After falling behind 3-0, Tottenham Hotspur reduced the deficit with two second-half goals, setting up a tense finish in Sunday’s North London derby, but Arsenal held on for a decisive 3-2 victory and maintained their Premier League title bid. Arsenal scored three goals in the first half, including an own goal by Spurs’ Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz scored the other two for the Gunners.

However, Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya gifted Spurs a goal on 64 minutes when a poorly executed chipped pass fell to Cristian Romeo, who struck the bottom left corner. Declan Rice fouled Ben Davies, forcing the Video Assistant Referee to give a penalty, which Son Heung-min converted in the 87th minute. But Arsenal hung on, bringing their total to 80 points after 35 games and putting pressure on second-place Manchester City, who defeated Nottingham Forest 2-0 later Sunday. Liverpool is four points behind City in third place, but, like Arsenal, has played 35 games with three matches left.

Arsenal arrived at their neighbors’ home anxious for a win and got off to a fantastic start after 15 minutes when midfielder Hojbjerg headed the ball back into his own net from a corner. Spurs reacted with defender Romero hitting the outside of the post from a James Maddison cross. The hosts believed they had equalized when Micky van de Ven deflected Pedro Porro’s effort past goalie David Raya, but after lengthy deliberation, the VAR ruled the goal out for offside.

Arsenal increased their lead immediately before half-time when Saka calmly converted a counter-attack after Spurs’ Dejan Kulusevski slipped into the Arsenal box. Havertz scored the third with an easy header from a corner that evaded the home defense, and the visitors were on fire. Tottenham have not gone down 3-0 at home to Arsenal since 1959.

Spurs replaced Rodrigo Bentancur with Pape Matar Sarr at halftime, and Romero scored their first just past the hour when Raya sent the ball to him, and the Argentina defender hit the bottom corner to raise the home crowd.

Spurs were awarded a penalty after a VAR review in the 87th minute when Rice kicked Ben Davies just inside the box while the Arsenal midfielder attempted to clear the ball. Son went forward to convert the penalty kick, setting up a tense finish. Spurs increased the pressure but were unable to penetrate Arsenal’s defense again. Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou was left to rue the blunders that had plagued his team all season.