Robin van Persie was the hero once again, with a stunning volley, for Arsenal as they beat Everton while Manchester United bounced back from their UEFA Champions League disappointment with victory over Wolves.

Newcastle's season continued to slide as they were seen off by Norwich at Carrow Road, while Bolton's woes continued after they suffered a fourth defeat on the spin at home by Aston Villa.

Wigan clambered out of the basement with victory at West Brom, Liverpool had a 1-0 win at home over QPR with a goal from Suarez.

Fulham slipped to another away defeat at Swansea with a key penalty miss.

Stoke beat Tottenham with manager Harry Redknapp feeling that ref Foy had got it wrong and Sunderland came back to beat Blackburn giving Martin O'Neill a first win in his new job.







Robin van Persie fired Arsenal to a 1-0 triumph over Everton at Emirates Stadium to allow the North Londoners to continue their revival.

A largely scrappy affair turned in Arsenal's favour in the 70th minute when Alex Song delivered a perfectly judged ball to in-form captain Van Persie.

The skipper fired home on the volley to mark his 15th league goal this season and lift the Gunners into fourth.

Arsenal Szczesny, Djourou, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen (Miquel 82), Arteta, Song, Walcott (Frimpong 89), Ramsey, Gervinho (Rosicky 83), van Persie.
Subs Not Used: Almunia, Arshavin, Chamakh, Benayoun.

Booked: Arteta, Ramsey.

Goals: van Persie 70.

Everton Howard, Hibbert, Heitinga, Jagielka, Baines, Coleman, Neville (McAleny 76), Fellaini, Bilyaletdinov (Gueye 76), Cahill, Saha (Distin 64).
Subs Not Used: Mucha, Stracqualursi, Barkley, Vellios.

Booked: Coleman, Distin.

Att: 60, 062

Ref: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).






Aston Villa piled more woe on beleaguered Bolton with a 2-1 victory at the Reebok Stadium which leaves Owen Coyle's men rock bottom of the table.

Marc Albrighton handed the visitors the advantage in the 33rd minute when he turned home a low cross from close range before Stiliyan Petrov added to the Trotters' troubles as his shot took a deflection off Gary Cahill and into the net.

Wanderers pulled one back after the break when a Tuncay pass fell to Ivan Klasnic in the area, allowing the Trotters man to spin and hook the ball home, but Villa held on for the win.

Bolton Jaaskelainen, Boyata, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Sanli (Kakuta 71), Pratley, Mark Davies, Eagles, Kevin Davies, Klasnic (Ngog 78).
Subs Not Used: Bogdan, Steinsson, Muamba, Petrov, O'Halloran.

Booked: Mark Davies.

Goals: Klasnic 55.

Aston Villa Guzan, Hutton, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Albrighton, Herd, Petrov, N'Zogbia, Bent (Heskey 81), Agbonlahor.
Subs Not Used: Marshall, Ireland, Delfouneso, Clark, Bannan, Weimann.

Booked: Albrighton, Agbonlahor.

Goals: Albrighton 33, Petrov 39.

Att: 20, 285

Ref: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire).






Liverpool climbed the table with a 1-0 triumph at home to QPR inspired by Luis Suarez's second-half header at Anfield.

The Reds waited until just after the interval to break the deadlock, with Suarez applying a glancing header to a pinpoint Charlie Adam cross to plant the ball in the back of the net.

The victory sees Kenny Dalglish's men leapfrog Newcastle into sixth after their campaign hit another bump at Norwich.

Liverpool Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Jose Enrique, Maxi (Bellamy 78), Adam, Henderson, Downing (Shelvey 86), Suarez, Kuyt.
Subs Not Used: Doni, Carroll, Coates, Carragher, Kelly.

Booked: Agger, Bellamy.

Goals: Suarez 47.

QPR Cerny, Young, Gabbidon, Ferdinand (Orr 50), Traore, Mackie (Hill 78), Barton, Faurlin, Wright-Phillips, Smith (Campbell 66), Bothroyd.
Subs Not Used: Putnins, Derry, Buzsaky, Connolly.

Att: 45, 016

Ref: Lee Mason (Lancashire).






Manchester United were in desperate need of a win after crashing out of Europe in midweek and they did not disappoint, romping to a 4-1 triumph over Wolves at Old Trafford as Nani and Wayne Rooney grabbed two apiece.

Nani fired the hosts ahead in just the 17th minute, leaving visiting goalkeeper Wayne Hennessy with no chance when he picked up the ball from a short corner before smashing a low, powerful shot home.

Rooney doubled the scoreline 10 minutes later, ending a Premier League goal drought dating back to September 18th with a low drive from 25 yards.

Wolves snatched one back immediately after the restart when Steven Fletcher nodded into the top corner but Nani put the Red Devils back in the driving seat soon after when he tapped home an Antonio Valencia cross.

Valencia played provider once again as Rooney added his second from just inside the box to seal the commanding win.

Man Utd De Gea, Smalling, Ferdinand, Evans, Evra (Fryers 67), Valencia, Carrick, Jones, Nani (Young 77), Welbeck (Macheda 74), Rooney.
Subs Not Used: Lindegaard, Giggs, Park, Gibson.

Booked: Ferdinand.

Goals: Nani 17, Rooney 27, Nani 56, Rooney 62.

Wolverhampton Hennessey, Zubar, Johnson, Berra, Ward, Edwards (Milijas 31), Henry, O'Hara (Hunt 70), Jarvis, Doyle, Fletcher (Ebanks-Blake 76).
Subs Not Used: De Vries, Elokobi, Stearman, Hammill.

Goals: Fletcher 47.

Att: 75, 627

Ref: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).






Norwich condemned 10-man Newcastle to their third defeat in four games at Carrow Road as they secured a 4-2 victory, with Grant Holt and Demba Ba both bagging braces.

Wes Hoolahan handed the Canaries the lead in the first half when he tucked the ball over the line from close range in the scramble that followed a 39th minute corner.

Toon's top scorer Demba Ba then levelled things up for the visitors on the stroke of half-time, pouncing on an impressive Yohan Cabaye pass before coolly slotting home into the bottom of the net.

It was not long before Paul Lambert's men got back in front, with Grant Holt powering home off the underside of the crossbar in the 59th minute after his initial shot was parried back into his path by Tim Krul.

Steve Morison stretched their lead when he thumped in Andrew Crofts' precise delivery four minutes later and the Magpies' afternoon then went from bad to worse when Dan Gosling was dismissed for a raised foot on Russell Martin.

Newcastle kept fighting as Ba added a second off a perfectly-weighted ball from Shola Ameobi but Holt completed his own brace to wrap up the win.

Norwich Ruddy, Naughton, Whitbread (Barnett 83), Martin, Tierney, Crofts, Fox, Hoolahan (Jackson 84), Surman (Johnson 76), Morison, Holt.
Subs Not Used: Rudd, Pilkington, Bennett, Wilbraham.

Booked: Crofts, Fox, Hoolahan.

Goals: Hoolahan 39, Holt 59, Morison 63, Holt 82.

Newcastle Krul, Santon (Ferguson 90), Simpson, Perch, Ryan Taylor, Obertan (Sammy Ameobi 80), Cabaye, Gosling, Gutierrez, Ba, Shola Ameobi (Smith 90).
Subs Not Used: Elliot, Ben Arfa, Lovenkrands, Best.

Sent Off: Gosling (66).

Booked: Shola Ameobi, Gosling.

Goals: Ba 45, Ba 71.

Att: 26, 816

Ref: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).






Swansea City rode their luck somewhat as they recorded a 2-0 victory over Fulham on an eventful afternoon for the visitors' Clint Dempsey.

The first half was a drab affair, with Luke Moore's long-range drive that clipped the crossbar about as exciting as it got for those at Liberty Stadium.

In the end it was perhaps fitting that the game would be blown wide open by a piece of misfortune, with Dempsey finding the net at the wrong end after Scott Sinclair's speculative effort had taken a wicked deflection off the United States international.

Dempsey was gifted the chance to make amends in the final minutes, however, after Karim Frei was brought down in the box - but the impressive Michel Vorm guessed correctly to ensure a nightmare afternoon for the forward. .

Swansea Vorm, Richards, Williams, Caulker, Taylor, Routledge (Dyer 89), Britton, Gower, Sinclair, Lita (Graham 76), Moore (Agustien 69).
Subs Not Used: Tremmel, Dobbie, Monk, Bessone.

Booked: Vorm.

Goals: Sinclair 56, Graham 90.

Fulham Schwarzer, Kelly, Hangeland, Senderos, John Arne Riise, Dembele (Frei 77), Davies (Orlando Sa 79), Etuhu, Dempsey, Ruiz, Johnson.
Subs Not Used: Etheridge, Gecov, Bjorn Helge Riise, Hughes, Briggs.

Booked: Senderos.

Att: 19, 296

Ref: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire).





Wigan clambered off the bottom of the standings and out of the drop zone with a much-needed 2-1 triumph over West Brom at the Hawthorns.

Defender Steven Reid scored just his second goal in six years when he opened the scoring for West Brom in the 33rd minute.

The Baggies man found the back of the net from a 25-yard free-kick conceded by Gary Caldwell, wrapping his right foot around the ball to lift a superb shot over the Wigan wall and beat goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi.

Albion's lead only lasted four minutes, however, as Victor Moses replied by bending a brilliant strike into the top right-hand corner from edge of the box.

Wigan then surged ahead in the second half when Reid brought down Moses in the area and Jordi Gomez made no mistake in converting the resulting penalty, sending Ben Foster the wrong way and rolling the ball into the bottom corner.

West Brom Foster, Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Shorey, Brunt, Mulumbu (Dorrans 66), Morrison (Scharner 84), Thomas, Long, Odemwingie (Tchoyi 80).
Subs Not Used: Fulop, Dawson, Jones, Cox.

Booked: Dorrans.

Goals: Reid 33.

Wigan Al Habsi, Stam (McArthur 70), Caldwell, Alcaraz (Gohouri 67), Figueroa, Moses, Diame, Gomez, McCarthy, Jones, Sammon (Di Santo 80).
Subs Not Used: Pollitt, Watson, Maloney, Rodallega.

Booked: Gomez.

Goals: Moses 37, Gomez pen 57 .

Att: 25, 446

Ref: Mike Dean (Wirral).








Sunderland scored two goals in the last six minutes to claim a 2-1 win over Blackburn in Martin O'Neill's first game in charge.

Simon Vukevic's header midway through the first half threatened to spoil O'Neill's day at the Stadium of Light.

But with Blackburn penned back for most of the second half, Sunderland battled back in spectacular fashion.

Firstly through David Vaughan's equaliser as he fizzed his drive in from 25-yards.

Then in the final-minutes Seb Larsson curled home a brilliant free-kick to give the home side an unlikely three points.

It was just Sunderland's fourth home win in 2011 and their second over Blackburn, and just what the bulk of a crowd of 39,863 had turned up to see.

Sunderland Westwood, O'Shea, Bramble, Brown, Bardsley, Larsson, Colback (McClean 76), Vaughan, Richardson, Sessegnon, Wickham (Ji 76).
Subs Not Used: Kilgallon, Meyler, Carson, Elmohamady, Noble.

Booked: O'Shea, Sessegnon.

Goals: Vaughan 84, Larsson 90.

Blackburn Robinson, Salgado (Hanley 51), Samba, Dann, Givet (Olsson 22), Lowe, Dunn, Pedersen, Vukcevic, Formica, Yakubu, Olsson (Henley 46).
Subs Not Used: Bunn, Blackman, Goodwillie, Roberts.

Booked: Salgado, Samba.

Goals: Vukcevic 17.

Att: 39, 863

Ref: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire).







Tottenham were left to rue controversial refereeing decisions as their winning run came to an end in a 2-1 defeat to Stoke at the Britannia Stadium.

While all eyes were on the impressive Peter Crouch's reunion with Spurs, two goals from another former player, Matthew Etherington, ended their ex-club's previous sequence of 10 wins in 11 Premier League matches.

But match official Chris Foy took the spotlight after the interval as - having awarded Tottenham one penalty with half-an-hour remaining, which Emmanuel Adebayor converted - he turned down two further, strong Spurs claims for spot-kicks.

Adebayor also had a seemingly legitimate equaliser disallowed for offside and to make matters worse for Harry Redknapp's visitors, who missed the chance to move to within two points of second-placed Manchester United with a game in hand, Younes Kaboul was sent off in an engrossing finale.

It was the Potters' third successive victory and brought Spurs' first defeat in 12 games.

Stoke Sorensen, Woodgate (Delap 84), Huth, Shawcross, Wilson, Shotton, Whelan, Whitehead, Etherington (Palacios 88), Walters, Crouch.
Subs Not Used: Begovic, Jones, Fuller, Upson, Jerome.

Booked: Woodgate, Wilson.

Goals: Etherington 13, 43.

Tottenham Friedel, Walker, Kaboul, Gallas, Assou-Ekotto (Bassong 46), Lennon (Defoe 46), Parker, Modric, Bale, Van der Vaart (Giovani 88), Adebayor.
Subs Not Used: Gomes, Corluka, Sandro, Pienaar.

Sent Off: Kaboul (82).

Booked: Kaboul, Parker.

Goals: Adebayor 62 pen.

Att: 27, 529

Ref: Chris Foy (Merseyside).







Chelsea will be without the suspended David Luiz, who picked up his fifth domestic yellow card of the season in Saturday's 3-0 win at Newcastle and serves a one-match ban.

Right-back Jose Bosingwa has therefore made a timely recovery from the adductor strain that caused him to miss Tuesday's Champions League success against Valencia.

Josh McEachran is back in training after an ankle knock, while fellow midfielder Michael Essien is expected to return from knee surgery early next year.

Manchester City right-back Micah Richards looks set to miss out.

Richards was ruled out of Wednesday's Champions League win over Bayern Munich with a calf injury and may not shake off the problem in time.

Central defender Stefan Savic played in his position in midweek but Pablo Zabaleta is now fit and could slot back in, but left-back Aleksandar Kolarov (groin) remains out.

Last season: Chelsea 2 Man City 0, Man City 1 Chelsea 0.

Last five league matches: Chelsea L W L W W; Man City W W W D W.

Top scorers: Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea) 8; Edin Dzeko & Sergio Aguero (Man City) 13.

Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).

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