Arsenal climb to second with 1-0 win over struggling Ipswich

LONDON :Arsenal moved up to second in the Premier League and within six points of Liverpool after a largely trouble-free, if slightly pedestrian, 1-0 win at home to struggling Ipswich Town on a chilly night in north London on Friday.

A first-half goal from Kai Havertz, who pounced on a smart pull-back from Leandro Trossard, proved the winner although the hosts should have scored more as the Gunners' performance failed to provide many pre-New Year fireworks.

Lacking the creativity of the injured Bukayo Saka, it took 19 minutes before Arsenal mustered their first shot although four minutes after that Havertz netted his sixth of the season in all competitions by tapping in Trossard's whipped cross.

Ipswich had a spell of pressure after 10 minutes of the second half but it proved fleeting and Arsenal should have comfortably put the game to bed after that.

Defender Gabriel Magalhaes missed a golden opportunity to extend his run of scoring from corners when he headed just wide when completely unmarked. Captain Martin Odegaard then blazed over after he danced from midfield into the visitors box.

The win lifted Arsenal to 36 points behind Liverpool, who have 42 and a game in hand, and meant the Gunners leapfrogged both London rivals Chelsea, who have 35 points, and one of the season's surprise packages Nottingham Forest, fourth on 34.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told reporters he was "very happy with the victory, with the clean sheet and with large parts of the game. We should have scored more but it is the consistency, the team conceded nothing again.

"Considering all the circumstances we had this season, the amount of times we had to play with 10 men, all the injuries that we had, it's good to be in the position that we are but