Middlesbrough inflicted Arsenal’s first Premier League defeat of the season with a 2-1 win on Sunday to cut the Gunners’ lead over Manchester United at the top of the table to just one point.
In the day’s other matches, Bolton heaped more misery on second-from-bottom Wigan with a 3-1 win, while Tottenham secured only their third league win of the season with a 2-1 success against a Manchester City side who finished the game with 10 men after Stephen Ireland was sent off.
Defeat meant Sven-Goran Eriksson’s City missed out on the chance to go above Liverpool and into fourth place in the table, while Spurs are now two points clear of the bottom three.
West Ham continued their fine recent form with a 1-0 win away to Blackburn Rovers that left the Londoners 10th as Alan Curbishley celebrated a year in charge with a victory.
Stewart Downing, with a fourth-minute penalty, and Tuncay Sanli, with a close-range strike 16 minutes from time, scored for Middlesbrough at the Riverside.
Tomas Rosicky pulled a goal back in the fifth minute of stoppage time, but it was too late for Arsenal.
The result gave Middlesbrough, who started on Sunday in the relegation zone, only their third win in the Premiership this season.
Just as in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw against Newcastle, Arsenal were without key midfielders Cesc Fabregas, Mathieu Flamini and Alexander Hleb and the result revived concerns over whether they have a strong-enough squad to sustain a title challenge.
But Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had no complaints about the result. ”We lost the game because we deserved to lose it,” he said. ”It’s that simple. Middlesbrough were sharper in the fight. We missed the start of the game by giving them too much room and it cost a penalty.”
Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate, whose side ended a run of 11 games without a win and climbed out of the bottom three, said he felt the fixture schedule would work against Arsenal. ”I felt Arsenal having three games in a week was a tall order for them and thought it might be a good day to get them,” said the former England defender.
At White Hart Lane, Tottenham took the lead on the stroke of half-time when Pascal Chimbonda scored despite City’s protests of offside.
Jermaine Jenas’s free kick from the left was flicked on by Dimitar Berbatov and Chimbonda just did enough to turn the ball into the goal.
However, Spurs have struggled to hold on to a lead all season and just after the hour mark City, who’ve struggled away from home, were level when Rolando Bianchi headed in a corner from Martin Petrov.
Then came Ireland’s reckless challenge on South Korean international Lee Young Pyo and, moments later, Spurs were ahead in the 83rd minute when substitute Jermain Defoe was quickest to react after a cross-shot from Steed Malbranque came back off the post.
”I thought it was one of our better away games. I’m not sure we deserved it,” said ex-England coach Eriksson, who added Ireland’s red card was the result of over-enthusiasm, not malice. ”The tackle was not a nice one, but every player has done that in his career. You shouldn’t kill them for that.”
Spurs boss Juande Ramos said Defoe was still not guaranteed a starting place despite his goal. ”It’s true that Defoe helps the team when he comes on. But in the last few games he hasn’t had much luck in front of goal. We have four centre forwards to choose from so two must sit out.”
Bolton, who started on Sunday just two points above Wigan, went ahead through Paul Scharner’s own goal when he headed in El Hadji Diouf’s left-wing cross.
Denny Landzaat then made the most of a poor clearance by Abdoulaye Meite to draw Wigan level in the 14th minute.
Kevin Nolan made it 2-1 before half-time, after Nicolas Anelka had missed a penalty, before Kevin Davies made the game safe for Bolton when he turned in a Diouf cross. Anelka added a fourth a minute from time.
”You cannot play in this league and make individual errors like that,” said Wigan manager Steve Bruce. ”You have to give yourself a chance and these mistakes are costing us badly.”
Bolton boss Gary Megson praised the contribution of Wanderers captain Nolan. ”He sets the standard on and off the pitch. He is a leader in every sense of the word,” said the manager.
At Ewood Park, Dean Ashton came off the bench to score the only goal of the game as West Ham won away in the league for the fourth time this season. ”The goal is a bonus for me and a bonus for the team,” said Ashton.
Blackburn manager Mark Hughes added: ”It wasn’t our day and we didn’t play particularly well.” — Sapa-AFP