LONDON, 9 November 2003 — Premier League leaders Arsenal showed typical resilience in beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at Highbury yesterday to preserve their unbeaten record this season and go four points clear at the top.
Freddie Ljungberg’s deflected winner in the 78th minute settled a tight derby after Robert Pires had canceled out Darren Anderton’s early strike for Spurs.
But bottom club Leeds United’s problems intensified after they crashed 6-1 at Portsmouth. Charlton Athletic went fourth in the table after a 3-1 home victory over Fulham.
Arsenal have 30 points, four more than Chelsea and five more than champions Manchester United, both of whom play today. Charlton have 21 points.
Arsene Wenger’s side left it late to beat Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League on Wednesday and another salvage job was required yesterday to avert their first Highbury defeat by Spurs since 1993. Tottenham fans were dreaming of a first win over their rivals anywhere since 1999 when Anderton anticipated superbly to divert a loose ball into the net after five minutes.
Spurs defended well and Arsenal struggled to create clear chances until the 68th minute. Then an offside-looking Thierry Henry galloped clear onto a Ray Parlour pass and although Kasey Keller superbly saved his shot, Pires was on hand to slam home the rebound. Ten minutes later Swedish midfielder Ljungberg struck a shot from the edge of the area and the ball looped up off defender Stephen Carr’s boot, over the luckless Keller and into the net.
The kickoff at Fratton Park was delayed for half an hour by a power failure but it merely put off the inevitable as Peter Reid’s Leeds team lost their seventh game in eight league matches. Leeds competed in the first half but fell apart in the second, conceding four goals.
Gary O’Neil scored twice for Portsmouth, who remain in mid-table after their best win of the season. Leeds stay bottom on eight points, the same tally as Blackburn Rovers and Leicester who did not play yesterday.
Stuttgart Roll On With Win at Eintracht
In Berlin, Bundesliga leaders VfB Stuttgart continued their impressive run with a comfortable 2-0 victory at lowly Eintracht Frankfurt yesterday that sent them two points clear at the top.
A first-half goal from Hungary striker Imre Szabics and another after the break courtesy of Germany forward Kevin Kuranyi helped the southerners remain unbeaten 12 games into the season.
Werder Bremen climbed a spot into second with a spectacular 5-1 win at Hanover 96 featuring two goals each from young Paraguayan striker Nelson Valdez and Croatian forward Ivan Klasnic. Third-placed Bayer Leverkusen will move back into second if they beat Schalke 04 today.
At the other end of the table, Hansa Rostock, who had gone nine games without victory, crushed Kaiserslautern 4-0 with two goals from Italian striker Antionio di Salvo to move up to 15th. Cologne replaced Rostock at the bottom after going down 4-0 at VfL Bochum in a bad start for new coach Marcel Koller.
Hartson Double Takes Celtic Eight Points Clear
In Glasgow, Wales striker John Hartson warmed up for next week’s Euro 2004 playoff games with Russia by scoring twice as Celtic crushed Dunfermline Athletic 5-0 to move eight points clear at the top of the Scottish Premier League.
Hartson was on target after 23 and 77 minutes to crack Dunfermline’s resistance before Ross Wallace, Stanislav Varga and Henrik Larsson completed the rout in the final 10 minutes. Celtic remain unbeaten at the top with 34 points from 12 games, eight points clear of champions Rangers who play at Kilmarnock today.
Despite the winning margin, Martin O’Neill’s side looked unconvincing for long spells at Celtic Park yesterday before finding their form, and the net, late on.
Hartson scored the opener from Didier Agathe’s cross on 23 minutes and slipped in his team’s second, which looked offside, with 13 minutes of the game remaining.
The floodgates then opened with young substitute winger Wallace tormenting the visitors to net the third on 81 minutes and then turning supplier for Varga’s headed fourth two minutes later.
Larsson popped up to grab the fifth when he slammed the ball into the net from an almost impossible angle on 87 minutes.
Motherwell leapfrogged Dundee into fourth place thanks to their 1-0 victory at Dens Park, while Livingston beat bottom club Partick Thistle 2-0 to move up to sixth. Dundee United drew 2-2 at Hibernian.
