Arsenal beat Chelsea 3-1 on Saturday to earn just their second win in 11 Premier League matches.
Confidence was at rock-bottom and key first-team members were unavailable for the Boxing Day skirmish, but the floundering Gunners rose to 14th place by taking three points off their trophy-chasing neighbors. They are now six points above the relegation zone and one point behind Crystal Palace.
Alexandre Lacazette converted a penalty and Granit Xhaka netted an impeccable free-kick during the first half, before Bukayo Saka - one of three youngsters included in Mikel Arteta's starting XI - lobbed Edouard Mendy with what appeared to be a mishit cross.
Despite their relative comfort for much of the match, Arsenal still stumbled over the finish line. Tammy Abraham scored from close range in the 85th minute and Bernd Leno saved Jorginho's penalty in injury time.
Arsenal produced seven shots on target against Chelsea, the most they have managed in a single Premier League match this season.
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"We needed that result," Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney told Sky Sports post-match. "We've had a few bad performances but we started better than we have lately and didn't wait until we were 1-0 down to start playing.
"All the youngsters here are hungry to play," he continued. "We have to keep going. At halftime the message was to keep going. Bernd Leno dug us out of a hole at the end. It would have been a long five minutes had that gone in."
Arsenal next travel to Brighton & Hove Albion on Tuesday, while Chelsea host in-form Aston Villa a day earlier.
