LONDON (Reuters) -Arsenal defeated London rivals Chelsea 1-0 for their first win in four Premier League games on Sunday as a headed goal by stand-in striker Mikel Merino boosted their faint hopes of catching up with runaway leaders Liverpool.
Merino scored in the 20th minute when he stooped to flick his looping header over Robert Sanchez in the Chelsea goal after a Martin Odegaard corner.
The Spanish midfielder, who has led Arsenal's attack in the absence of injured colleagues in recent weeks, came close to a second goal in the 60th minute but his side-footed volley was kept out by a fine save by Sanchez.
"It was a big game and we wanted to win against a top team," Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told the BBC.
"We did enough to deserve to win the game. Now we have the international break so let's take a chance to breathe and bring some players back hopefully."
Chelsea were also missing firepower up front with top scorer Cole Palmer absent through injury while centre forward Nicolas Jackson remains sidelined, also due to injury.
Without them, Chelsea struggled to threaten Arsenal's backline. The closest they came to an equaliser was in the 37th minute when defender Marc Cucurella hammered an angled volley at David Raya only for the ball to squeeze through the Arsenal goalkeeper's hands and go just wide.
The win left second-placed Arsenal 12 points behind Liverpool who face Newcastle United in the League Cup final later on Sunday.
Both the top two teams have played 29 games with a further nine rounds of fixtures to go.
Chelsea are fourth, one point ahead of Manchester City and five behind third-placed Nottingham Forest.
"We want to play Champions League football next season," Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo told Sky Sports. "The teams are close but we are just focused on ourselves because that is the most important thing. Champions League football is our target."
(Writing by William Schomberg; editing by Clare Fallon)
