By DPA
London : Arsenal scored two late goals to beat Wigan Athletic 2-0 and move three points clear at the top of the English Premier League, as Manchester United suffered a shock defeat at Bolton Wanderers.
Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool – who began the day third, fourth and fifth respectively – all won while Everton put seven goals past Sunderland, but Arenal were the big winners as their closest rivals lost.
The Gunners had a tough time of things against Wigan, though, as the side who began the day second from bottom made life tricky for Arsene Wenger’s men Saturday.
It looked as if they would have to settle for a point but with seven minutes to go William Gallas finally scored and Tomas Rosicky made sure of the points two minutes later.
Arsenal now have 33 points, three more than United with a game in hand after Sir Alex Ferguson’s side went down 1-0 at improving Bolton.
“Once again we found the resources to win the game,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. “It is not the first time, so I do not feel it is a coincidence.”
United, who were again without the injured Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, struggled for penetration and Nicolas Anelka scored the only goal of the game after 11 minutes.
United could not find an equaliser, despite throwing everything at their opponents in the second half, a half which manager Ferguson watched from the stands after he was banished following a rant at referee Mark Clattenburg.
“I told the referee what I thought – some referees don’t like it. They don’t like the truth,” Ferguson said.
“But I just told him how bad he was in the first-half. I know Bolton are battling for their lives at the bottom but they were a bit aggressive and we were looking for some protection from the referee.”
At St James’ Park, Steven Gerrard started the rout with a stunning free kick after 27 minutes and second-half goals from Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel completed an easy 3-0 victory, piling the pressure on Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce.
“It was quite comfortable,” Gerrard said. “We started the game really brightly, scored a goal and then controlled it for 90 minutes.”
“We are a bit disappointed not to win more convincingly. My goal was a good strike but the three points is what matters. It was a good team performance and we needed that to stay in touch with the top.”
“There are a lot of top teams in this league and we have to keep winning to stay up there. We need to go on runs, especially over the Christmas period,” he said.
The margin of victory could have been even greater – Fernando Torres hit the post and missed four good chances to extend their lead – and only a couple of good saves from Shay Given prevented the damage from being even worse.
Given, though, was fortunate to still be on the pitch after he handled the ball – saving a shot from Torres – well outside his area on the stroke of half-time, but referee Alan Wiley played advantage and Torres hit the post.
The game was as good as over a minute into the second half when Sami Hyypia flicked a corner and Kuyt knocked the ball over the line.
Liverpool’s third came on 66 minutes after a flowing move, with Gerrard feeding substitute Babel, who slotted the ball into the corner as Liverpool extended their unbeaten start to the league season and remained six points behind Arsenal.
A late goal from Stephen Ireland gave Manchester City a 2-1 win over Reading, keeping them above Chelsea and Liverpool in third, one point behind neighbours United.
Goals from Salamon Kalou and Shaun Wright-Phillips gave Chelsea a battling 2-0 win at bottom side Derby County, though the win was marred by a red card for Michael Essien in injury time.
Portsmouth climbed to fifth after goals from Sulley Muntari and Niko Kranjcar gave them a 2-0 win at managerless Birmingham City.
John Carew was on the scoresheet as Aston Villa piled the pressure on Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate with a 3-0 win at the Riverside, while Everton slammed Sunderland 7-1 at Goodison, with Yakubu and Tim Cahill both scoring twice apiece.