A rare Ashley Cole goal kept defending champion Arsenal two points clear at the top of the Premier League on Saturday as a 1-0 victory at Manchester City stretched the Gunners' unbeaten record to 47 games.
When Didier Drogba scored late to give Chelsea a 1-0 victory at Middlesbrough in an early kickoff, the Gunners lost top spot to the Blues. But Cole collected a deflected pass from Jose Antonio Reyes to score for the first time in more than two years to capture three more points at the City of Manchester Stadium.
PHOTO: AP
Arsenal has beaten City in each their last 11 meetings.
Manchester United moved up to fifth with a 1-0 victory at Tottenham. Ruud van Nistelrooy hammered home a penalty three minutes before half time after Swedish defender Erik Edman was judged to have fouled John O'Shea.
Spurs manager Jacques Santini, who was unhappy that the match referee, Peter Walton, was a Premier League rookie wasn't sure either.
After victories over Liverpool and Spurs, Ferguson's men have moved up eight places in six days.
Arsenal now has 19 points from seven games and Chelsea 17. Everton, which visits Portsmouth on Sunday, is third on 13 and United fourth with 12.
Newcastle moved up to fifth after beating struggling West Bromwich Albion 3-1 for its third win in a row under the new manager.
Scottish League
Henri Camara scored twice as defending champion Celtic opened up a six point lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League with a 3-0 beating of Dunfermline.
But the biggest scorer of the day was Kilmarnock's Kris Boyd who hit all five of his team's goals in a 5-2 victory over Dundee United at Rugby Park to tie a Premier League record.
Bundesliga
Argentine forward Diego Klimowicz's last-minute goal helped unsung VfL Wolfsburg stay top of the Bundesliga and beat Kaiserslautern 2-1.
Stuttgart turned in an impressive performance, throttling Bayer Leverkusen 3-0, while Netherlands forward Roy Makaay -- a bank for the team -- shone again with a goal and an assist in Bayern Munich's 3-1 win against SC Freiburg.
The results left Wolfsburg (5-0-1) with 15 points and Stuttgart (4-2-0) with 14. Bremen has 12 points while Bayern holds fourth with 11.
Dutch League
Yannis Anastasiou hit a late winner as Ajax edged Roda JC Kerkrade 1-0 to keep pace with rivals PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord Rotter-dam, which both had 4-0 wins.
Spanish League
Ismael Urzaiz and Santiago Ezquerro scored a goal each as Athletic Bilbao beat Real Madrid 2-1, denying the Spanish powerhouse a chance to take over the top spot in the league.
Madrid drops to fourth place with nine points, one behind defending champion Valencia, FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, which nipped Villarreal 1-0. Valencia faces Racing Santander today while Barcelona plays Mallorca.
Serie A
Serie A leader Juventus was held to a 1-1 draw by newcomer Palermo, losing its perfect record in the fourth round.
The Sicilian team, which has been off to an impressive start in Italy's top league, led 1-0 at halftime on a perfect 16th-minute header by defender Cristian Zaccardo.
It was the first goal allowed by the Juventus defense this season, the league best.
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