13 Mar 2012

Arsenal strike late to turn up heat on Spurs

11:28 am on 13 March 2012

Arsenal narrowed the gap on third-placed Tottenham to a point as the Gunners came from behind to beat Newcastle United 2-1 in a dramatic Premier League football match at the Emirates.

The visitors went ahead in the 14th minute through Hatem Ben Arfa's low drive but their celebrations were extremely short-lived as Arsenal's man of the moment Robin van Persie struck to level the scores less than a minute later.

Arsenal were in danger of failing to turn their dominance into more goals before Thomas Vermaelen prodded home in the fifth minute of stoppage time after Newcastle failed to clear.

The result leaves Arsenal in fourth with 52 points from 28 games, one behind arch-rivals Spurs whose stranglehold on third spot has loosened after three successive defeats.

Newcastle stayed sixth on 44 points, five behind fifth-placed Chelsea.

Manchester United jumped above Manchester City at the top of the table after beating West Bromwich Albion 2-0 on Monday as their title rivals lost 1-nil at Swansea City.