(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-12-24 08:56

LONDON - Arsenal's bid to reclaim the Premier League title passed a significant milestone on Saturday when a derby win over Tottenham ensured Arsene Wenger's men will spend Christmas on top of the table.

Arsenal's striker Nicklas Bendtner(L) scores the winning goal during the Premiership match against Spurs at the Emirates Stadium. Bendtner's late goal secured a precious 2-1 victory over Tottenham. [Agencies]

On a day that saw Liverpool register an impressive 4-1 win over Portsmouth at Anfield, Arsenal beat their north London neighbours 2-1 to pull four points clear of second-placed Manchester United.

Manchester United can cut Arsenal's lead back to a single point on Sunday, when the champions entertain Everton at Old Trafford.

For Tottenham, who have not beaten their neighbours since November 1999, it was another deeply frustrating derby experience, with even Wenger admitting his side had been fortunate to claim maximum points.

Robbie Keane had the chance to put the visitors in front with a 73rd-minute penalty after Dimitar Berbatov had cancelled out Emanuel Adebayor's well-taken opener for Arsenal.

But the Spurs captain's spot-kick was saved by Manuel Almunia and Arsenal extracted maximum advantage from that reprieve when, three minutes later, substitute Nicklas Bendtner rose unchallenged to head the winner from a Cesc Fabregas corner.

"We had some luck," Wenger confessed. "Almunia saved the penalty and that was the turning point."

Portsmouth arrived at Anfield boasting the best away record in the league.

But Harry Redknapp's men soon found themselves on the back foot as a superb volley by Israeli midfielder Yossi Benayoun was quickly followed by an own goal by Sylvain Distin to put Liverpool two up with barely quarter of an hour gone.

Zimbabwean forward Benjani Mwaruwari fired Portsmouth back into the contest 12 minutes after the break but Fernando Torres guaranteed the win with two late goals to take his tally for his first season in England to 14 goals in all competitions.

"We scored four goals against the team with the best team away record, so that was important for the confidence of everyone," said Reds boss Rafael Benitez.

"The team was playing with passion and intelligence and they are things that it is important to put together."

Manchester City remain in the top four, just ahead of Liverpool, after a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa. Norwegian striker John Carew earned a point for the home side after Rolando Bianchi had given City the lead after only four minutes.

"He's settling in better and better," City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson said of Bianchi, who has begun to pay back some of the 8.8-million-pound he cost the club with three goals in his last four games.

At the other end of the table, Bolton's revival under Gary Megson gathered pace with a 3-0 home win over Birmingham, courtesy of a first-half strike from El Hadji Diouf and a late double from Nicolas Anelka.

Middlesbrough's attempts to edge away from the relegation zone suffered a setback when a late Scott Parker striker allowed West Ham to claim their fifth away win over the season.

Defender David Wheater had given Boro the lead five minutes before the break but Dean Ashton quickly equalised for the Hammers and Parker grabbed all three points right at the death.

It was also a tough afternoon for Sunderland, who slipped back into the drop zone after Stephen Hunt's stoppage time goal gave Reading a 2-1 win at the Madejski Stadium, just as it seemed that Michael Chopra's 82nd-minute penalty would be enough to earn Roy Keane's side a point.

Reading had gone ahead through Icelandic defender Ivar Ingimarsson with just over 20 minutes left.

Managerless Fulham moved out of the bottom three, ahead of Sunderland on goal difference, after a 1-1 draw at home to second-from-bottom Wigan, who took the lead through Marcus Bent but were forced to settle for a point when American winger Clint Dempsey equalised.