Emmanuel Adebayor scored two goals and Arsenal beat Manchester City 3-1 to go two points ahead in the Premier League after Manchester United could only draw 1-1 with Tottenham.
Defending champion United, which led the Gunners on goal difference going into Saturday’s games, needed a last minute equaliser by Carlos Tevez to avoid defeat at White Hart Lane after Dimitar Berbatov put Spurs ahead in the 21st.
The results mean that Arsenal has 60 points and United 58. Chelsea is third with 54 after a 1-1 draw at Portsmouth.
Adebayor scored in the ninth and 88th minutes and provided a headed pass for Eduardo da Silva to score in the 26th as the Gunners became the first team to win in the league at Man City this season.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger had told his players to push for a third goal after Gelson Fernandes had replied for Man City in the 28th.
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“I believe we controlled the game, but at 2-1 you never know,” Wenger said. “We are not a team who is comfortable when we just defend, so I pushed the team to go and score a third goal. It came because City opened up.”
Man City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson said his team was punished for its poor start.
“Arsenal are good, no doubt about that, but we started the game too soft,” the former England coach said. “I think we did OK ... It’s important we have to fight, we have to do better.”
Adebayor gave Arsenal a 1-0 lead when Man City midfielder Martin Petrov lost possession in his own half. Bacary Sagna ran into the box and crossed to the Togo striker, whose shot was partly deflected by City defender Micah Richards past goalkeeper Joe Hart.
Adebayor then set up the second goal, beating two City defenders in the air to head a left-wing cross down to Eduardo, who turned to shoot home from 6m
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City hit back two minutes later when Arsenal left back Gael Clichy lost the ball to Vedran Corluka, who laid the ball back for Fernandes to slide it home inside the area.
Alexandre Hleb and Cesc Fabregas exchanged passes on a breakaway by Arsenal, and Adebayor arrived unmarked to drive the ball in from 13 meters and score his 18th league goal of the season.
Spurs went ahead on a breakaway in the 21st minute at White Hart Lane, Jermaine Jenas passing out to Aaron Lennon whose cross was pushed away by goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar but turned in from close range by Berbatov.
Furious United players claimed Jenas handled the ball during the move and Van der Sar was shown the yellow card for protesting to referee Mark Clattenburg. The Dutch goalkeeper was one of six United players to receive cautions.
United equalised deep into injury time when Tevez forced the ball home from a corner.
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Nicolas Anelka put Chelsea ahead after 55 minutes at Fratton Park only for new signing Jermain Defoe to level for Pompey in the 64th. The draw meant that the Blues failed to make it a club record 10 league wins in a row and slipped to six points behind the leader.
Fourth place Everton had Andy Johnson’s goal disallowed for offside in a 0-0 draw at Blackburn.
Last place Derby captured a point for the second game in a row, coming from behind to draw 1-1 at Birmingham. Sebastian Larsson gave the home team the lead in the 68th minute and Emanuel Villa captured a point for the Rams with an equalizer a minute from the end.
Kevin Kilbane’s goal in the final minute of the first half gave Wigan a 1-0 victory over West Ham to lift the Latics out of the relegation zone.
Bolton won 2-0 at Reading with strikes by Kevin Nolan and Heidar Helguson and it would have been even worse for the home team but American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann saved a penalty by Matt Taylor.
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Today’s late game is Liverpool-Sunderland and, on Sunday, Newcastle hosts Middlesbrough and Aston Villa goes to Fulham.
West Bromwich Albion moved three points ahead in the League Championship by coming from behind to beat Burnley 2-1 at the Hawthorns. Second place Bristol City lost 3-0 at Queens Park Rangers.