London rivals neck and neck

Bolton Wanderers FC scored a late equaliser against Arsenal FC to leave the London side dead level at the top of the English Premiership with Chelsea FC.

Pedersen equaliser
Goalkeeper Jussi Jääskeläinen seemed to have kept out Fredrik Ljungberg's 57th-minute shot for Arsenal, but Robert Pires was following up to score. However, in-form Henrik Pedersen levelled matters seven minutes from the end against their unbeaten visitors.

Crespo sees off Fulham
Meanwhile, Hernán Crespo scored in the 62nd minute to give Chelsea a narrow 1-0 victory at neighbours Fulham FC to move level with Arsenal on points, goal difference and goals scored. Manchester United FC, though, will overhaul both tomorrow if they can win at Tottenham Hotspur FC. Fulham remain fourth, but could be overtaken by Southampton FC who play lowly south coast rivals Portsmouth FC in Sunday's other game.

Valley game goalless
Charlton Athletic FC and Newcastle United FC themselves could have moved ahead of Fulham, but a 0-0 draw at the Valley keeps them fifth and sixth respectively. The two other sides with a chance of ending the day in the top four saw their matches full foul of waterlogged pitches, as Birmingham City FC's fixture with Middlesbrough FC and Liverpool FC's trip to bottom team Wolverhampton Wanderers FC were both postponed.

Everton win thriller
Lower down the table, Everton FC and Aston Villa FC both gained vital victories against fellow strugglers to move further away from the bottom three. Everton played out an exciting 3-2 win against Leicester City FC. A Steve Howey own goal put Everton ahead on 33 minutes, but Les Ferdinand levelled on the stroke of half-time and James Scowcroft gave Leicester the lead early in the second half. But substitute Wayne Rooney equalised on 71 minutes and Tomasz Radzinski struck the winner eleven minutes from the end.

Villa delight
Meanwhile, Villa were 2-0 winners at Blackburn Rovers FC. Stefan Moore and Juan Pablo Ángel scored in an eleven-minute second-half spell to send their side up to 13th. However, defeated Blackburn and Leicester could both enter Christmas in the bottom three if Portsmouth win tomorrow and Leeds United AFC gain three points at Manchester City FC on Monday night.