Chelsea bounced back from their defeat at Manchester City by beating Arsenal 2-0 at Stamford Bridge. It was the away side that had the better of the play but were unable to carve an opening for them. Chelsea took the lead when Cole’s cross was cheekily back heeled in off the post by Didier Drogba. The blues winner came courtesy of a magnificent free kick from Alex soared into the net from distance.

Manchester United are still with out an away league win this season after drawing 0-0 at the Stadium of Light. United were lucky to go in at half time on level terms after a limp first half showing where Sunderland dominated but were unable to take their chances. The second half opened up and there were chances for both sides but neither had the capacity to take them.

Liverpool’s shocking start to the season continued when they lost 2-1 to Blackpool at Anfield. It was a courageous performance from Blackpool who held firm against a Liverpool onslaught which was toothless when it came to finishing. Blackpool were awarded a penalty when Johnson chopped down Varney. Charlie took the spot kick and found the corner despite Reina getting a touch. Blackpool doubled their lead before half time when Taylor-Fletcher’s neat through ball found Luke Varney who beat Reina. Liverpool pulled one back when Kyrgiakos met Gerrard’s free kick with a thunderous header which flew past Gilkes. Liverpool pressed and had chances but were unable to find the net.

Manchester City moved into second with a 2-1 win over Newcastle at Eastlands. The defeat was made worse for Newcastle as Hatem Ben Arfa was stretchered off with a double leg break. City were awarded a penalty for Williamson’s foul on Tevez. Tevez stepped up to take the kick and drilled it firmly straight down the middle. The visitors equalised when Kompany’s clearance was latched onto by Jonas Gutierrez who drilled the ball in off the under side of the bar. The winner came from Adam Johnson who did terrifically to skip past two players before striking the ball low into the far corner.

Spurs came back from a goal down to beat Villa 2-1 at White Hart Lane. They had Rafael Van der Vaart to thank for rescuing three points with a fine display. The away side took the lead when persistence from Heskey led to him stealing the ball from Bassong before squaring it for Marc Albrighton to turn in at the back post. Spurs levelled before half when a good cross from Pavlyuhenko was knocked back by Crouch and Van der Vaart was on hand to head in. Spurs winner came in the second half and again it was from a Crouch knock back and this time Van der Vaart did really well to beat Dunn before smashing the ball past Friedel.

Everton got their first win of the season with a 2-0 victory over Birmingham. They will surely kick on now with the quality in their squad they should be now upwardly mobile. They took the lead when Roger Johnson prodded the ball past his own keeper while trying to intercept Osman’s dangerous cross. Everton had to wait for the third minute of stoppage time to seal the win and it came thanks to neat play from Baines to beat his man and get the cross in which was met by the head of Cahill.

Wigan got a much needed win when they beat fellow strugglers Wolves at the DW stadium. in the process of their 2-0 win they doubled their season’s goal tally which speaks volumes about what their problems are. Wolves were reduced to 10 men after 11 minutes when Karl Henry was rightly sent off for an outrageous on Jordi Gomez. It was Gomez who gave the home side the lead when his magnificent free kick coared past Hahnemann and in off the under side of the bar. They confirmed the three points when Berra’s attempted clearance deflected of Hugo Rodellega and into the net The London derby between West Ham and Fulham ended in a 1-1 draw. It was a fair result in an even game which neither side did enough to win. Fulham took the lead when Clint Dempsey latched onto a looped through ball to control and then smash past Green. West Ham’s equaliser came thanks to Frederic Piquionne who capitalised on poor Fulham defending to head in.

At the Britania Stoke dominated in a 1-0 win over Blackburn. Rovers had Robinson to thank that they didn’t concede more with a string of fine saves. On the only goal of the game came early in the second half when Etherington’s pass found Jon Walters who did well to hold off Samba before finding the corner.

The game between West Brom and Bolton ended in a 1-1 draw at the Hawthorn’s. the away side took the lead in the second half when a really well worked move culminated in Davies’s deft pass being finished by Johan Elmander. However, they couldn’t hold on and the home side struck back when Odemwingie’s good cross was met by the head of James Morrison who had made a errific run from deep and guided his header past Jaaskelainen.

By Mark Hodgson