Chelsea loss leaves Arsenal clear

By Jonathan Caswell

Arsenal FC stretched their lead at the top of the English Premiership to five points with a 3-1 win against Aston Villa FC as Chelsea FC slipped to their first defeat of the season.

Pires scores twice
Villa scored after three minutes at Highbury through Lee Hendrie but Robert Pires equalised for the home side in the 19th minute. Thierry Henry gave the champions the advantage just before the break before Pires sealed the victory by finishing a brilliant move on 72 minutes. Arsenal's record league unbeaten run is now 49 games - and can complete their half-century at arch-rivals Manchester United FC next Sunday.

Chelsea defeated
Chelsea FC are now adrift after going down 1-0 at Manchester City FC. Nicolas Anelka struck a 22nd-minute penalty after being brought down by Paulo Ferreira, and it proved enough for Chelsea's first competitive defeat under José Mourinho, as Frank Lampard was denied twice by City goalkeeper David James. However, City player Jihai Sun suffered a knee injury in the first half and may be ruled out for as much as a year.

Everton ecstatic
Third-place Everton FC are now within a point of Chelsea after Leon Osman's 88th-minute goal gave them a 1-0 win against struggling Southampton FC. United, however, slipped to sixth as they were held 0-0 at home by Birmingham City FC.

Bolton bolstered
Bolton Wanderers FC are fourth as they claimed their first win since August, Kevin Davies scoring the only goal on the stroke of half-time at home to botom side Crystal Palace FC. UEFA Cup contenders Middlesbrough moved into fifth as they warmed up for Thursday's group stage trip to Egaleo FC with a comprehensive 4-0 victory at Blackburn Rovers FC - Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink claiming a second-half hat-trick and George Boateng also scoring after Tugay Kerimoglu was dismissed in the first period.

Liverpool comeback
Two first-half efforts from Luis Boa Morte seemed to have put Fulham FC on their way to three points against Liverpool FC, but the visitors came back after the break to win 4-2 with two goals from Milan Baroš, and one each from Xabi Alonso and Igor Bišcan - despite having Josemi sent off for a second booking at 2-2.

Newcomers draw
West Bromwich Albion FC drew 0-0 with fellow promoted side Norwich City FC, while Charlton Athletic FC play Newcastle United FC at the Valley tomorrow and Portsmouth FC face Tottenham Hotspur FC on Monday.