Bolton ended Arsenal's 100 percent record in the Premier League on Saturday with a late Henrik Pedersen strike earning a 2-2 draw.
Arsenal twice led -- through Thierry Henry and Robert Pires -- but Bolton leveled each time, through Radhi Jaidi and an 85th-minute strike from substitute Pedersen.
PHOTO: AP
The draw meant Arsenal failed to equal its best start to a season. Arsenal won its first six games of the 1947-1948 season, ironically with a 2-0 win over Bolton.
"Arsenal had a lot of possession but they didn't do much until they got the first goal, but we came back and we always fight to the end," Pedersen said. "We showed that fighting spirit today."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was disappointed the two goals were conceded from set pieces.
"We didn't find our usual technical level today," Wenger said. "From the start our passing was either too long or too short and when you start off like that it is difficult from then on.
Manchester City's 3-2 win over Crystal Palace -- only its second of the season -- ensured the survival of manager Kevin Keegan, who was in charge of his 150th match for the club. Nicolas Anelka scored both -- in the 55th and a penalty in the 64th. Andrew Johnson pulled a goal back for Palace in the 77th through a penalty.
In Birmingham, Charlton took the lead after 49 minutes through Luke Young. Eight minutes later, Birmingham's Damien Johnson was sent off for a second yellow card. Despite the man disadvantage, Dwight Yorke equalized after 68 minutes.
Three men were sent off at Craven Cottage. Fulham had Papa Bouba Diop sent off in the 61st minute for violent conduct but the home side scored through Andy Cole 10 minutes later. Cole and West Brom's Neil Clement were sent off in the 83rd, three minutes before Nwanko Kanu scored the leveler for West Brom.
Scottish League
Aberdeen took a stronger hold of second place in the Scottish Premier League with a 1-0 victory over Kilmarnock.
Meanwhile, Motherwell used a second-half flurry to down Dundee United 4-2 and keep its third place in the league. In the league's other game Saturday, Dundee and Livingston played to a scoreless draw.
Aberdeen received help from Kilmarnock defender James Fowler who knocked in the game's only goal in the 54th minute off a kick from Steve Tosh.
Motherwell, though, needed no help in their match. Trailing 1-0 out of the break, the Well got goals from Scott McDonald and David Clarkson in the span of four minutes. McDonald hit another one in later and substitute Alex Burns wrapped up the scoring in the match's waning minutes.
Spanish League
Argentine forward Maxi Rodriguez scored the lone goal Saturday as Espanyol moved into first place in the Spanish league by beating a much-changed and disjointed Real Madrid 1-0.
Rodriguez's fourth goal of the season ended Madrid's 100 percent league record and added to the difficulties of coach Jose Antonio Camacho four days after the heavy loss to Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.
Madrid, already without injured Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo, dropped David Beckham and Raul Gonzalez from the starting lineup and then had defender Walter Samuel ejected in the 75th minute. Madrid right back Michel Salgado was expelled in injury time.
Brazilian ace Ronaldo missed a second-half penalty, while Espanyol striker Raul Tamudo also failed with a twice-taken spot kick in an eventful third-round match.
Espanyol, Osasuna and Valencia, all unbeaten, have seven points, one more than Atletico Madrid, FC Barcelona and Madrid. Levante and Zaragoza have four points. Sociedad stays with two, while Betis has one.
Madrid, which lacked six of its top players for different reasons, could never master an Espanyol side much improved from last season.
Camacho's team was forced to make an unscheduled change just before kickoff when goalkeeper Iker Casillas collided with a goalpost in the warm up and was replaced by Cesar Sanchez.
Cesar came to Madrid's rescue after a half hour when Espanyol won a penalty after Samuel was adjudged to have pushed his compatriot Mauricio Pochettino.
Cesar saved from Spain striker Tamudo although the referee ordered the spot kick to be retaken after encroachment by Roberto Carlos. The replacement goalkeeper then dived to stop Tamudo's shot again.
Cesar's good work came to nothing 10 minutes later when he could only parry Tamudo's low header from a Dani Garcia cross and Rodriguez raced in to bury the rebound.
Beckham replaced Juanfran Torres in the 56th minute, while Fernando Morientes came on for an unconvincing Michael Owen 10 minutes later, but Madrid's woes increased when Samuel was dismissed for his second yellow card with 15 minutes remaining.
Salgado followed the Argentine just before time when he was red-carded for elbowing Espanyol midfielder Ivan De La Pena.
Bundesliga
Bayern Munich scored two goals in the last three minutes to escape with a 2-2 draw at Borussia Dortmund and Wolfsburg beat Hansa Rostock 2-1 to take the lead in the Bundesliga for the first time since gaining promotion in 1997.
Bayer Leverkusen, which beat Real Madrid 3-0 in the European Champions League on Wednesday, barely avoided another embarrassment against Bundesliga newcomer Nuremberg when it came from two goals behind to draw 2-2 at home.
Defending champion Werder Bremen routed Hannover 3-0 to move into third place.
Kaiserslautern beat Hamburger SV 2-1, Schalke fought from behind to edge Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-2 and Arminia Bielefeld drew 1-1 with Mainz in a showdown between newly promoted clubs.
Wolfsburg made club history with its win in Rostock, the fourth in five rounds. With 12 points, the club supported by the Volkswagen auto concern has 12 points, two more than Stuttgart. Stuttgart can regain the lead if it beats Hertha Berlin on the road Sunday. Bremen has nine points.
The most dramatic match of the day took place before a capacity crowd of 83,000 in Dortmund, where Felix Magath's team appeared headed for a defeat with just two minutes left.
But Brazilian defender Lucio scored in the 88th and Roy Makaay notched the equalizer one minute into injury time to save Bayern.
Italian League
Serie A newcomer Palermo held Inter Milan to a 1-1 draw at San Siro stadium to gain an unexpected lead in Italy's top league, tied with underdog Lecce on four points.
Lecce thrashed Brescia 4-1 in an earlier second-round match to form a hardly predictable duo atop the table ahead of Sunday's matches.
Brazil striker Adriano gave the Milan powerhouse a 1-0 lead in the 46th with a short-range header on a precise cross by fellow-Brazilian Ze Maria.
Luca Toni, the top Serie B scorer last year with 30 goals, netted Palermo's equalizer in the 67th minute on an assist from midfielder Lamberto Zauli, who beat three Inter defenders.
It was the 100th career goal for Toni, who made his debut with the Italian national team this year.
Inter, seeking its first win of the season following a disappointing 2-2 draw at Chievo Verona in the season's opener, squandered several scoring chances and new coach Roberto Mancini blamed his players for the missed win.
Dutch League
Mark van Bommel scored from the penalty spot as PSV Eindhoven drew clear at the top the premiership by beating NEC Nijmegen 3-0.
Van Bommel drilled in the 29th-minute spot kick after South Korean Park Ji-sung tumbled over the clumsily outstretched leg of NEC defender Jose Victoria.
The PSV captain's penalty only just beat excellent NEC goalkeeper Dennis Gentenaar, who had already made fine saves from Park, Jefferson Farfan and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
PSV now has 13 points from five games, three better than Feyenoord, which hosts FC Utrecht on today.
French League
Lyon drew 0-0 with Bastia, earning both a share of the French first-division lead as Marseille beat Toulouse 1-0 on Peguy Luyindula'g goal.
The draw gave Lyon and Bastia 12 points each and the same goals difference, moving them a point ahead of Toulouse and Metz, which could claim the lead by itself on Sunday when it travels to play Auxerre.
Monaco was in fifth place with 10 points and was to play Paris St.-Germain -- looking for its first victory -- on Sunday.
Portuguese League
Pepe scored in the 70th minute as European champion FC Porto came back to hold visiting Estoril to a 2-2 draw in the third round.
Porto, which also won the Portuguese league title last season, has just two points from two matches.
Luis Fabiano also scored for the defending champions, who went behind in the 13th minute when Ousmane N'Doye scored for Estoril. Pedro Pinheiro restored the lead for the guests in the 45th.
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