Arsenal moved four points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool as two goals in four first-half minutes led to a 2-1 comeback win in the north London derby over rivals Tottenham.
After Arne Slot's side drew 1-1 against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday evening, the Gunners knew they could increase their title chances by winning.
But despite dominating the opening match at a bustling Emirates Stadium, they fell behind at home for the third time in eight days.
Dejan Kulusevski warned the Gunners by forcing David Raya into a good save from a corner, but from their next set-piece, Heung-Min Son's strike from the edge of the penalty area deflected off Thomas Partey and past the Arsenal goalkeeper.
It left Arsenal bewildered and their attacking problems looked set to continue for another half as it took them 40 minutes to register their first meaningful chance. But they did score.
For the tenth time this season it was a corner, albeit wrongly given as the ball hit Leandro Trossard before going behind. Declan Rice's deep ball was met by Gabriel, whose header across goal found its way off Dominic Solanke's chest and into the net.
Four minutes later, Arsenal completed the turnaround on the stroke of half-time when Martin Odegaard fed Trossard down the left, with his drive going through the hands of Antonin Kinsky and into the far corner.
That gave Arsenal the impetus to stay deep in the second half, but the home team still had the best chances after the break.
Much-maligned after missing big chances in the recent defeats to Newcastle and Manchester United, Kai Havertz missed two glorious chances inside the penalty area.
The striker fired over from four yards out on a corner before nodding a free header straight to Kinsky. Martin Odegaard, who missed a penalty in the FA Cup defeat to United, also blasted a good chance wide to seal the points late on. “The feeling is we could have scored 10,” Arsenal's Declan Rice said after the match.
That didn't matter though, as despite Spurs bringing in Richarlison on his return from injury, Ange Postecoglou's side barely threatened, with Pedro Porro's injury-time shot off the post from an impossible angle, coming closest to a response in the second half.
Spurs sit in 13th place with just one league win against 20th-placed Southampton since beating Manchester City in November, while Arsenal have the title in their sights.
Ange: This cannot be accepted
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou:
“Not good enough, especially the first half which was far too passive. We allowed Arsenal to take control. I was disappointed in us, with and without the ball, allowing them to dictate the tempo. Not nearly good enough.
“That's not who we are. I didn't let the team play like that. It just wasn't good enough to sit there and let Arsenal play.”
“There is no silver bullet. We have to work hard and battle on Sunday and turn our fortunes and our season around. There are always reasons why things happen, but the reality is that our results and form in the league have not been nearly good enough. ” That has to change.
“We just didn't play close to the identity of what I want us to be. We are an aggressive team, with and without the ball. We showed that against Liverpool, but tonight we were far too passive. That's not acceptable. The second half was a little better, but it wasn't enough.
“This cannot be accepted by anyone at the club. It is not right that we lose so many games in a season. Yes, we are asking for big jobs, but I hope that the 18-year-olds [Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall] are in as much pain as anyone else when it comes to not being able to perform on a big day.”
'Definitely' – Arteta confirms Arsenal are still looking for strikers despite the win
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta:
“The boys were excellent. We played 120 minutes less than 72 hours ago, but the way we performed was exceptional.
“We made it difficult for ourselves, but the attitude was excellent. The aim and intensity were really good.
“We play every three days so it's just a basic, it's now about the next day. We won today, great, but now it's about Aston Villa. My confidence comes from what I see every day, not just from results. Sometimes in football you don't get what you deserve.
“We can't feel sorry for ourselves. What we can control is the performance, and today they did it again.”
On the possibility of reinforcements in January, Arteta added: “Yes, definitely. We have lost two big players with Gabi. [Jesus] and Bukayo [Saka]. We're going to try, we're actively looking. We have lost two very important players. We will try, but let's see what we can achieve.”
'Ashley Cole vibes' – Lewis Skelly is on his way to greatness
Sky Sports' Lewis Jones at Emirates Stadium:
We shouted: where are all the English left-backs?
England apparently have a problem with Ben Chilwell and Luke Shaw struggling to make an impact at the top level for various reasons.
England, however, need not worry. Miles Lewis-Skelly is the answer. And Thomas Tuchel was in the Emirates to witness it first hand.
The 18-year-old was phenomenal again. From the first whistle he made a tackle and unleashed Raheem Sterling on goal. That set the tone. And he didn't give in.
Tottenham are a dangerous team on the right flank with Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski, but you wouldn't know that based on this match. Lewis-Skelly saw off all comers with a performance full of tenacity, class and astonishing maturity.
No player made more tackles for Arsenal (4), won possession more often (6) and had a higher passing accuracy (93.8 percent) than Lewis-Skelly, as the stats backed up the visuals.
There were real Ashley Cole vibes about what we saw. Arsenal and England have such a talent in their hands.
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