Chelsea and Liverpool remain together at the top of the Premier League after respective wins over Aston Villa and Manchester City, while Tottenham's misery continues following a 1-0 defeat at home to Hull.
Chelsea were good value for their 2-0 win as they dominated in-form Aston Villa, who were fortunate not to lose by a greater margin. Joe Cole broke the deadlock after 21 minutes, finishing off a sweeping move that began when Villa ceded possession carelessly. Florent Malouda found Frank Lampard and Cole fired a powerful shot past Brad Friedel. The Blues doubled their advantage a minute before half time after Friedel, who was excellent throughout, made a superb stop from Michael Ballack and Nicolas Anelka followed up. The home side had several chances to extend their lead after the break but Villa's defence, and Friedel in particular, somehow kept the rampant Blues at bay.
"I am satisfied because we played very well," the Chelsea manager, Luis Felipe Scolari, said afterwards. "For me it is the most important game this season because if we won we were in first position in the league and now we have 10 days to recuperate our players through the international break. After, when we start the league, all our players will be in good condition."
Scolari also sought to assuage fears over the fitness of Joe Cole and John Terry ahead of England's World Cup qualifiers this week. Both men suffered injuries during the game but their manager predicted they would be ready for the matches against Kazakhstan and Belarus. ''[Cole] got a little touch, it's nothing, a little problem on the foot. In two or three days with the national team he will be in the condition to play. John Terry is the same. He is a fantastic man, if he feels something he still wants to play."
Liverpool, meanwhile, looked certain to lose touch with Luiz Felipe Scolari's side after finding themselves 2-0 down at half-time at Manchester City but a remarkable second-half revival earned Rafa Benítez's men a dramatic comeback win. Alvaro Arbeloa was at fault for the first goal as he failed to deal with Shaun Wright-Phillips's cross, enabling Stephen Ireland to rifle a shot into the roof of the net after 20 minutes and, four minutes before half-time, Javier Garrido unleashed a spectacular free-kick into the top left-hand corner to double City's lead.
However, 10 minutes after the restart Fernando Torres gave the visitors a lifeline, scoring the Reds' 1000th Premier League goal, and, after Pablo Zabaleta was sent off for a professional foul, Torres again beat Joe Hart to earn his side a 77th-minute equaliser. The Spaniard could have had a hat-trick as Liverpool poured forward late on, but the last-gasp winner fell to Dirk Kuyt, who swept in from close range in the dying seconds.
Geovanni was again the hero of the hour for Hull as his free-kick condemned Tottenham to their fifth Premier League defeat of the season at White Hart Lane. The Brazilian helped Phil Brown's men shock Arsenal last weekend and his curling effort after just nine minutes was enough to leave struggling Spurs, for whom Luka Modric missed two excellent second-half chances, rock bottom.
Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe scored in the 2-0 defeat of Tottenham last weekend and both strikers were on target again at Fratton Park, scoring either side of Ricardo Fuller's 48th-minute equaliser to give Portsmouth a 2-1 victory against Stoke. Crouch's overhead kick on 25 minutes was the pick of the goals while Defoe's 51st-minute strike, shortly after he had hit the post, takes him joint top of the scorers' charts on five goals.
In the late kick-off Newcastle staged a spirited recovery at Goodison Park, rallying from two goals down to earn a valuable point at Everton. Mikel Arteta gave the hosts an 18th-minute lead from the penalty spot after Nicky Butt had brought down Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini made it 2-0 on 35 minutes. However, Steven Taylor and Damien Duff struck a minute either side of half-time to bring Newcastle back into the game.
The Magpies almost won the match with 12 minutes left only for Baines to scramble Charles N'Zogbia's shot off the line, while in the last four minutes Everton themselves twice came close to snatching a first home win of the season through Victor Anichebe. However, the match ended level and Newcastle leapfrog Stoke to move up to 17th place, three clear of Spurs.
Earlier in the day, West Ham missed out on the chance to go take a provisional divisional lead as they were beaten 3-1 at home to Bolton. The home side had the better of the first half-hour's play before Robert Green fumbled Jlloyd Samuel's long ball into the path of Kevin Davies, who lifted the ball into the empty net. Gary Cahill doubled the Trotters' lead from close range four minutes later and although Carlton Cole reduced the arrears on 69 minutes, Matthew Taylor finished off Gianfranco Zola's side with a swerving long-range free-kick with three minutes to go to secure Bolton's first win since the opening day of the season.
