LONDON: Arsenal have a tantalising opportunity. If they beat struggling Wolves next weekend then they will remain top of the Premier League until after Christmas.

This prize of both confidence and prestige is within the grasp of manager Mikel Arteta and his outstanding team after a 1-0 London derby victory away to Chelsea. In truth the margin of victory should have been more decisive.

The Gunners took the match by the throat from the kickoff, dominated the first half and the winning close-range goal from central defender Gabriel was overdue when it arrived after Bukayo Saka’s corner in the 6rdminute.

Chelsea manager Graham Potter had made three changes from the team who started the 2:1 Champions League win over Dinamo Zagreb with Thiago Silva, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Marc Cucurella replacing Kalidou Koulibaly, Denis Zakaria and Ben Chilwell, who is out until after the World Cup with a hamstring injury.

The Blues needed a positive result after going three games without a victory in the Premier League, climaxed by the 4:1 defeat at Brighton the last weekend. But they struggled to impose themselves on the game until desperation took command in the closing stages. They managed only two shots on target in the entire 90 minutes.

Potter had hoped that former Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would be inspired by the chance to lead the attack against his old club. Aubameyang had been sacked as captain by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta before leaving English football briefly for Barcelona in January. However he contributed little before being substituted after the goal. Arteta would have seen nothing to make him regret discarding his former captain.

Notably for Arsenal Ben White was outstanding in defence under the pressure of knowing that he may have playing for the chance of selection in England manager Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad later this week.

Arteta said: “We were playing a top top team, a top manager, top class players. The team showed maturity, composure and real character. It’s a really young team but they played as a really mature team.”

Asked about Arsenal’s potential as serious challengers to Manchester City and his old boss Pep Guardiola, he added: “What they are doing is what they’ve been doing for six years. They’re the best team in world, with the best coach in the world. We have taken another step against a difficult opposition and to convince ourselves we can do it.”

Potter had no excuses to offer. He said: “The boys gave everything but we missed that last piece. Arsenal deserved it. They are in a good moment. We lacked a bit of quality. We need to do better. Mikel Arteta has done a good job.”

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