London, England – Tottenham's push for a top-four place received a massive boost on Sunday as first-half goals from Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon propelled Spurs to a 2-1 derby win over Arsenal at White Hart Lane.
The victory not only extends Tottenham's unbeaten run to 12 games, but it moves the club back into third place and seven points clear of the fifth-place Gunners.
A tepid affair exploded to life in the 37th minute when a clever through ball from Gylfi Sigurdsson cut the Arsenal defense open, sending Bale through on goal and allowing the Welshman to beat goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny with a neat flick.
Tottenham saw its lead doubled two minutes later in similar fashion as this time Scott Parker picked up the darting run of Lennon and sent him through the heart of the Arsenal defense, where he easily rounded Szczesny for a simple finish.
The Gunners clearly looked stunned, but the visitors got back into the match in the 51st minute when Theo Walcott's free kick from the left wing was met at the near post by Per Mertesacker, whose glancing header found its way beyond goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and into the far corner.
Arsenal continued to push for the equalizer as the game entered the final 10 minutes, but the closest thing to a goal for the Gunners came in the 89th minute when Walcott's free kick sailed narrowly past the left post.
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