Arsenal survive Spurs' latest comeback to boost title charge with derby win | first division

Everyone knew the backstory, how Arsenal had won their previous first division title almost 20 years ago at White Hart Lane. To borrow a phrase from Mikel Arteta, it was about making his own story here, about doing everything possible to keep the pressure on Manchester City.

Arsenal achieved their goals. keeping their title hopes alive after a clinical first half performance that saw them take a 3-0 lead. No one predicted the second half drama at the time, everything was going against Tottenham, including a tight VAR offside call to nullify what would have been a 1-1 Micky van de Ven draw.

Arsenal's set-piece threat was once again a big part of the matter, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg pressing into his own goal from a corner; the impressive Kai Havertz returning home from another. Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka scored on a lethal counter-attack and it was easy to imagine the Arsenal players celebrating wildly in front of their fans when it was all over.

Which happened. But only after flirting with disaster following two self-inflicted injuries, which likely evened things up against the Spurs defense from the first period.

The first came when David Raya tried to be too clever by passing a pass to Thomas Partey and only found Cristian Romero, who scored. Romero was the symbol of the Spurs' defiance.

When Declan Rice was late to Ben Davies on the edge of the Arsenal box and Son Heung-min converted the resulting penalty, there were three minutes left to play; Six more would be added. Arsenal weren't about to ruin it, were they? They were not.

Spurs pressed, got some decent crossing positions and had a couple of set pieces, Guglielmo Vicario stepping up for an all or nothing raid on the last of them. It was in vain. The damage was already done. Spurs emerged with credit for their spirit, but the truth is that they never seemed to achieve the most sensational comeback; dealing the blow to Arsenal's title that their fans craved. Or, in fact, shooting your own offer to finish the Champions League.

The main team news was Ange Postecoglou's selection of Højbjerg over Yves Bissouma in front of the back four; he aimed for pragmatism rather than doubling down on Ange-Ball's fundamentals. Højbjerg, however, made a defensive error with terrible consequences in the 15th minute.

Spurs conceded a soft corner, having tried to play out from the back without success and when Saka overtook him, Højbjerg found himself on the wrong side of Takehiro Tomiyasu. Reaching back in an attempt to rectify the situation, he only managed to head a header into his own goal.

The Spurs had been full of intensity in the first exchanges, winning the duels and feeding off the energy of the home crowd. There was something of a turning point in the 10th minute, Partey accepted the ball in a dangerous area, dropped his shoulder and eased away from James Maddison, getting Arsenal moving. Maddison slipped.

Spurs felt the fine margins were going against them during a traumatic first half. Romero headed wide after a Maddison set piece and hit the post on another.

Postecoglou's team thought they had equalized when Pedro Porro's shot from a half-cleared corner went to Van de Ven, his shot assured, the celebrations wild, only for the VAR to intervene.

Now it was the Arsenal fans' turn to go wild and they would do it again when Havertz picked out Saka in acres of space with the perfect diagonal after Spurs had unsuccessfully shouted for a penalty. Dejan Kulusevski argued that Leandro Trossard tripped him; Maddison also after a challenge to Rice. There was nothing in either of them.

There was Saka on the right against Davies, who had run across. Did Saka finish with his right foot? No. Could she backtrack to her left to shoot low past Vicario? Absolutely.

There were boos from the Spurs support at the interval. They had just seen Son rise high after running onto a Porro ball over the top and by then his team was 3-0 down, Havertz getting between Van de Ven and Romero to head into Rice's corner.

The second half was a test of Spurs' mentality, although not in the way Postecoglou had anticipated. They had to show some pride in the badge. Tomiyasu headed high and Vicario made an impressive save with his foot to avoid Saka's volley after a Havertz cross. It would have been 4-0, but had Havertz made a mistake about offside in the build-up?

Spurs struggled, especially Romero, who headed wide again in the 51st minute. When he made a pressing run from the back, he stayed high after the ball reached Raya. Romero had his reward when the goalkeeper tried to sculpt a cleared pass and did it poorly.

Postecoglou had just brought in Richarlison at number 9, moving Son to the left and the tireless Kulusevki to the number 10 position. Could Spurs salvage something? Their hopes soared after the penalty, Rice's attempted clearance turned into a painful thud from Davies. Arsenal's final joy was tinged with relief.