West Bromwich Albion and Arsenal went into the break at 2-2 this afternoon, piling the pressure on the Champions League-chasing Gunners.
The Arsenal fans will have been rattled by reports of an early goal at White Hart Lane, but Yossi Benayoun allayed their fears on four minutes, capitalising on a catastrophic error from West Brom keeper Marton Fulop to tap home.
The away side suffered a scare shortly after going in front when Marc-Antoine Fortune fired in a low shot from a tight angle to force a good save from Gunners keeper Wojciech Szczesny.
West Brom equalised at the 12-minute mark with a controversial goal from Shane Long. The Irish striker was a good two yards off side when he took advantage of sloppy Arsenal defending to level the scores.
The home side took the lead just three minutes later thanks to more poor defending from the visitors. Graham Dorrans got the better of Laurent Koscielny to volley home from the end of the box.
Arsenal could have drawn level just after the 20 minutes through Robin van Persie, who latched on to a through ball from Tomas Rosicky but couldn't beat West Brom keeper Jonas Olsson.
There was no denying Arsene Wenger's side on the half-hour mark. Andre Santos's blistering strike proved too much for Fulop to handle, with the home side's keeper at fault again.
The pressure is on Arsenal going into the second period, with Tottenham Hotspur leading against Fulham at the break.
Mark Langshaw
