Arsenal moved to the top of the Premier League table with a 2-0 victory over struggling Luton on Wednesday. They edged ahead of Liverpool in another exciting three-way race for the championship.
Midway through the first half, Gunners captain Martin Odegaard gave the home team the lead. Just before the half, an own goal gave them even more.
The outcome puts Arsenal one point ahead of Jurgen Klopp's team, who play Sheffield United on Thursday, with 68 points.
In front of an anticipatory crowd, Mikel Arteta's team controlled possession in the first few minutes at the Emirates but failed to generate many clear-cut opportunities.
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However, they broke the tie in the twenty-fourth minute when Odegaard scored a lovely left-footed goal.
This season's erratic player, Emile Smith-Rowe, stole the ball and fed Odegaard, who played a one-two with Kai Havertz before stroking it home.
After more excellent work down the left by Smith-Rowe, Luton defender Daiki Hashioka turned into his net, giving Arsenal a two-goal lead in the 44th minute.
Despite having only three shots on goal in the first half, the home team, playing in second gear, deservedly led at the half.
Although Luton entered the game more and looked for a way to get back into the game, the second half was mainly uneventful.
Arteta added forwards Declan Rice and Eddie Nketiah, and with fifteen minutes remaining, Gabriel Martinelli was also added.
Takehiro Tomiyasu, an Arsenal substitute, came dangerously close to scoring, but Thomas Kaminski had to make a save to keep Nketiah out of the goal in the final moments.
They managed to end the game without many alarms, but they could not score a third.
The Gunners, who haven't won the English title since 2004, led most of the previous campaign before faltering as the finish line drew near.
However, they have won nine of their last ten league games, adding steel to their style. Their lone loss in that run was a goalless draw against City on Sunday.
Arsenal, who have only let up four goals in the league so far in 2024, will play Villa on April 14 before traveling to Brighton on Saturday.
Loss for exhausted Rob Edwards' team will have to make an instant return to the Championship after Luton finishes third from the bottom of the English Premier League, three points out of safety.
Brentford and Brighton drew 0-0 in Wednesday's other 1830 GMT kickoff.
