Arsenal defy late Chelsea comeback

Champions Arsenal beat Chelsea 3-2 after a thrilling finish to their London derby to cast their rivals eight points adrift in third place on...

Champions Arsenal beat Chelsea 3-2 after a thrilling finish to their London derby to cast their rivals eight points adrift in third place on Wednesday.

Manchester United are five points behind in second after Paul Scholes added an injury-time goal to England captain David Beckham’s 81st-minute equaliser to give them a 2-1 home win over Sunderland.

Arsenal won the Highbury showdown thanks to an early Marcel Desailly own goal and strikes by Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Thierry Henry after 81 and 83 minutes.

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Mario Stanic and Emmanuel Petit then got two in two minutes for Chelsea but the comeback came too late to prevent them taking just one point from three games over the holiday period. “Spirit got us through,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told SkySports.

“At 3-0, we thought it was done, relaxed a little and we got quickly punished. We got away with 3-2 but it became very, very dangerous in the end.

“There are lessons to be learned. But I would take a positive lesson out of this game because this team is absolutely fantastic spirit-wise.” United manager Alex Ferguson had a simple explanation for their win after Gavin McCann’s strike, headed in by United’s Juan Sebastian Veron, had given the visitors a shock lead.

“Perseverance and determination,” the Scot told SkySports.”It was reminiscent of many games we’ve won over the years. They’ve never given in.”
Paying tribute to Beckham, back at his best after a spell on the sidelines with a rib injury, Ferguson said: “He was tremendous. He’s come back, he’s shown a lot of freshness and he’s worked his socks off today.

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“It was a difficult position after the own goal we gave away so early in the match and the chances we were missing. But we kept going, kept going and we deserved what we got. “It was a significant result.”

Sunderland manager Howard Wilkinson said: “We’ve got to looka t the good points, learn from the bad and move on.”
Everton edged to fourth, two points behind Chelsea, after a 2-2 home draw with Manchester City.

Leeds United made it four wins and a draw in their last five with a 2-0 home success against Birmingham City. James Beattie got his 13th of the season as Southampton took their unbeaten run to eight with a 1-0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur.

Aston Villa beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0, Blackburn Rovers beat Middlesbrough 1-0. Charlton Athletic against West Ham United and Fulham against West Bromwich Albion were postponed because of waterlogged pitches.