LONDON, May 3 Arsenal strengthened their grip on second place in the Premier League with a 2-0 victory at relegation candidates West Bromwich Albion on Monday. Dutch forward Robin Van Persie shot home from 15 metres in the 66th minute and Brazilian midfielder Edu scored in the dying moments to hand Arsenal their success. With three games left, Arsenal moved on to 77 points, 11 behind newly crowned champions Chelsea but four clear of Manchester United, 4-0 winners at Charlton Athletic on Sunday.

The Gunners are now in hailing distance of clinching the runners-up slot which guarantees an automatic place in next season’s Champions League. They also meet United later this month in the FA Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was generous in his praise of Chelsea who took away their title with a 2-0 win at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

“They were hungry for success and they achieved it,” he told Sky Sports News after Monday’s match. West Brom stay second-bottom on 30 points, the same as Norwich City and one less than Crystal Palace and Southampton. All four clubs have two matches to play.

Manager Bryan Robson, staring relegation in the face, felt West Brom had been unlucky. “Sometimes there’s no justice in the game,” he said. “We deserved more.”

Premier League results:

Played on Monday:

West Bromwich 0 Arsenal 2

Played on Sunday:

Charlton Athletic 0 Manchester United 4

Tottenham Hotspur 5 Aston Villa 1

Played on Saturday:

Birmingham City 2 Blackburn Rovers 1

Bolton Wanderers 0 Chelsea 2

Fulham 2 Everton 0

Liverpool 1 Middlesbrough 1

Manchester City 2 Portsmouth 0

Newcastle United 0 Crystal Palace 0

Southampton 4 Norwich City 3

Standings

(Tabulated under played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):

Chelsea 35 27 7 1 67 13 88

Arsenal 35 23 8 4 76 33 77

Manchester United 35 21 10 4 54 21 73

Everton 35 17 7 11 41 36 58

Liverpool 36 16 7 13 49 37 55

Bolton Wanderers 36 15 9 12 45 41 54

Tottenham Hotspur 36 14 9 13 47 40 51

Middlesbrough 36 13 12 11 51 45 51

Manchester City 36 12 12 12 44 37 48

Aston Villa 36 12 11 13 43 48 47

Charlton Athletic 36 12 9 15 40 55 45

Birmingham City 36 10 12 14 38 44 42

Blackburn Rovers 36 9 14 13 31 40 41

Newcastle United 35 9 13 13 43 53 40

Portsmouth 36 10 8 18 42 56 38

Fulham 35 10 8 17 42 56 38

Southampton 36 6 13 17 42 62 31

Crystal Palace 36 7 10 19 37 58 31

W. Bromwich Albion 36 5 15 16 33 60 30

Norwich City 36 6 12 18 41 71 30

—Reuters