thrown off course when a dreadful clearance by goalkeeper David Raya presented Cristian Romero with a goal after 64 minutes, the nerves really jangling when Heung-min Son scored from the spot three minutes from the end of normal time after Declan Rice fouled Ben Davies.
It was all so different when Arsenal went ahead after 15 minutes as the recalled Pierre Emile Hojbjerg glanced Bukayo Saka’s corner into his own net, the England forward crowning a sweeping counter-attack with a smooth finish for the second after 27 minutes.
Spurs, who saw Micky van de Ven’s goal ruled out for a marginal offside with the score 1-0, were infuriated as they claimed Leandro Trossard had fouled Dejan Kulusevski before Saka scored and were even more frustrated when the unmarked Kai Havertz headed in Arsenal’s third from another corner seven minutes before the break.
Meanwhile, Erling Haaland marked his return with a goal as Manchester City kept up the pressure on leaders Arsenal with a victory over Nottingham Forest. The Norwegian striker missed two games through injury but came off the bench in the 62nd minute at the City Ground.
He slotted into the left corner nine minutes later to wrap up the points and keep City a point behind Arsenal, the Premier League front-runners. City went ahead 32 minutes in as Josko Gvardiol scored with a powerful near-post header from Kevin de Bruyne’s inswinging corner.
That came while Forest’s Neco Williams was off the pitch receiving treatment for an injury, which he subsequently had to go off for. Pep Guardiola’s City have a game in hand over Arsenal but may still need to win all of their games between now and the end of the season to secure a record fourth consecutive Premier League title.
Similarly, Enes Unal scored on his first Premier League start for Bournemouth as the Cherries beat below-par Brighton to reach their highest top-flight points total
