Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Ipswich Town - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 27, 2024 Arsenal's Kai Havertz reacts after the match Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley
LONDON (Reuters) -Arsenal moved up to second in the Premier League and within six points of Liverpool after a largely trouble-free, if slightly pedestrian, 1-0 win at home to struggling Ipswich Town on a chilly night in north London on Friday.
A first-half goal from Kai Havertz, who pounced on a smart pull-back from Leandro Trossard, proved the winner although the hosts should have scored more as the Gunners' performance failed to provide many pre-New Year fireworks.
Lacking the creativity of the injured Bukayo Saka, it took 19 minutes before Arsenal mustered their first shot although four minutes after that Havertz netted his sixth of the season in all competitions by tapping in Trossard's whipped cross.
Ipswich had a spell of pressure after 10 minutes of the second half but it proved fleeting and Arsenal should have comfortably put the game to bed after that.
Defender Gabriel Magalhaes missed a golden opportunity to extend his run of scoring from corners when he headed just wide when completely unmarked. Captain Martin Odegaard then blazed over after he danced from midfield into the visitors box.
The win lifted Arsenal to 36 points behind Liverpool, who have 42 and a game in hand, and meant the Gunners leapfrogged both London rivals Chelsea, who have 35 points, and one of the season's surprise packages Nottingham Forest, fourth on 34.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told reporters he was "very happy with the victory, with the clean sheet and with large parts of the game. We should have scored more but it is the consistency, the team conceded nothing again.
"Considering all the circumstances we had this season, the amount of times we had to play with 10 men, all the injuries that we had, it's good to be in the position that we are but it's not where we want to be. We want to be first."
The Gunners next visit Brentford on New Year's Day and Brighton & Hove Albion on Jan. 4 before playing two domestic cup games and hosting local rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Jan. 15.
SLOW START
Friday's match started slowly as Arsenal kept the ball effortlessly early on, although it was mostly in non-threatening areas until Trossard burst to the byline after 23 minutes and fired the ball across for Havertz to prod in.
Arsenal forward Gabriel Jesus thought he had added to his recent run of goals later in the half when he poked the ball through the Ipswich keeper Arijanet Muric's legs from an unfathomably tight angle but it was ruled out for offside.
The home side created a handful of good chances in the final 20 minutes too with Odegaard, Havertz and Trossard all getting shots in but if Arsenal are to keep up their challenge on Liverpool they will need to demonstrate more clinical finishing.
Ipswich remain second-bottom with 12 points from 18 games, three off the safety zone, before they host Chelsea on Monday.
"The players worked really hard and we got the game to a good place in the second half after a good 20 minutes," Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna told the BBC.
"Early on we were pinned in and couldn't get out but to be where we were after 89 minutes I was really pleased ... Some defending was good and we'll need that on Monday against Chelsea."
(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Ken Ferris)
