Champions and Premier League leaders Chelsea suffered their second defeat of the season as Fernando Torres scored twice to guide resurgent Liverpool to a deserved 2-0 victory at Anfield on Sunday.
The Spaniard was back to his predatory best with two well-taken goals in the first half, inspiring Liverpool to their third successive league win following their dismal start to the season.
Arsenal failed to take advantage of the leaders’ slip, however, as they were beaten 1-0 at home by Newcastle United courtesy of Andy Carroll’s header late in the first half.
Manchester City did gain ground with Italian striker Mario Balotelli scoring both goals in a comfortable 2-0 win at West Bromwich Albion before being sent off in the second half.
The results squeezed the top of the standings with Chelsea still leading on 25 points, two ahead of Manchester United, who beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 on Saturday.
Arsenal and Man City have 20 with Newcastle up to fifth on 17 points. Liverpool, in the bottom three a week ago, jumped to ninth on 15.
Old times
It was just like old times for Liverpool with Anfield rocking and Torres ripping through Chelsea’s defence.
The Spaniard, gradually regaining his sharpness, struck after 11 minutes when he collected a lovely ball from Dirk Kuyt and tucked it beyond Petr Cech and he doubled the lead just before halftime with a brilliant curler after cutting inside.
Chelsea, who had conceded only three goals in their previous 10 league games, upped their game in the second half with Didier Drogba joining the fray.
They generally controlled possession for the rest of the match but a late shot against the bar by Nicolas Anelka was their best effort.
“We are climbing the table, playing better every day,” Torres told Sky Sports.
“We needed time to work with the new manager and the new players. Now we have to show we can play with the same intensity and quality against the teams in the middle of the table.”
Arsenal dominated at The Emirates but though they twice hit the bar through Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott they lacked the killer finish.
Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski was at fault for the goal when he was outjumped by Carroll, whose header looped into the empty net.
“It was a big disappointment because our performance was not good enough,” said manager Arsene Wenger. “We knew on set pieces we couldn’t afford these kind of mistakes.”
Mini-crisis
Manchester City had suffered a mini-crisis when they followed league defeats by Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers by losing to Lech Poznan in the Europa League.
However, they were always in control on Sunday and deservedly handed West Brom their first home defeat to lift their spirits ahead of the league derby against Manchester United on Wednesday.
About £:50-million worth of attacking talent combined for City’s win as David Silva had a hand in both Balotelli’s goals after 20 and 26 minutes.
The hot-headed striker spoiled his day, though, when he received two bookings in the space of three minutes after needless fouls.
“We played a fantastic game, my players played football so well,” said City boss Roberto Mancini, who added he was considering appealing Balotelli’s red card. – Reuters