Declan Rice's header deep in stoppage time sealed an enthralling 4-3 victory for Arsenal over Luton Town to send them five points clear at the top of the Premier League on Tuesday.
Six minutes of stoppage time were almost up when Rice found space to glance a header into the net, sparking joy for the visitors and heartache for an intrepid Luton side.
However, with the clock having run past the six allotted minutes of stoppage time, Rice got on the end of Martin Odegaard’s cross and glanced a header into the bottom corner for a victory that lifted Arsenal five points clear of second-place Liverpool.
Arsenal went ahead through Gabriel Martinelli in the 20th minute, but Luton answered back almost immediately — not for the last time on Tuesday — as Gabriel Osho headed home a corner kick in the 25th. Arsenal retook the lead just before halftime as Gabriel Jesus was quickest to a bounding ball in front of goal in the 45th minute, but again Luton hit back in short order.
The old stadium was rocking to its foundations, but Luton's joy was cut short as Kai Havertz squared it up on the hour from a Jesus pass. Rice then left the hosts in despair as Arsenal again showed their penchant for late goals.
They have now taken nine points this season courtesy of goals in the last five minutes of games.
"Incredible evening. First of all, congratulations to Luton, their players, staff, the atmosphere they created made it a special night to play football and they made it very hard for us," Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said.
Raya’s blunders furthered concerns he might not be the long-term answer as Arsenal’s goalkeeper after he took the place of Aaron Ramsdale this season following his offseason arrival from Brentford.
Arteta refused to talk about Raya, saying: “It’s part of the job, but I’m really happy with the team so let’s move on.”
Luton looked deserving of their point late into stoppage time. Until Martin Odegaard lofted a hopeful ball into the box for what would have likely been the final sequence of the game. One more clearance was all they needed. Instead, Rice rose highest and headed the ball into the bottom corner to send Arsenal five points clear of Liverpool and six above Manchester City in the Premier League title race.
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