LONDON, Dec 15: A moment of madness from Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Kasey Keller helped an unsettled Arsenal salvage a 1-1 draw in a frenetic north London derby at White Hart Lane on Sunday.

Keller, the United States international, brought down Thierry Henry inside the area on the stroke of halftime and Robert Pires converted the resulting penalty to cancel out Christian Ziege’s stunning opener for the home side.

The point shared restored the English champions’ outright lead of the premier league with 36 points from 18 games, one more than second-placed Manchester United, who beat West Ham United 3-0 on Saturday.

In the later match on Sunday, shell-shocked Liverpool suffered their fifth defeat in six league games, going down 2-1 at struggling Sunderland.

Gavin McCann gave Sunderland a first half lead and, although his penalty miss on the hour was followed by a Milan Baros equaliser for Liverpool, striker Michael Proctor pounced for the home side’s winner five minutes from time.

It was Sunderland’s first home league win over the Anfield club since 1958.

Their fourth win of the season lifts Sunderland from second-to-bottom to 17th, while Liverpool stay in fifth with 31 points, one behind fourth-placed Everton.

Chelsea are third with 34 points after their 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Birmingham City leapfrogged Fulham in the table after their 1-0 victory at Loftus Road on Sunday.

Although defender Darren Purse was sent off after 70 minutes, the Blues held on to a lead given to them by American striker Jovan Kirovski.

At White Hart Lane, Spurs were left cursing missed chances as a famous victory went begging.

Robbie Keane was culprit-in-chief. The Ireland striker had two efforts cleared off the line by Ashley Cole and two more strikes well saved by an inspired David Seaman.

Another defeat would have intensified Arsenal’s mini-crisis but, despite four losses already this term, Wenger is content with his club’s progress.

“We’ve had three tough games in a week and I’m happy with the reaction of the players,” said Wenger.

“I am satisfied with a draw today. We had a shaky first 30 minutes and you just hope you don’t concede two goals.”

Spurs boss Glenn Hoddle said: “I’m proud of the way we played, but with clinical finishing and more luck we could have run out good winners.”

Sol Campbell, the former Spurs defender derided at White Hart Lane for his controversial move to Highbury in 2001, played an inadvertent role in Spurs’s opener.

His challenge on Gus Poyet 30 metres out was penalised by referee Neale Barry and Ziege, the Germany international, stepped up to bend a stupendous free kick into Seaman’s top corner.

The goal was as breathtaking as the home side’s start was barnstorming.

Seeking revenge for their 3-0 drubbing at Highbury last month, and urged on by a vociferous support eager for success over their rivals, Spurs could have been three up after half an hour.

A header from Keane was cleared off the line by Cole on 14 minutes and the striker was again left shaking his head in disbelief 16 minutes later when Cole hacked his tame shot off the line after Teddy Sheringham’s astute lay-off.

Arsenal served warning of their counter-attacking threat in the 43rd minute when Henry forced a terrific save from Keller with a header from Fredrik Ljungberg’s cross.

But just a minute later, Keller blotted his copybook by hurtling off his line in an attempt to thwart Henry.

The France international was running away from goal and danger, but Keller inexplicably tried to smother at the Frenchman’s feet.

He lost the race, tripping Henry in the process and, after Barry pointed to the spot, Pires — taking over the penalty taking duties from his compatriot — steered his low shot into Keller’s bottom corner.

The second half brought more Henry magic, as he weaved his way past three Spurs defenders only to see Dennis Bergkamp’s resulting shot blocked, while the home side endured more frustration.

Keane, put through by Darren Anderton’s magnificent pass, always struggled to gain control of the ball before Seaman diverted it for a corner, and then the 39-year-old keeper stood strong to block a Keane volley as it fell over his shoulder in the area.

At Loftus Road, Birmingham’s Kirovski curled a shot past Fulham keeper Edwin van der Sar after good link-up play with Clinton Morrison on seven minutes.

Purse, the Birmingham captain, was dismissed for two bookable offences, but Fulham failed to take advantage.

Steve Bruce’s side climb to 13th in the table, with Fulham on the slide in 14th.—Reuters