ARSENAL will remain at the top of the Premier League table over Christmas for the first time since the 2007/2008 season.
The Gunners were guaranteed the No1 spot this afternoon after title holders Manchester City suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Brentford.
Ivan Toney – who was left out of England’s 26-man World Cup squad on Thursday – broke the deadlock within the opening 20 minutes at the Etihad Stadium before Phil Foden levelled the score on the stroke of half time.
But, just as both teams looked to settle for a point each, Toney struck again in the 97th minute to secure all three for the Bees.
As a result, City failed to leapfrog Arsenal into the top spot.
Pep Guardiola’s side now remain two points adrift of the Gunners in second.
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However, that gap could be extended if Arsenal get a good result from their game against Wolves this evening.
If they win, the North London side will go FIVE POINTS clear at the top of the table.
And with the six-week World Cup break imminent, they will remain there until New Year’s Eve at the earliest.
The last time the Gunners were top on the 25th December was 2007 when Leon Jackson topped of the charts with When You Believe.
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Arsenal fans were left thrilled after Man City failed to close the gap this afternoon, and some took to Twitter to celebrate.
One person wrote: “Polite reminder that Arsenal Football Club are top of the Premier League not by chance or luck but on merit.”
Another added: “I’m going to spend the entire World Cup period gloating about Arsenal top of the table .. and there’s nothing football Twitter can do about it.”
A third simply said: “Arsenal top at Xmas… love to see it.”
While SunSport columnist Piers Morgan also chipped in with the celebrations, tweeting a video of a dancing Santa Claus.
Despite his side’s success so far this season, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta believes there is still room for improvement.
When asked about the possibility of remaining at the top of the table during his pre-match press conference on Friday, he said: “It would be great, but our focus is to play better every single day and to try to play better tomorrow than we did against Chelsea.
“If we do that, our chances to win the game will increase and that’s where our focus is.”
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He later added: “What we tried to achieve is to play better every single day and I think we are making some strides towards that.
“I think the consistency level that we’ve shown is much better. Whether we can sustain that level or not is dictated game by game.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
