The weekend in the Premier League again produced an above average number of goals with the biggest surprise coming at Bolton who annialated Stoke 5-0.
Elsewhere Arsenal put three past West Brom, Aston Villa shared five goals with Norwich as did QPR and Man City. Tottenham withstood a Fulham second half come back to run out 3-1 winners and Newcastle continued their dream start to the season with another win. Liverpool were held to a disappointing home draw while Chelsea scrapped a one goal away win.
At the end of the weekend the top five teams all won, Liverpool lost ground while Arsenal are a game away from the top four. At the bottom Wolves' win moved them up to 13th, Bolton got closer to safety but Wigan and Blackburn need a win soon to avoid a sad Christmas.
Intro
Saturday 5th November
Arsenal (2) 3 West Brom (0) 0
Arsenal's rejuvenation continued when in-form captain Robin van Persie led the Gunners to a fourth straight league win as West Brom were brushed aside 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium.
The Holland striker - who smashed a hat-trick to help beat Chelsea last weekend - put Arsene Wenger's men ahead from close range (22) after Theo Walcott's shot was saved by Ben Foster.
Thomas Vermaelen made it 2-0 five minutes before half-time, lashing in van Persie's cutback, and Mikel Arteta (74) wrapped things up after more good work from the Arsenal captain.
Arsenal Szczesny, Jenkinson, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Andre Santos, Ramsey (Rosicky 71), Song, Arteta, Walcott (Arshavin 78), van Persie, Gervinho (Benayoun 72).
Subs Not Used: Fabianski, Mertesacker, Park, Djourou.
Goals: van Persie 22, Vermaelen 39, Arteta 74.
West Brom Foster, Reid, McAuley, Olsson, Jones, Morrison, Dorrans (Thorne 80), Brunt, Cox (Mulumbu 71), Gera (Tchoyi 63), Thomas.
Subs Not Used: Fulop, Shorey, Dawson, Fortune.
Att: 60,091
Ref: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).
Aston Villa (1) 3 Norwich (1) 2
Darren Bent struck twice as Aston Villa came from behind to beat Norwich 3-2 at Villa Park.
Anthony Pilkington had put the visitors ahead on 25 minutes with a fine 20-yard free-kick.
However, the lead did not last long as Agbonlahor's penetrating run and cross allowed Darren Bent (30) to bundle home from close range.
Villa turned the match around at the start of the second half after Agbonlahor (48) latched onto a poor backpass from Leon Barnett to beat John Ruddy.
The England winger then turned provider for Bent (62) to net again just after the hour.
Steve Morison's header set up an anxious final 13 minutes for the hosts, but Villa closed out for all three points.
Aston Villa Given, Hutton, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, N'Zogbia, Herd, Petrov (Ireland 76), Heskey (Jenas 67), Bent, Agbonlahor.
Subs Not Used: Guzan, Albrighton, Delph, Clark, Cuellar.
Booked: N'Zogbia.
Goals: Bent 30, Agbonlahor 48, Bent 62.
Norwich Ruddy, Naughton, Russell Martin, Barnett, Tierney, Bennett (Fox 63), Johnson (Crofts 34), Hoolahan (Jackson 76), Pilkington, Holt, Morison.
Subs Not Used: Rudd, Surman, Wilbraham, De Laet.
Booked: Hoolahan, Barnett, Crofts, Pilkington, Holt.
Goals: Pilkington 25, Morison 77.
Att: 35,290
Ref: Kevin Friend (Leicestershire).
Blackburn (0) 0 Chelsea (0) 1
Petr Cech shrugged off a facial knock to produce a string of fine saves as Chelsea ran out 1-0 winners at Blackburn.
Cech needed lengthy treatment after colliding with Ashley Cole in the first half, but showed few ill effects to deny Grant Hanley and then Yakubu after Frank Lampard (51) had headed in Branislav Ivanovic's curling cross.
When Cech was beaten by a late header from Hanley, the ball came back off the crossbar.
Blackburn Robinson, Lowe, Samba (Hanley 45), Givet, Olsson, Rochina (Dunn 72), Nzonzi, Pedersen, Hoilett, Formica, Yakubu.
Subs Not Used: Bunn, Petrovic, Blackman, Goodwillie, Vukcevic.
Booked: Lowe, Hanley, Givet, Pedersen.
Chelsea Cech, Ivanovic, Alex, Terry, Cole, Ramires (Romeu 90), Mikel, Lampard, Mata (Meireles 82), Sturridge, Malouda (Torres 46).
Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Bosingwa, Lukaku, Kalou.
Booked: Sturridge, Meireles.
Goals: Lampard 51.
Att: 21,985
Ref: Mike Dean (Wirral).
Liverpool (0) 0 Swansea (0) 0
Liverpool were left frustrated as Swansea battled to a point in a goalless clash at Anfield.
Dirk Kuyt thought he had snatched a late winner, only for assistant referee Sian Massey to make a fine offside call, while Michel Vorm made a great reaction save from Glen Johnson to earn the visitors a share of the spoils
Liverpool Reina, Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, Jose Enrique, Henderson (Kuyt 46), Lucas, Adam, Downing, Carroll (Bellamy 74), Suarez.
Subs Not Used: Doni, Maxi, Coates, Spearing, Kelly.
Booked: Adam, Agger.
Swansea Vorm, Rangel, Monk, Williams, Taylor, Gower (Agustien 90), Britton, Allen, Routledge (Sinclair 74), Graham, Dyer.
Subs Not Used: Tremmel, Lita, Moore, Richards, Moras.
Booked: Taylor, Williams.
Att: 45,013
Ref: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire).
Man Utd (1) 1 Sunderland (0) 0
Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown gifted Sir Alex Ferguson a 25th anniversary present with an own goal as Sunderland were beaten 1-0 in the Barclays Premier League at Old Trafford.
Ferguson walked onto the pitch through a guard of honour made up of players from both clubs and former Red Devils skipper Steve Bruce, now manager of Sunderland, before chief executive David Gill revealed the North Stand was being renamed in honour of their long-serving manager.
United struggled to establish themselves in the first half but took the lead in stoppage time as Brown deflected a corner into his own net under pressure from Danny Welbeck.
That proved to be the difference.
Man Utd Lindegaard, Jones, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Fletcher (Fabio Da Silva 90), Rooney, Park (Carrick 83), Welbeck (Berbatov 73), Hernandez.
Subs Not Used: De Gea, Evans, Valencia, Diouf.
Goals: Brown og 45
Sunderland Westwood, Bardsley, Brown, Turner, Richardson, Larsson, Cattermole, Colback (Meyler 76), Sessegnon (Elmohamady 76), Bendtner, Wickham (Ji 4).
Subs Not Used: Carson, Gardner, McClean, Egan.
Booked: Larsson, Ji.
Att: 75,570
Ref: Lee Mason (Lancashire).
Newcastle (2) 2 Everton (1) 1
The early kick-off saw Newcastle continue their impressive league form with a 2-1 win over Everton at St James; Park.
The Magpies went ahead through John Heitinga's 12th-minute own goal, before a stunning volley from Ryan Taylor (29) doubled their lead.
Although Jack Rodwell gave the visitors hope on the stroke of half-time, there was to be no comeback as Newcastle cemented their place in the top four.
Newcastle Krul, Simpson, Coloccini, Steven Taylor, Ryan Taylor, Marveaux (Sammy Ameobi 54), Cabaye (Gosling 37), Guthrie, Gutierrez, Best (Ben Arfa 73), Ba.
Subs Not Used: Elliot, Santon, Lovenkrands, Perch.
Booked: Guthrie, Ryan Taylor.
Goals: Heitinga og 12 , Ryan Taylor 29.
Everton Howard, Hibbert (McFadden 81), Heitinga (Cahill 56), Jagielka, Baines, Coleman, Neville (Distin 41), Rodwell, Drenthe, Osman, Saha.
Subs Not Used: Mucha, Bilyaletdinov, Stracqualursi, Barkley.
Booked: Heitinga, Baines, Drenthe.
Goals: Rodwell 45.
Att: 50,671
Ref: Andre Marriner (W Midlands).
QPR (1) 2 Man City (1) 3
Leaders Manchester City were involved in the late kick-off on Saturday and they maintained their unbeaten start to the season and their five-point advantage at the top of the table as they sealed a 3-2 win at Queens Park Rangers
.
Neil Warnock's side found themselves taking the lead through Jay Bothroyd, but City hit back and took the lead with Edin Dzeko and David Silva scoring.
Heider Helguson levelled matters for Rangers, but Yaya Toure continued his own excellent run of form with the winner 16 minutes from time.
QPR Kenny, Young, Gabbidon, Ferdinand, Traore (Hill 90), Mackie (Smith 84), Barton, Faurlin, Wright-Phillips, Bothroyd (Puncheon 76), Helguson.
Subs Not Used: Murphy, Orr, Derry, Andrade.
Booked: Barton.
Goals: Bothroyd 28, Helguson 69.
Man City Hart, Richards, Savic, Lescott, Kolarov, Barry (Balotelli 75), Toure Yaya, Milner, Silva, Aguero (Johnson 68), Dzeko (Toure 88).
Subs Not Used: Pantilimon, Zabaleta, Nasri, Clichy.
Booked: Balotelli.
Goals: Dzeko 43, Silva 52, Toure Yaya 74.
Att: 18,076
Ref: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).
Sunday 6th November
Bolton (2) 5 Stoke (0) 0
Bolton hammered five past Stoke without reply to gain a measure of revenge for last season's FA Cup semi-final defeat by the same opponents.
Ivan Klasnic and Chris Eagles both struck twice at the Reebok Stadium as the struggling Trotters secured a win that could kickstart their troubled season.
Captain Kevin Davies also got on the scoresheet as Owen Coyle's men claimed the first points of the campaign on their home ground.
Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic was at fault for both Bolton's opening goals but there was no doubting the superiority of the hosts after that.
Bolton Jaaskelainen, Riley (Knight 90), Cahill, Wheater, Robinson, Mark Davies, Muamba, Reo-Coker (Pratley 88), Eagles, Klasnic (Sanli 85), Kevin Davies.
Subs Not Used: Bogdan, Petrov, Ngog, Kakuta.
Goals: Kevin Davies 2, Eagles 23, Klasnic 61, Eagles 73, Klasnic 81.
Stoke Begovic, Wilkinson (Higginbotham 68), Woodgate, Upson, Huth, Pennant (Jones 68), Delap, Whelan (Whitehead 69), Walters, Crouch, Jerome.
Subs Not Used: Sorensen, Diao, Shotton, Palacios.
Booked: Walters.
Att: 20, 028
Ref: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).
Fulham (0) 1 Tottenham (2) 3
Tottenham survived a second-half onslaught at Craven Cottage to extend their unbeaten run in the Barclays Premier League to eight games and deny Martin Jol victory over his former side with a 3-1 win at Fulham.
Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon struck to give Spurs a commanding interval lead in a lively London derby, but they were over-run when play resumed.
Fulham dominated the second half with Younes Kaboul's 57th-minute own goal the direct result of relentless pressure from the rampant home side, only for Jermain Defoe to then pounce deep into injury time.
Fulham Schwarzer, Grygera (Kelly 46), Baird, Hangeland, Riise, Duff (Ruiz 71), Murphy (Etuhu 76), Sidwell, Dempsey, Dembele, Zamora.
Subs Not Used: Etheridge, Kasami, Frei, Briggs.
Goals: Kaboul 57 og.
Tottenham Friedel, Walker, Kaboul, King, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon (Sandro 78), Parker, Modric, Bale, Van der Vaart (Defoe 66), Adebayor.
Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Bassong, Corluka, Livermore, Pienaar.
Booked: Kaboul.
Goals: Bale 10, Lennon 45, Defoe 90.
Att: 25, 698
Ref: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire).
Wolverhampton (1) 3 Wigan (1) 1
Wolves eased their relegation fears and increased those of Wigan as second-half goals from David Edwards and Stephen Ward gave them a 3-1 victory at Molineux.
Jamie O'Hara's opener for the home side was cancelled out by Ben Watson before the interval after Wayne Hennessey had saved his initial penalty.
But Edwards and Ward secured Wolves' first win in nine games and doomed the bottom-placed Latics to an eighth successive loss.
Wigan were left to rue striker Hugo Rodallega spurning two gilt-edged chances in the first half.
But Wolves visibly grew in confidence and they retained the support of the crowd in contrast to the abuse aimed at manager Mick McCarthy during the draw with Swansea.
Wolverhampton Hennessey, Stearman, Johnson, Berra, Ward, Edwards, Henry, Guedioura (Jarvis 46), Hunt, O'Hara (Milijas 83), Doyle.
Subs Not Used: De Vries, Elokobi, Ebanks-Blake, Fletcher, Hammill.
Booked: Hunt, O'Hara.
Goals: O'Hara 31, Edwards 55, Ward 66.
Wigan Al Habsi, Boyce, Gohouri, Figueroa, Alcaraz, Watson (Crusat 65), Moses, Diame, Jones (McArthur 78), Di Santo, Rodallega (Sammon 77).
Subs Not Used: Pollitt, McCarthy, Gomez, Lopez.
Booked: Alcaraz.
Goals: Watson 42.
Att: 23,536
Ref: Lee Probert (Wiltshire).