LONDON Late goals by Robert Pires and
Thierry Henry gave Arsenal a 2-0 home win over north London
rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday in a rehearsal for next
week's FA Cup semifinal.
Arsenal dominated a game watched from the stands by Glenn
Hoddle, who takes over as Tottenham manager on Monday. The win
gave Arsenal 57 points, 13 behind leaders Manchester United.
The reigning champions lost for the third time this season
earlier on Saturday as first-half goals by Steven Gerrard and
Robbie Fowler gave Liverpool a well-deserved 2-0 Anfield win.
Leeds moved up to third on 50 points after Alan Smith and
Mark Viduka gave them a 2-0 away win over Sunderland, who drop
to sixth on 48, one point behind Ipswich who play on Monday.
Chelsea moved up to seventh on 45 after a 2-1 home win over
Middlesbrough that leaves Terry Venables' team still in real
danger on 31 points, one place above the drop zone.
Coventry City gave themselves some hope of survival by
beating Derby County 2-0 for their first win of the year.
They have 27 points, the same as Manchester City, who lost
3-1 to Aston Villa in their 10th home defeat of the season.
Bottom club Bradford City are on 18 points after a 2-2 home
draw with Newcastle United.
The game at Highbury was preceded by a minute's silence in
honour of former Arsenal and England midfielder David Rocastle,
who died from cancer on Saturday at the age of 33.
Spurs were without several first-choice players, including
inspirational defender Sol Campbell, and were on the receiving
end for most of the first half.
Pires and Henry both went close but the game had little of
the snap usually associated with north London derbies.
Sylvain Wiltord shot wide twice early in the second half as
Arsenal continued to dominate, but over-elaboration and poor
final passes limited the clear chances.
Just when it looked as if the goal would never arrive, Pires
cut in from the left and fired in a right-foot drive past Neil
Sullivan in the 70th minute.
Henry sealed victory three minutes from time with a clever
dribble and calm finish on the break.
"I thought we played well and we needed to be patient," said
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. "We had plenty of chances and I always thought we would
score but they defended very well.
"Also, some of the players played with David Rocastle and
knew him and it was not easy for them after hearing such news."
Leeds' win over Sunderland was a massive boost for their own
European ambitions, which include next week's Champions League
quarterfinal with Spain's Deportivo Coruna.
Leeds manager David O'Leary said: "We're making a great
fight of trying to get that third place. We may have left it too
late, but we'll give it our best."