Cameroon international Lauren held his nerve to net a last-gasp penalty as Arsenal returned to the top of the Premiership with a tense 2-1 victory over north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur today.
The right-back took over the penalty-taking duties from Thierry Henry, who won the spot-kick, to slot the ball past Spurs keeper Kasey Keller in the 86th minute.
Just six minutes earlier, Teddy Sheringham had cancelled out Fredrik Ljungberg's opener with another penalty as Spurs looked set to dent Arsenal's title bid.
Arsene Wenger's side, who have won eight league games on the trot, are top with 72 points, two ahead of Manchester United, who temporarily reclaimed the lead after their 1-0 victory over Leicester City earlier this afternoon.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's 61st-minute winner condemned Leicester to relegation to the first division.
Derby County and Ipswich Town look set to join them as they suffered debilitating defeats.
German Fredi Bobic scored a first-half hat-trick as Bolton Wanderers helped their own push for safety by crushing Ipswich 4-1.
Derby lost 2-0 at Southampton, Chelsea beat Everton 3-0, West Ham United beat Charlton Athletic 2-0 and Aston Villa lost 2-1 at Middlesbrough.
