Liverpool took the lead through Maxi in the 33rd minute after the visitors started off brightly. Chelsea tried their best but luck did not seem to favour them as Drogba came close to netting a free-kick. However, after Daniel Sturridge came on as a subsitute post half-time, he helped Chelsea equalise.

Old Team-mates battle it out

Both sides attacked and counter-attacked as well as had some defensive goof ups which led to the goals being scored. A draw seemed to the best result but Johnson had other ideas. He brilliantly controlled Adam’s cross and slotted the ball into the corner of Chelsea’s net.

The Blues were comfortably beaten by Arsenal, 1-3. Arsenal’s Alex Song, Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott scored the goals for the Gunners. Carlo Ancelotti’s team have managed just six points from the last 24!

Theo Walcott and Cesc Fabregas celebrate a goal.

Branislav Ivanovic pulled one back for the visitors but to no avail.

“We have matured, I have said that many times. Let’s hope it strengthens our belief for the championship and our belief that we are on the right track,”

said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

“Today we were disciplined, mature and we played for each other. There’s still some room for improvement and I’m confident the team will continue to train hard and focus well together.” Arsenal have moved to 35 points from 18 games with unbeaten leaders Manchester United on 37 having played a game less. Chelsea, who started the season in scintillating form but have forgotten how to win, remain in fourth place on 31.”

“The table is not good but this is the reality,” Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti told Sky Sports. “We have to play better and wake up. I am not worried. I have to work and you will have to ask the owner (Roman Abramovich about my future).”

The defeat leaves Chelsea 10 points worse off than at this stage last season and their title chances looking slim.

“I prefer to see some of the younger lads winning the award,”

the 29-year-old said after coming top in the poll of sports journalists.

“Please, don’t vote for me anymore.”

Bulgaria’s all-time leading scorer, with 48 goals, quit the Balkan country’s national team in May citing fatigue and family commitments but enjoyed a successful year at United. Last month, he became only the fourth player to score five times in one Premier League match when he helped destroy Blackburn Rovers in a 7-1 win. Berbatov expects to spend the rest of his career at United.

He told reporters:

“I fought to have a chance to play for United and now I can only go down if I leave,” “Why I should do this? It would be better to retire.”

Gaziantepspor striker Ivelin Popov and Twente Enschede goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov came second and third in the poll.

The Indian owners believe the club should be fourth or fifth in the Premier League.

Allardyce said he was “shocked and disappointed” after being axed on Monday despite the club winning four of its last seven league games and being five points off the top six.

Other Premier League managers also voiced out their opinions. Sir Alex Ferguson called the decision “absolutely ridiculous”.

The Rovers’ club owners stated:

“We do not mean anything bad for Sam Allardyce but we feel that we need to take the club up in the league and grow.”

“We want Blackburn Rovers to be fourth or fifth in the league or even better. It is nothing against Sam but we have a different vision looking forward and we want the club to grow.

“We had been talking to Sam in the past few weeks but he did not fit in with our vision for the club’s future. We wanted good football, wanted the games to be interesting and of course wanted to win and to have good players.”

She also added:

“The fans should trust us and have belief in us because this is in the best interests of the club. Our thinking now is that it will be a British manager, but we are open if there is an outstanding candidate: someone who would be really, really good for the club.”

Assistant coach Steve Kean will take over first-team duties until Rovers find a new manager.

Ji Sung Park must be feeling on cloud 9 right now as he helped The Red Devils secure a win over rivals, the Gunners.

United scored with four minutes to go before halftime. The South Korean midfielder, Park headed in a Nani cross which caught a deflection off Arsenal defender Gael Clichy.
They missed a chance to go 2-0 up when Wayne Rooney fired a penalty over the bar.
The hosts remained unbeaten in the league this season with the best home record. Arsenal’s performance lacked any luster, they are now two points behind United in the league table.
The Gunners struggled to keep possession when they got near the box and the usually devastating combination of Marouane Chamakh and Samir Nasri looked disjointed.
United were keen to test young Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, making his first Premier League appearance. Szczesny made some excellent saves, first from Anderson and an attempted lob by Rooney.

Arsenal fans started chanting; “We want Cesc Fabregas” at the start of the second half and with less than half an hour to go manager Arsene Wenger consented. The skipper was out with a hamstring injury came on with Robin van Persie. But it was United who created the better chances.

However, Arsene Wenger did not react to the insults. This war of words comes right before the clubs match up on Monday at Old Trafford.

Evra called Arsenal a ‘training centre’ and a club in ‘crisis’ in an interview with television channel Canal+. Wenger had an opportunity to counter the spew of words but decided not to give it too much attention, during a press conference on Friday.

Arsene Wenger - Arsenal Manager

The Gunners manager said:

“He gave you some good stuff to make it all hot before the game.”

“We are guided by the way we want to play football and not by the statements of anybody who plays against us.”

“Personally, I believe if you are a big player you always respect your opponent and that is what we try to do.”

When asked if Evra was being disrespectful, Wenger was again reserved:

“I leave that judgment to you. We do not want to go into any unneeded talking before a game like that. We want to focus on the way we want to play and ignore any provocation before a game. We are motivated by the desire to win the game and by the quality of the football we want to play.”

The former Chelsea playmaker has been sidelined since sustaining a hamstring injury in the Reds’ 1-0 win at Bolton Wanderers.

Cole has missed the club’s last four Barclays Premier League matches, including Saturday’s 3-0 win against former club West Ham United.

Joe Cole

With Steven Gerrard and Lucas currently unavailable, the return of Cole from injury comes as a welcome boost for manager Roy Hodgson.
He said:

“Joe should be back for Sunday. We were hoping he would be back to face West Ham, but it has taken that little bit longer.”

“Joe is not that far away really, so hopefully he will have recovered in time for Tottenham. Hamstring injuries are tricky and I’m afraid we can only rely on what the sports science people tell us, and if they say he needs more time we just have to wait.”

Having endured their worst start to a campaign since 1953/54 with six points from eight matches, Liverpool have now accrued 13 from their last six outings with Saturday’s 3-0 win at home to West Ham United.

Source: Premier League

Twelve months ago Hughes was the man profiting from the South American’s prowess in front of goal.

Now it is Roberto Mancini hailing two goals and a man-of-the-match display from the inspirational South American.

Indeed, as Mancini reflects on a table that shows his side to be bang in the title hunt and four more goals on the road to answer the critics who have panned him for being too negative, the Italian could be forgiven for having a large chuckle to himself.

Pablo Zabaleta and Yaya Toure struck within a three-minute period at the end of the first half after Tevez had given City a flying start.

And although Zoltan Gera netted a consolation for the hosts, Tevez had already grabbed a fourth for the Blues, who would have to be rated as strong championship challengers in this crazy season, if they can start playing at home as they do away.

Source: Premier League

Lee Bowyer’s opening-half goal – his first for nearly 12 months – earned Alex McLeish’s side a shock victory.

But their hero was Foster who bounced back from his error on England duty in midweek with a series of stunning saves.

Chelsea dominated proceedings for the entire 90 minutes but they could not find a way past the former Manchester United player.

It was a vastly improved performance by Chelsea compared to their 3-0 home defeat by Sunderland last weekend.

But they tasted defeat in back to back league matches for the first time since the end of the 2005-2006 campaign and they now only lead Manchester United on goal difference.

In addition to Foster, City centre-backs Scott Dann and Roger Johnson were outstanding.

Chelsea were quickly into their stride and Salomon Kalou missed an early chance to put them ahead.

Didier Drogba’s flick found Kalou with only Foster to beat but his shot went through the legs of the keeper and just past the post.

Foster made a fine save to keep Birmingham on level terms after Drogba was sent clear by Kalou.

It was the kind of chance Drogba would normally convert but Foster raced off his line to reduce the angle and saved low to his left.

Arsenal missed the chance to go top of the Barclays Premier League as Tottenham Hotspur fought back from 2-0 down to record a remarkable first victory at Emirates Stadium.

Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh had put the Gunners in complete control as they looked set to leapfrog Chelsea, who play Birmingham City later in the day.

However, Spurs – who had just one Premier League away victory over their old rivals, in May 1993 – regrouped for the second half following the introduction of fit-again England striker Jermain Defoe.

Gareth Bale pulled a goal back on 50 minutes, before a handball from captain Cesc Fabregas from a free-kick gave away a penalty, which Rafael van der Vaart converted.

Arsenal were then condemned to successive home league defeats for the first time in 13 years when Younes Kaboul headed in a dramatic late winner.

Samir Nasri and former team-mate William Gallas clashed within the opening few moments when Nasri raced clear, only to be halted by a fine saving tackle from the former Gunners defender.

It was a positive start for Arsenal, with Fabregas getting into the right side of the Spurs penalty area, but opted to shoot across goal rather than pull the ball back for Nasri.

Fabregas’ chip split the Tottenham defence, but Nasri’s touch into the penalty area was just too heavy, which should have allowed Gomes to come off his line to collect.

However, the Spurs keeper hesitated and failed to gather the ball on the penalty spot, which then bobbled wide.

The return of Wayne Rooney made it a perfect day for Manchester United as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side took full advantage of their title rivals’ misfortunes.

United brushed aside Wigan Athletic, who self-destructed in the second half with two unnecessary red cards, but perhaps more importantly Rooney made his first appearance since the contract saga that saw the England striker threaten to leave before signing a new five-year deal.

The setbacks suffered by Arsenal and Chelsea made it imperative that United did not slip up too and they made no mistake as headers by Patrice Evra and Javier Hernandez ensured Ferguson’s men second spot in the Barclays Premier League table, behind Chelsea only on goal difference.

Rooney should have put the icing on the cake by scoring too but passed up a glorious opportunity.

For Wigan, red cards for Antolin Alcaraz and Hugo Rodallega virtually ensured they would get nothing from the match.

Source: Premier League

According to football365.com, a largely uninspiring early kick-off was settled by City captain Carlos Tevez, who drove at the Chelsea defence before unleashing a 20-yard strike which beat Petr Cech just before the hour mark.

The result brings to an end the leaders’ five-match winning streak and draws Roberto Mancini’s team level on points with Arsenal and Manchester United, who face Bolton on Sunday.

David Silva and Ashley Cole fight for possession.

The Gunners’ unbeaten run also came to an end at the Emirates Stadium, where they slipped to a shock 3-2 defeat to West Brom.

Chris Brunt missed a first-half penalty before Peter Odemwingie and Gonzalo Jara put the Baggies 2-0 up, the second goal coming courtesy of a gaffe by Gunners stopper Manuel Almunia.

Arsenal Vs West Brom

Former Arsenal man Jerome Thomas scored a third with 20 minutes left before Samir Nasri pulled two back for Arsene Wenger’s men, who suffered their first home defeat since January.

Steven Gerrard’s second-half equaliser prevented Liverpool from succumbing to their third defeat in seven days as they had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Sunderland at Anfield.

Dirk Kuyt’s controversial goal put Liverpool ahead after five minutes. After being awarded a free-kick by referee Stuart Attwell, Sunderland defender Michael Turner tapped the ball back to his goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, presumably believing he would take it.

Attwell judged the ball to be live though, allowing Fernando Torres to intercept before squaring the ball to Kuyt, who tapped home, much to the annoyance of the travelling team and fans.

Sunderland hit back soon after through a Darren Bent penalty before the England striker added his second to put the Black Cats 2-1 ahead.

Liverpool, who lost to Northampton in midweek, would have lost their third league game of the campaign had Gerrard not nodded home on the hour.

Daniel Agger should have won it for Roy Hodgson’s side but he missed a sitter from six yards at the death.

The pressure on West Ham boss Avram Grant eased after he guided his side to their first league win of the season with a 1-0 victory in the London derby against Tottenham.

Frederic Piquionne leapt high to power home a Mark Noble corner just after the half-hour mark to move the Hammers up to 18th.

Everton sunk to the bottom of the table despite coming away from Craven Cottage with a creditable goalless draw against Fulham.

Mark Schwarzer did well to save from Mikel Arteta and Ayegbeni Yakubu to prevent Fulham from losing their first league game of the campaign.

An injury-time strike from Brett Emerton gave Blackburn a 2-1 win at Blackpool.

Substitute Matt Phillips thought he had rescued a point for the Tangerines after he drew the scores level following Charlie Adam’s first-half own goal.

But Emerton pounced on a loose ball in the box in injury time to give Blackburn the win to end Blackpool’s unbeaten home record.

In Saturday’s other game, 10-man Birmingham endured a frustrating afternoon at St Andrew’s, where they failed to break down a determined Wigan.

Craig Gardner was sent off in the dying minutes in an otherwise uninspiring encounter in which the Blues made it 18 games unbeaten at home, equalling the club’s best run in the top flight