Trossard seals derby win for Arsenal over Tottenham

LONDON :Leandro Trossard transformed the mood at Arsenal with the winning goal as they recovered from an early setback to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at home and move back into second place in the Premier League on Wednesday.

Belgian Trossard fired in just before halftime to seal a derby victory that not only rekindled Arsenal's title hopes by cutting the deficit to Liverpool to four points, but also proved a timely tonic after a difficult start to the year.

A 2-0 defeat at home by Newcastle United last week in the League Cup semi-final first leg and then a penalty shootout exit at home against Manchester United in the FA Cup third round had left Arsenal's season in danger of unravelling.

A season-ending injury to Gabriel Jesus added to Arsenal's woes this week and when Son Heung-min's deflected volley gave Tottenham the lead against the run of play after 25 minutes it looked as though Arsenal's gloom might deepen.

But they hit back impressively to deservedly win a third Premier League north London derby in succession for the first time since 1989. Arsenal moved back above surprise package Nottingham Forest with 43 points from 21 games with Liverpool, who drew with Forest on Tuesday, on 47 from 20.

"Outstanding today. From the first minute we were really at it, really intense. We played with a real purpose to hurt them. We created an unbelievable atmosphere," Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said. "The attitude we played with, not feeling sorry for ourselves, was phenomenal."

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou had no complaints about his side's 11th league defeat of the season which leaves them in 13th place with 24 points. His side have won only once in nine league games and the Australian knows far better is expected.

"We were