Chelsea, Liverpool lead as Arsenal are stunned

LONDON: Chelsea and Liverpool shared the lead in the English Premier League as Arsenal suffered a stunning defeat at home to Hull City.
 
Chelsea won 2-0 at Stoke City while Liverpool outclassed Everton 2-0 at Goodison Park in the Merseyside derby, before Arsenal, who had begun the day at the top, were humbled 2-1 at home by newly-promoted Hull.
 
After Saturday's action, Chelsea and Liverpool have 14 points, one better than Aston Villa and two clear of Arsenal and West Ham, while Hull moved up to sixth.
 
Champions Manchester United moved into the top half thanks to a 2-0 win over Bolton, while there were also wins for Villa, West Bromwich Albion, West Ham United and Blackburn Rovers, who saw off Newcastle United 2-1.
 
Jose Bosingwa and Nicolas Anelka scored for Chelsea as they triumphed at Stoke City to move to 14 points.
 
The full-back raced on to a pass by Frank Lampard and his shot deflected off Andy Griffin to give the visitors the lead and Anelka doubled their lead 14 minutes from time.
 
At Goodison Park, Fernando Torres ended a recent scoring drought as Liverpool outplayed their local rivals to maintain their unbeaten record. The Spaniard finished off a neat move on 59 minutes and then smashed home the second three minutes later.
 
An early half-chance for Tim Cahill was as good as it got for Everton, and Liverpool dominated possession, even if their final ball was lacking in the first half.
 
The second half saw more of the same before Liverpool broke the deadlock with a fine move, Xabi Alonso feeding Robbie Keane, whose deep cross found Torres in space and the Spaniard fired the ball into the net.
 
Torres then latched on to a loose ball to fire it into the roof of the net and he could have had a third, but his superb finish was ruled out for a foul by Dirk Kuyt.
 
Cahill was sent off late on for a foul on Alonso and Louis Saha fired just wide, but Liverpool held on for a convincing victory.
 
"Not scoring for six games is too long for a striker," Torres said. "It hasn't been affecting my confidence because I knew that if I kept working hard the goals would arrive.
 
"The most important thing was the three points. We know how important this game is for the fans and the players because we want to stay towards the top of the table."
 
Arsenal would have expected to return to the top by beating Hull, but the North East side produced a famous victory at the Emirates Stadium.
 
The home side took the lead on 47 minutes when a Cesc Fabregas shot cannoned off Paul McShane and into the net.
 
But Geovanni smashed in the equaliser from 25 yards on 61 minutes and a glancing header by Daniel Cousin put Hull ahead.
 
William Gallas hit the bar late on and Fabregas was denied the equaliser by a great save from Boaz Myhill as Hull hung on.
 
Wayne Rooney came off the substitute's bench to score the second for Manchester United in their 2-0 win over Bolton.
 
The striker pounced with 13 minutes to double the home side's lead, given to them by Cristiano Ronaldo from the penalty spot, though the spot-kick appeared to be a harsh decision.
 
Goals from Ashley Young and John Carew helped Villa come from behind to beat Sunderland 2-1, while Jonas Olsson's goal gave West Brom a priceless 1-0 win at Middlesbrough, their first away win in the Premier League since January 2006.
 
Newcastle caretaker manager Joe Kinnear experienced defeat in his first match in charge, Michael Owen's second-half penalty not enough to give them anything as they slipped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Blackburn.
 
Carlton Cole and Matthew Etherington scored as West Ham won 2-1 at Fulham, who had Andrew Johnson sent off late in the first half, lifting Gianfranco Zola's side up to fifth, level on points with Arsenal.