Premier League: Arsenal go top; Everton snatch late draw at Chelsea

Arsenal went top of the Premier League after a 2-1 victory over Fulham at the Emirates, while elsewhere, there were wins for Blackburn and Manchester City.

Results:

Arsenal 2-1 Fulham

Birmingham 1-1 Tottenham

Blackburn 3-0 Wolves

Chelsea 1-1 Everton

Man City 1-0 Bolton

Wigan 2-2 Stoke

Arsenal 2-1 Fulham

Samir Nasri scored two goals of real quality as Arsenal defeated a stubborn Fulham side at the Emirates. The French midfielder opened the scoring for the Gunners after 14 minutes, jinking past two Fulham defenders and lashing the ball to the net.

Fulham were level after half an hour when Diomansy Kamara slotted home while Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny lay prostrate after a clash of heads, which forced his removal from the fray.

Nasri repeated his first half heroics with 15 minutes left, beating a host of Fulham defenders to squeeze the ball home from a narrow angle. With Manchester United’s clash with Blackpool called off because of the weather, Arsenal are now on top of the Premier League, one point ahead of the Red Devils.

Chelsea 1-1 Everton

Chelsea missed the chance to return to the top of the league as their miserable run of form continued against Everton at Stamford Bridge.

Jermaine Beckford netted a late equaliser for the Toffees which was thoroughly deserved as David Moyes’ side were the better side for the majority of the 90 minutes.

Didier Drogba put Chelsea ahead from the penalty spot on 42 minutes; Tim Howard brought down Nicolas Anelka after the Everton ‘keeper was sold short after an awful backpass from Phil Neville.

Referee Lee Probert should arguably have sent Howard off, but the American escaped with a yellow card and was helpless to prevent Drogba from putting Chelsea in front.

Everton pressed and pressed for an equaliser in the second half and were rewarded for their efforts four minutes from time after summer signing Beckford headed in from close range after Tim Cahill had nodded Leighton Baines’ cross into his path.

Man City 1-0 Bolton

A Carlos Tevez goal after only four minutes was enough to give Manchester City a narrow victory over local rivals Bolton at Eastlands.

Tevez ran onto a Yaya Toure pass to slot home early on and Roberto Mancini’s side went close to doubling their lead on a couple of occasions, with both Mario Balotelli and David Silva hitting the woodwork.

Aleksandar Kolarov was dismissed for a second yellow card late in the second half and the hosts had to survive a late onslaught from Bolton, but held on for three points which sees them move to within a point of Chelsea in the top four.

Birmingham 1-1 Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur had to settle for a point away to Birmingham despite dominating the hosts at St. Andrews.

Sebastien Bassong gave Spurs the lead 19 minutes into the game when he finished high to the net after Ben Foster had beat away Gareth Bale’s free kick.

Spurs went on to control the game, but were left to rue some missed opportunities when Craig Gardner equalised for Birmingham nine minutes from time after latching onto Nikola Zigic’s flick on and finishing expertly past Heurelho Gomes.

Blackburn 3-0 Wolves

David Dunn, Brett Emerton and Ryan Nelsen were on the mark as Blackburn eased to a comfortable victory over Wolves at Ewood Park.

Wolves started brightly early on and Stephen Ward and Ronald Zubar both struck the woodwork in the early stages. David Dunn put the home side in front just short of the half hour mark with a header from Morten Gamst Pedersen’s corner and Brett Emerton doubled their lead two minutes after half time with a cracking strike from Jason Roberts’ lay off.

Blackburn made the game safe ten minutes after half-time with a header from another excellent Gamst Pedersen delivery from a set piece.

Wigan 2-2 Stoke

Wigan and Stoke shared the spoils after a highly entertaining encounter in horrible conditions at the DW Stadium.  All four goals came in the first half as the home side came from behind twice to earn a point.

Robert Huth put Stoke in front after 18 minutes when his free kick took a wicked deflection off the Wigan wall, leaving Ali Al-Habsi watching on helplessly as the ball rolled into the net.

Wigan were level within 12 minutes after Stoke’s James Collins deflected a Ben Watson free-kick into his own net, but were behind within a minute after Matthew Etherington finished to the net after Ricardo Fuller’s cross, the third successive weekend in which the winger has scored for the Potters.

Wigan were level again five minutes before the break when midfielder Tom Cleverley scored his second goal in two games. Cleverley’s shot deflected off Rory Delap, wrong footed Stoke ‘keeper Asmir Begovic and flew into the net.

Both sides had plenty of chances to win it in the second half, but neither could find the net and the game finished in a draw, a fair result for both sides.