Arsenal picked up a vital 1-0 win over West Brom on Boxing Day to remain nine points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea.

The Gunners suffered back-to-back defeats against Everton and Manchester City in the build-up to Christmas, yet got back to winning ways thanks to Olivier Giroud’s header four minutes from time.

It means that Arsene Wenger’s men stay fourth in the table, a point clear of North London rivals Tottenham in fifth, ahead of their meeting with Sam Allardyce’s Crystal Palace on New Year’s Day.

Arsenal have won 11 of their 18 Premier League games this season, and also won their Champions League group for the first time since 2011 by picking up four wins and two draws in Group A, although they once again will face Bayern Munich in the last 16 after they finished runners up to Atletico Madrid in Group D.

Nonetheless, it has been a decent year for Wenger’s men, who overtook Tottenham on the final day of the season back in May to finish second in the Premier League, their highest finish since 2005.

And, with the year approaching its end, we thought we’d take a look back at Arsenal’s 2016, and have thus identified their top THREE games from the year…

Arsenal 2-1 Leicester (February 14)

Arsenal knew that they had to beat league leaders Leicester at the Emirates to remain in the hunt for the Premier League title, and they did just that.

Claudio Ranieri’s Foxes took the lead in North London when Jamie Vardy was brought down by Nacho Monreal in the box, and the England international stepped up to fire the visitors ahead.

However, Leicester’s Danny Simpson was sent off nine minutes into the second half for a second yellow card, and Arsenal equalised 16 minutes later through Theo Walcott.

And then Danny Welbeck headed home a dramatic late winner to seal the victory for Wenger’s side to inflict just a third defeat of the season on Leicester, and their second to Arsenal.

The result put the Gunners within two points of the league leaders, but they were unable to sustain a title charge, and eventually finished ten points behind the Foxes in second.

Arsenal 3-0 Chelsea (September 24)

The Gunners were already playing catch up to leaders Manchester City when Chelsea visited the Emirates in September, although Antonio Conte’s side were simply blown away by Wenger’s men in the first half.

Alexis Sanchez gave them an 11th minute lead before Theo Walcott added a second just three minutes later, and then Mesut Ozil sealed the win five minutes before half time by netting the third.

Arsenal were devastatingly good going forward and, although they were helped by hopeless defending from Chelsea, it was a clear statement of intent from the Gunners.

The win moved them up to third in the table, and three points clear of Chelsea, who fell to eighth.

West Ham 1-5 Arsenal (December 3)

Although West Ham haven’t been the side they were last season in the current campaign, they were absolutely no match for an Alexis Sanchez-inspired Arsenal earlier this month.

The Chilean international netted a wonderful hat-trick alongside strikes from Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to secure a crushing 5-1 victory over the Hammers on Arsenal’s first visit to the London Stadium.

Sanchez’s third goal, where he sold goalkeeper Darren Randolph a dummy before chipping it over the Irishman, was the pick of the bunch, with the only blot for Wenger’s side the goal scored by Andy Carroll seven minutes from time.

Nonetheless, it was an impressive and much-needed win for the Gunners, as they remained three points behind Chelsea following their 3-1 win at Manchester City earlier in the day.