Arsenal late show downs Norwich

Calm ... Mikel Arteta slotted the first of Arsenal's goals from the penalty spot. Source: Anthony Devlin / AAP

Arsenal scored three times in the last five minutes to beat Norwich City 3-1 and leap to third place in the Barclays Premier League table.

Michael Turner's header looked to have consigned Arsene Wenger's men to defeat, but Mikel Arteta equalised with an 85th-minute penalty before a Sebastien Bassong own goal and an injury-time strike from Lukas Podolski completed the comeback.

Victory takes Arsenal above Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, neither of whom play in the league this weekend, and with eight wins in nine games, their push for Champions League qualification is firmly on track.

The hosts had the best of the first half but the closest they came to scoring was an Olivier Giroud header in the 23rd minute that came back off the crossbar.

		P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Man United	31	25	2	4	38	77
2	Man City	31	19	8	4	30	65
3	Chelsea	31	17	7	7	28	58
4	Tottenham	32	17	7	8	15	58
5	Arsenal	31	16	8	7	27	56
6	Everton	31	13	13	5	12	52
7	Liverpool	32	13	10	9	19	49
8	West Brom	32	13	5	14	-1	44
9	Swansea	32	10	11	11	1	41
10	Fulham	31	10	9	12	-4	39
11	Southampton	32	9	10	13	-7	37
12	West Ham	31	10	7	14	-9	37
13	Newcastle	32	10	6	16	-14	36
14	Norwich	32	7	14	11	-19	35
15	Stoke	32	7	13	12	-11	34
16	Aston Villa	32	8	9	15	-24	33
17	Sunderland	32	7	10	15	-11	31
18	Wigan	31	8	7	16	-20	31
19	QPR	32	4	12	16	-23	24
20	Reading	32	5	8	19	-27	23

Turner put Norwich ahead in the 56th minute, ghosting in to meet Robert Snodgrass' inswinging free-kick with a close-range header.

Arsenal, who recalled Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott after injury, saw Norwich goalkeeper Mark Bunn turn a Podolski shot onto the crossbar as they pushed for an equaliser.

It looked destined to be a frustrating afternoon for the home side, but Kei Kamara's tug on Giroud allowed Arteta to equalise from the spot before Bassong turned the ball into his own goal from Podolski's cut-back.

Podolski sealed victory in added time, beating Bunn with a low shot from Walcott's lay-off.

"I thought we wouldn't give in and would fight until the end," said Arsenal manager Wenger.

"No-one could predict we would score three goals, but we have great attitude, spirit and desire - and it got us there. We deserved to win but we were against a strong side and needed something special."

Norwich, 1-0 victors over Arsenal at Carrow Road in October, have now won just once in 16 matches and remain only four points above the relegation places.

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