Aston Villa maintained their unbeaten start to the season on Saturday by holding Chelsea to a 1-1 draw that could cost the champions their place at the top of the Premiership.
Villa’s battling display epitomised the resilience they have acquired since Martin O’Neill took over as manager in the close season.
It also means that Manchester United and Portsmouth will overtake Jose Mourinho’s men at the top of the table if they win their matches on Sunday, at home to Newcastle and away to Tottenham respectively.
But despite the setback, Mourinho praised his side and described it as their best performance of the season in terms of creating chances.
”We did everything to win except put the ball in the net and get three points,” he said. ”It was just not our day.”
Gabriel Agbonlahor’s header in first-half injury time earned Villa their point at Stamford Bridge after Didier Drogba had bundled in a close range effort in the third minute.
But the visitors also had reason to be grateful to their goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen, who pulled off a string of stunning saves to deny Mourinho’s stars.
Arsenal got Arsene Wenger’s second decade in charge off to a good start by coming from behind to claim a 2-1 win over Charlton that was sealed by a stunning strike from Robin van Persie.
England under-21 striker Darren Bent had given Charlton the lead mid-way through the first half with his fifth goal of the season.
But his effort was cancelled out by Van Persie ten minutes later and the Dutch winger settled the contest by volleying Emmanuel Eboue’s cutback cross into the top corner of the net four minutes after the break.
”My team is back on track and hungrier than ever,” said a delighted Wenger.
Charlton have now lost six out of seven Premiership matches under new boss Iain Dowie and Sheffield United’s 2-1 win over Middlesbrough saw them slip to the bottom of the table.
Liverpool’s status as the side considered Chelsea’s biggest rivals for the title took another knock when Rafa Benitez’s team went down to a 2-0 defeat at Bolton, who moved up to second in the table ahead of Sunday’s matches.
A Gary Speed free-kick, which Jose Reina might have saved, and an Ivan Campo header condemned the Reds to their third away defeat of the season.
Bolton boss Sam Allardyce claimed his players had been fired up by Benitez’s pre-match comments suggesting they were overly physical in their approach.
”Footballers are always going to raise their game against a team like Liverpool because of the quality players that they have at their disposal, but what Rafa said just meant my players played longer and harder,” Allardyce said.
Everton were denied the chance of climbing to second when Micah Richards scored a 90th-minute equaliser for Manchester City at Goodison Park.
Everton, who have matched Villa’s unbeaten start to the season, had looked on track for victory after Andrew Johnson claimed his sixth Premiership goal of the season a minute before half-time.
The England striker caught Phil Neville’s cross on the volley and found the net with the help of a deflection off City captain Sylvain Distin.
But City’s late pressure paid off, prompting manager Stuart Pearce to observe: ”We showed a bit of stickability today [Saturday].”
Sheffield United’s first win of the season came courtesy of a 35-yard injury time strike from captain Phil Jagielka. Boro had looked good to take a point after Nigerian striker Aiyegbeni Yakubu cancelled out Rob Hulse’s first half strike. — Sapa-AFP