London, England

Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon scored two minutes apart in the first half to carry Tottenham Hotspur to a crucial 2-1 Premier League triumph over Arsenal Sunday at White Hart Lane.

The win moved the Spurs two points ahead of Chelsea for third place and seven points clear of Arsenal, putting them in the hunt for a UEFA Champions League spot with 10 games left.

"It was very, very important for what it means, but obviously nothing is finished yet. We have to believe that we still have to fight hard. We have to play Liverpool next weekend," said Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas.

"Last year, by this time, Arsenal made the difference of seven points to Tottenham and we know how it finished. Motivations are now different. We are extremely confident. They are on a low at the moment. We have to continue to do our job," he added.

Arsenal started the game strongly but Bale and Lennon had other ideas.

Bale slipped behind a static Arsenal back four and slotted past Wojciech Szczesny to put Tottenham, 1-0, in the 37th minute.

In the 39th minute, Lennon breezed past the flat back line, latching on to Scott Parker's pass before beating the Arsenal goalkeeper from close range.

Per Mertesacker pulled one back for the Gunners in the 51st minute, but excellent defense from Jan Vertonghen and Michael Dawson kept Arsene Wenger's men from finding their way through again.

In a last-ditch effort to salvage a tie, Wenger fielded in Lukas Podolski and Tomas Rosicky for additional offensive threat but came up empty.

Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott had several chances to score but their shots went just wide of Tottenham's goal.

"We were not efficient in those decisive zones, not at the back or up front. We were not cautious enough. On the two goals we played offside in a position where we shouldn't play offside," Wenger said.