ANKARA 

London's Arsenal topped the English Premier League in a hard-fought 2-1 win over visitors Brentford on Saturday.

After Arsenal's Ben White whipped a cross, Declan Rice gave a 1-0 lead to the Gunners in front of their crowd at the Emirates Stadium through a header in the 19th minute.

Brentford were on level in the first half's injury time.

Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale failed to send a long ball as Brentford's Yoane Wissa blocked it with a sliding tackle and sent the ball into Arsenal’s net.

Following Ramsdale’s blunder, the first half in London ended 1-1.

In the second half, Arsenal piled the pressure on Brentford. Gunners' Rice fired outside the box but hit the woodwork.

Arsenal's German star Kai Havertz came to the rescue in the 86th minute. Havertz powered a late header to score the winning goal for the home team, with White also making his second assist in the match.

Mikel Arteta's Arsenal moved to the top of the Premier League with 64 points in 28 matches. They are the leaders for least a day.

Liverpool and defending champions Manchester City are the other title contenders.

On Sunday, Liverpool will host Man City in a critical match at Anfield Stadium.

Second-place Liverpool have 63 points while Man City have racked up 62 points to be third in standings.

In their next fixture, Arsenal will visit Man City at Etihad Stadium on March 31, one of the key games of the league.