Arsenal top at Christmas after win over Tottenham

 Liverpool closed the gap on the third and fourth-placed sides - Chelsea and Manchester City - with a 4-1 win over Portsmouth. Chelsea play on Sunday while City were held to a 1-1 draw by Aston Villa.

 At the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal extended their lead over Manchester United, who play Everton on Sunday, to four points despite never quite finding their usual fluency at the Emirates Stadium.

 But they were indebted to Manuel Almunia, whose penalty-save from Robbie Keane when the scores were 1-1 kept them in it.

 Emmanuel Adebayor put Arsenal ahead just after half-time but Dimitar Berbatov equalised for Spurs on 65 minutes, only for substitute Niklas Bendtner to head in the winner 16 minutes from time.

 After an inspiration-free first half, a moment of magic from Cesc Fabregas gave them the lead as his back-heel found Adebayor, who slipped the ball under Paul Robinson in the 48th minute.

 Keane should have levelled in the 65th minute when he volleyed on to the crossbar from just six yards out. But Spurs were level just one minute later when a Keane back-heel found Berbatov, who smashed the ball in from an acute angle.

 Berbatov then won a penalty (71) when he went down under the challenge of Kolo Toure, but Keane's penalty was well saved by Almunia, diving to his right.

 Wenger then brought on Bendtner and the striker's impact was immediate as he made it 2-1 on his first touch, running in unmarked to head in Fabregas's corner.

 "It was difficult," Wenger admitted. "I believe we were a bit flat in the first half and not at our best. Tottenham played well.

 "In the second half I think we dominated from the start but at 1-0 up maybe we wanted too much to keep the result. Tottenham played a good game and came back to 1-1. But then Manuel saved the penalty and it was a mental blow for them."

   Manchester City took the lead at Aston Villa through Rolando Bianchi but John Carew equalised and Villa missed several chances to win it.

 Liverpool moved to within a point of City and Chelsea, with a game in hand, after a convincing 4-1 win over Portsmouth at Anfield.

 A Yossi Benayoun volley and an own goal by Sylvain Distin put Liverpool 2-0 up in 16 minutes and though Benjani pulled one back for Portsmouth in the second half, Fernando Torres sealed the win with his 13th and 14th goals of the season.

 Managerless Fulham came from behind to draw 1-1 with Wigan Athletic and move out of the bottom three on goal difference. Marcus Bent's fourth goal in the space of a week put Wigan ahead but Clint Dempsey equalised for the home side.

 Sunderland slipped into the relegation zone after a controversial late winner saw them lose 2-1 at Reading.

 Michael Chopra's penalty looked to have given them a share of the points after Ivar Ingimarsson's opener, but Stephen Hunt grabbed the points when his shot was ruled to have crossed the line.

 Three second-half goals gave Bolton Wanderers a 3-0 win over Birmingham City - Nicolas Anelka scoring twice - while Scott Parker snatched a late winner for West Ham United as they came from behind for a 2-1 victory at Middlesbrough.

DPA