AlHijjah 21, 1434, Oct 26, 2013, SPA -- Ten-man Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the English Premier League to five points after a hard-fought 2-0 win at managerless Crystal Palace on Saturday, dpa reported. Mikel Arteta put them ahead from the penalty spot two minutes into the second half and Olivier Giroud completed the win with a late second, even after Arsenal had been reduced to 10 men with the dismissal of Arteta 25 minutes from time. The result left Arsenal five points clear of Chelsea and Liverpool, though the latter could close the gap later on Saturday if they beat West Brom. "It is the kind of game where you need the points," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "We were resilient and unlucky to be down to 10 men. We needed to be patient and did that well." Arsenal dominated the first half but it took them until the second half to take the lead after Serge Gnabry was tripped by Adlene Guedioura. Arteta made no mistake with a well-taken penalty but Palace pushed hard for an equalizer and almost got it when Joel Ward hit the bar and Mile Jedinak forced a fine save from Wojciech Szczesny. The Spaniard was then controversially sent off for a challenge on former Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh but Aaron Ramsey set up Giroud to head the winner with three minutes remaining. "The sending-off was a wrong decision because it has to be a clear goalscoring opportunity," Wenger said. "He was a long way from goal. It has to be the last man and that is not proven to me. Also the foul was not obvious." Palace, who lost manager Ian Holloway in midweek, remain second-bottom with just three points from nine matches. -- SPA 18:36 LOCAL TIME 15:36 GMT تغريد
