A late first-half penalty equalizer by Frenchman Robert Pires earned Arsenal a 1-1 draw on Sunday at north London rival Tottenham, moving the Gunners one point ahead in the Premier League.
In Sunday's other two matches, Sunderland upset Liverpool 2-1 and Birmingham City stopped Fulham 1-0.
Arsenal's draw gave the Gunners a valuable point and moved them one point ahead of Manchester United in the league race. Arsenal has 36 points followed by Man United (35), Chelsea (34), Everton (32), Liverpool (31) and Newcastle (29).
In yesterday's lone game Leeds faced Bolton.
Tottenham took a quick 1-0 lead on Christian Ziege's free kick in the 11th. But Arsenal equalized in first-half injury time when Robert Pires scored on a penalty after Spurs' 'keeper Kasey Keller pulled down Arsenal's Thierry Henry in the box.
Sunderland ended its four-game league winless string as substitute Michael Proctor scored in the 85th in a 2-1 win over slumping Liverpool. It was Liverpool's fourth-straight league loss, its worst run in nine years. The league victory was only Sunderland's fourth and moved the side out of relegation danger.
Gavin McCann gave Sunderland a 1-0 lead after 36 minutes, Sunderland's first in 8-and-a-half hours of soccer. McCann was stopped on a penalty attempt early in the second half by Liverpool 'keeper Chris Kirkland. Milan Baros took advantage and scored minutes later to make it 1-1 and set the stage for Proctor.
Proctor took a wild swing at the ball, barely brushing it from 15m, but recovered to drive the second attempt home from 12m.
Birmingham City defeated Fulham 1-0 when American Jovan Kirovski scored on a twisting 20m strike in the 7th minute. Birmingham played the last 20 minutes a man short with Darren Purse sent off on his second yellow card.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was glad for the lone point.
``It was a very tough game,'' Wenger said. ``A very physical game. I'm happy because we didn't give in. The second half could have gone both ways I feel. Overall, I'm happy with the reaction of the team.''
Tottenham manager Glenn Hoddle's team moved up with 28 points and said Spurs should have won after losing 3-0 to Arsenal earlier in the year.
``I think everyone who sees that game would say we deserved to win it. We did enough to win it and I am very proud of the way we played.''
Trouble on the street broke out after the match in north London with a group of Arsenal fans reported trapped by rival supporters trying to leave the area.
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