LONDON, April 7: Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger praised his players for keeping their cool as the Gunners beat neighbours Tottenham 2-1 at Highbury Saturday to stay on course for their first title in four years.
In a thrilling end to the game, Cameroonian midfielder Lauren scored from an 86th minute penalty to give the Gunners victory after Dean Richards had chopped down French striker Thierry Henry.
The spot-kick decider came just five minutes after Teddy Sheringham had converted a controversial penalty awarded when England goalkeeper David Seaman fouled Gustavo Poyet.
Swedish international Freddy Ljungberg gave Arsenal a deserved lead after 24 minutes of a fiercely contested north London derby to register his 12th goal of the season.
The Gunners now have 72 points with a game in hand over Manchester United who stay second, two points behind, after beating Leicester 1-0, a result which saw the Foxes relegated.
Manchester United had briefly returned to top with victory at Filbert Street. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s 61st minute strike sent Leicester crashing out of the Premiership after six years in the top flight.
On Sunday Leeds United re-booted their flagging European challenge with an unconvincing 2-0 victory over Sunderland.
David O’Leary’s side, who had lost their last two matches, enjoyed an early slice of luck at Elland Road as Sunderland defender Jody Craddock turned the ball into his own net after just eight minutes.
Cameroon international Patrick Mboma wasted an excellent chance to equalise for the visitors with nine minutes remaining, and Robbie Keane, the Leeds substitute, made him pay just two minutes later when he was left unmarked in the area to slot past keeper Thomas Sorensen.
Premier league (Saturday results)
Arsenal 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1
Bolton Wanderers 4 Ipswich Town 1
Chelsea 3 Everton 0
Leicester City 0 Manchester United 1
Middlesbrough 2 Aston Villa 1
Southampton 2 Derby County 0
West Ham United 2 Charlton Athletic 0
Sunday result:
Leeds United 2 Sunderland 0
Juventus back in race
MILAN: Juventus roared back into the race for the Italian title with a 4-0 win at Perugia Sunday as leaders Inter Milan suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at home to Atalanta and AS Roma could only draw 2-2 at already-relegated Venezia.
With four games remaining Inter have 62 points with Roma two points behind and Juventus third on 59 points.
With three minutes left Roma trailed 2-0 at Venezia but substitute Vincenzo Montella scored two penalties as Fabio Capello’s side escaped with a point.
Italian first division results
Brescia 0 Verona 0
Chievo Verona 1 AC Milan 1
Inter Milan 1 Atalanta 2
Parma 2 Udinese 0
Perugia 0 Juventus 4
Piacenza 3 Fiorentina 0
Venezia 2 AS Roma 2
Played Saturday:
Torino 1 Bologna 1
—AFP/Reuters