SOCCER/Arsenal - 1 Tottenham - 0: Chelsea's title celebrations must remain on hold at least until Saturday after Robbie Keane missed from close in for Tottenham in the closing minutes, and instead Arsenal will have felt satisfaction last night.

A derby victory will always give their fans pleasure and Arsene Wenger's team strengthened their grip on second place.

Arsenal's notional hopes of winning the title will end if Chelsea win at Bolton on Saturday, but Wenger will be pleased with the way his season is ending as he looks ahead. It would have been wholly unmerited had Keane headed in an Andy Reid cross.

A first-half goal from Jose Antonio Reyes sufficed, but the margin should have been greater, with Edu hitting a post and Reyes shooting wide late on. Arsenal lit up the game with passages of fine football and Tottenham did not seriously threaten after going behind until late pressure that brought Keane's miss and a penalty shout for handball against Ashley Cole.

Wenger had described Chelsea as "worthy champions" after his team's goalless draw there last week and Patrick Vieira revealed in his programme notes here that he had congratulated several Chelsea players after that game.

"If they win the league it proves they are the best team in the Premiership," he wrote. "Maybe they don't play the best football but they are the best team overall."

It was not long before Arsenal went ahead, but they should have scored inside the first minute, when Reyes paid for the extent to which he relies on his left foot. Put through by Robin van Persie's clever pass, Reyes went round Paul Robinson but hit the side netting when shooting with his right.

The Spaniard was soon to demonstrate, though, that his left foot can be a fearsome weapon. The strike with which he gave Arsenal a 22nd-minute lead was as sure and accurate as his earlier effort had been poor. Reyes had looked short of confidence up to that point but perhaps that was merely cover.

Cesc Fabregas's pass sent Reyes sprinting towards goal after Sean Davis and then Simon Davies had failed to make strong tackles, and the former Sevilla player had too much pace for Michael Dawson and too strong a shot for Robinson.

Until then Tottenham had been combative in the centre of the field and they paid dearly for allowing that to slip.

Martin Jol must have been pleased before then with the discipline and organisation of his players, who restricted Arsenal to next to no clear opportunities despite the ceaseless hard work of Patrick Vieira and some promising moments for Wenger's team down the left.

Courtesy of Jermain Defoe they had also posed a few problems for Arsenal. But Reyes's goal so deflated Spurs and lifted Arsenal that the home team completely gained the upper hand.

Arsenal passed slickly, often flummoxing their opponents and frequently exposing the right flank of Tottenham's defence, where the inexperience of Stephen Kelly and Dawson was plain. The only worry for Arsenal fans was the failure to turn total dominance into goals before half-time.

Vieira might have done better than head wide at the far post from a free-kick by Van Persie, who was justifying his inclusion ahead of Dennis Bergkamp. Another demonstration of Van Persie's danger came just before the interval when he beat a defender and shot narrowly wide.

Early on there had been a couple of flashes of Defoe's talent, notably when he turned inside Kolo Toure but struck his shot straight at Jens Lehmann when a more careful finish would probably have put his team into the lead.

Although Michael Carrick was doing a good job for Spurs, too little was seen in attacking areas of their wide players Andy Reid and Davies, and Frederic Kanoute and Defoe were given scant opportunity to test Arsenal's defence.

Jol sought to tighten his defence by asking his centre-backs to switch at the interval, allowing Ledley King to move to the right to protect Kelly. And Spurs did look less vulnerable in the second half.

Tottenham had improved but still lacked a consistent threat on the Arsenal goal, despite forcing several corners. Reid's lack of final product was summed up when he hit a free-kick horribly off target and Arsenal looked fairly comfortable even if the verve in their play had dropped to such a degree that they were barely making a chance.

Although Lauren was fortunate to escape punishment after he caught Erik Edman in the neck with an elbow, Arsenal generally seemed calm.

ARSENAL: Lehmann, Lauren, Toure, Senderos, Cole, Fabregas (Edu 70), Silva, Vieira, Pires, Reyes (Aliadiere 88), Van Persie (Bergkamp 69). Subs Not Used: Campbell, Almunia. Goals: Reyes 22.

TOTTENHAM: Robinson, Kelly, Dawson, King, Edman, Davies, Davis (Ziegler 79), Carrick, Reid, Kanoute (Mido 70), Defoe (Keane 78). Subs Not Used: Naybet, Cerny. Booked: Davis, Edman, Kanoute, Dawson.

Referee: M Riley (W Yorkshire).