London, Nov 09: Arsenal extend English premier lead to four poiints after beating Tottenham Hotspurs 2-1. Unbeaten Arsenal recovered from a goal down to defeat north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at Highbury on Saturday (November 8). Darren Anderton scored a fifth-minute goal to give Tottenham a shock 1-0 halftime lead. The former England midfielder showed fine anticipation to poke the ball home after collecting a lose pass from Robbie Keane. Thierry Henry kept Tottenham's defence busy but on two occasions the French striker could not get the ball past United States goalkeeper Kasey Keller. At the other end, Helder Postiga enjoyed a handful of chances but the Portuguese striker was unable to beat Arsenal's German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann from close range.


Tottenham dominated most of second half possession but were unable to halt Arsenal's comeback.


While Spurs defence appealed for offside, Henry kept running and after his shot was partially blocked by Keller, fellow Frenchman Robert Pires equalised from the rebound in the 68th minute.


Arsenal were lucky when ten minutes later a shot by Swedish midfielder Freddie Ljungberg's deflected off right back Steve Carr and flew over the stranded Keller and into the net.


The 2-1 victory left Arsenal with 30 points, four more than Chelsea and five more than champions Manchester United, both of whom play on Sunday.


Match summary: Arsenal 2 - Robert Pires 68, Fredrik Ljungberg 78 Tottenham Hotspur 1 - Darren Anderton 4 Halftime: 0-1 Attendance: 38,101


English league soccer standings after matches played on Saturday: Premier league P W D L F A Pts 1. Arsenal 12 9 3 0 25 10 30 2. Chelsea 11 8 2 1 21 9 26 3. Manchester United 11 8 1 2 21 6 25 4. Charlton Athletic 12 6 3 3 19 15 21 5. Birmingham City 12 5 5 2 11 8 20 6. Manchester City 11 5 3 3 22 12 18 7. Fulham 12 5 3 4 22 18 18 8. Liverpool 11 5 2 4 17 12 17 9. Southampton 12 4 5 3 10 7 17 10. Newcastle United 11 4 4 3 16 13 16 11. Portsmouth 12 4 3 5 17 16 15 12. Middlesbrough 12 4 2 6 11 15 14 13. Tottenham Hotspur 12 3 3 6 11 16 12 14. Bolton Wanderers 12 2 6 4 9 19 12 15. Aston Villa 12 2 5 5 9 15 11 16. Everton 11 2 4 5 12 15 10 17. Wolverhampton Wanderers 12 2 4 6 8 24 10 18. Leicester City 11 2 2 7 16 21 8 19. Blackburn Rovers 11 2 2 7 15 21 8 20. Leeds United 12 2 2 8 11 31 8


Bureau Report