Chelsea beat Blackburn 4-2 in the Premier League on Saturday to extend their unbeaten streak to 40 matches, while Arsenal rallied to draw 1-1 with north London rival Tottenham.
Wigan beat Fulham 1-0 to continue their surprising run in their debut season in the Premier League. Their sixth consecutive win — from Pascal Chimbonda’s 90th-minute goal — lifted them to second in the standings.
Manchester United fell further off the pace when they crashed to a 4-1 defeat to Middlesbrough.
In other matches, it was: Birmingham 0, Everton 1; Charlton 0, Bolton 1; Liverpool 2, West Ham 0; and Sunderland 1, Portsmouth 4.
Chelsea’s nine-match winning streak ended last Sunday with a 1-1 draw against Everton. Three days later, the Blues were eliminated from the League Cup competition they won last season, on penalties to Charlton.
”Back on track? Ten wins and one draw — back on track?” Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho replied after he was asked about his club’s form over the past week. ”I hope to be here enough years to have the experience of my team being in a very difficult position. It will be bad for me but I will enjoy. Back on track? Mamma Mia.”
Chelsea have 31 points, followed by Wigan with 22, Tottenham with 20 and Charlton with 19. Traditional title contenders are further back. Manchester United are sixth with 18 points, Arsenal are a position and a point further back, and Liverpool are 12th with 13 points.
Chelsea let a 2-0 lead become 2-2 by half-time at Stamford Bridge.
Didier Drogba headed a goal after 10 minutes, with Frank Lampard netting a 14th-minute penalty after John Terry was fouled by Blackburn captain Andy Todd.
Craig Bellamy brought Blackburn back to 2-2.
He converted an 18th-minute penalty — earned when Zurab Khizanishvili was brought down by Ricardo Carvalho — and netted his second in the 44th after an error by Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech.
Blackburn manager Mark Hughes was sent into the stands by referee Mike Riley when he kicked a physiotherapist’s bag on the touchline in frustration.
Lampard’s second goal, through a free kick in the 62nd, restored Chelsea’s lead and Joe Cole extended it in the 74th.
Lampard has now scored 100 league goals and is three games short of breaking David James’s record of playing 159 consecutive games in the top flight.
”I don’t see how he can improve, because for me he is the best player in the world at the moment,” Mourinho said of Lampard. ”I would not change him for another player because he does everything.”
Middlesbrough had a 3-0 lead by half-time. Gaizka Mendieta scored after two minutes, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored after 25 and Aiyegbeni Yakubu converted a penalty at half-time, earned when Kieran Richardson pulled back Stuart Parnaby. Mendieta’s second was scored in the 78th.
United pulled a goal back from a Cristiano Ronaldo header in the second-half injury time — the club’s 1 000th Premier League goal.
At White Hart Lane, Tottenham, who haven’t beaten Arsenal in six years, had the better chances.
Spurs took the lead in the 17th when Ledley King headed in a free kick from Michael Carrick.
Spurs missed several chances to increase their lead — Carrick shot wide, Jermaine Jenas’s drive needed a diving save from Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann and Jermain Defoe was denied by Lehmann’s outstretched leg.
Robert Pires, who came on as a half-time substitute, levelled for Arsenal in the 77th, from a free kick by Dennis Bergkamp.
”It must be a long time since Arsenal were happy to end a game with a draw,” Tottenham manager Martin Jol said.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said: ”Tottenham had a good first half, but we had a good reaction after half-time. If we hadn’t responded like that, it would have disastrous for our entire season.”
West Ham haven’t won at Anfield since 1963. Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez was happy his team have started to score — they have now scored seven goals from nine league matches, compared with Chelsea’s 28.
”We looked organised, compact in defence and scored two good goals,” Benitez said. ”People said we needed to score and we managed that … I think we did all the things people are asking of us.”
On Sunday, West Bromwich Albion play Newcastle, and on Monday, Manchester City host Aston Villa.
In the Football League Championship, Sheffield United maintained their lead despite a 0-0 draw with Cardiff. Second-place Reading are three points behind after a 1-1 draw with Leeds. Third-place Luton lost 1-0 to Coventry. — Sapa-AP