Chelsea is the new Premier League leader in England.
The Blues took a hard-fought 1-0 victory Saturday over Everton on Arjen Robben's 72nd minute goal. The victory coupled with Arsenal's 1-1 draw at Crystal Place moved the Blues two points ahead of the Gunners atop the Premier League.
PHOTO: AFP
Chelsea improved to 29 points with defending champions Arsenal on 27 followed by Everton (23) and Bolton (21) with Middlesbrough and Aston Villa on 18.
Under new manager Jose Mourinho, Chelsea has given up only four goals in all matches this season -- and only one at home at Stamford Bridge.
"I think it was a special win against a special opponent," Mourinho said. "They [Everton] are definitely the tallest and strongest I have seen in England. Very physical with a great attitude.
Everton was tough defensively until Robben broke through, racing into the area on a lofted pass from Eidur Gudjohnsen and then flicking the ball over 'keeper Nigel Martyn.
The Toffies entered the match as the only Premier League team without an away loss.
Chelsea had a half dozen other chances to score, but failed to convert.
"In this kind of match you can't miss so many chances," Mourinho said. "But to be fair, they had one in the first half and a set play in the second half."
The next date to watch? It's Dec. 12, when Arsenal meets Chelsea at Highbury.
Arsenal, unbeaten in 49 straight league games just two weeks ago, has won only once in its last six games in all competitions.
Arsenal has led the league from the start, dropping to second in Saturday's 12th league game of the season. Counting last season, it's the first time in almost 11 months that the Gunners have not topped the standings.
The Gunners took a brief lead in the 63rd on Thierry Henry's goal, but failed to hold it with Aki Riihilahti scoring two minutes later. Arsenal's Robin van Persie had two good chances in the final 20 minutes, stopped each time by `keeper Gabor Kiraly.
In a battle between teams in the middle of the standings, Aston Villa defeated Portsmouth 3-0 on goals by Peter Whittingham, Juan Pablo Angel and Nolberto Solano.
The three first-half goals swamped Portsmouth, which looked nothing like the side that upset Manchester United 2-0 a week ago.
Despite dominating much of the play at Anfield, Liverpool slipped to a 1-0 loss against Birmingham City on Darren Anderton's 77th-minute goal.
In a battle of teams at the bottom, Paul Dickov's goal in the 86th gave Rovers a 1-1 draw and kept Norwich from recording its first Premier League win of the season. Blackburn played a man short after Jay Bothroyd was sent off in the 44th for violent conduct. Mathias Svensson gave Norwich a 1-0 lead in the 56th, with Dickov equalizing.
Southampton rallied for a 2-2 draw against West Brom on an 87th-minute goal by Anders Svensson. Southampton stayed among the bottom three with only eight points. West Brom has nine, one point above the relegation zone.
Charlton took a 3-0 lead against Tottenham on two early goals by Shaun Bartlett, and then held on for victory. Bartlett was sent off in the 68th for a handball, with Robbie Keane scoring on a subsequent penalty. Jermain Defoe scored again in the 79th.
The match came just a day after Spurs' coach Jacques Santini turned in his surprise resignation, citing "personal and private reasons." Tottenham had only three victories in 11 Premier League games under the former France national team coach.
Celtic stretched its lead to seven points in Scotland's Premier League, beating Kilmarnock 2-1 on goals by Aidan McGeady and a penalty from Alan Thompson.
Colin Nash scored in the 89th for Kilmarnock.
The Scottish champions improved to 34 points with Rangers on 27. Rangers played Sunday at Livingston with Aberdeen home to Hearts.
Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o scored his ninth goal of the season Saturday and FC Barcelona rallied to beat Deportivo La Coruna 2-1 to stretch its lead at the top of the standings to nine points.
Spain midfielder Xavi Hernandez also netted to earn Frank Rijkaard's unbeaten team its eighth win in 10 games and maintain its perfect record at the Camp Nou this season.
Barcelona's victory equaled its best start to the season, achieved in 1996-1997 when Bobby Robson was in charge.
"It was a good result for us. And it was deserved too, I think," Rijkaard said. "Generally, the team battled hard and its attitude was correct."
Barcelona has 26 points, well ahead of second-place Sevilla with 17. Real Madrid, Zaragoza and Levante all have 16, while Deportivo stays 10th with 13 points.
Roy Makaay ended a seven-game scoring drought Saturday with a goal and two assists, lifting Bayern Munich past Hannover 96 3-0 and moving it within a point of Bundesliga leader Wolfsburg.
Bayern climbed from fifth to second and ended the five-match winning streak of Hannover, one of several surprises a third of the way into the season.
Wolfsburg lost for the second time in three matches, falling behind on Marek Mintal's first of three goals in the opening minute and losing 4-0 to Nuremberg.
The Croatian striker, outracing two defenders, scored 59 seconds into the match, and Wolfsburg was further hampered when playmaker Andres D'Allesandro was sent off with a dubious red card.
"This is hard to take. I don't know what happened, but I sensed something in the dressing room even before the match," Wolfsburg coach Erik Gerets said.
Bayern needed to beat Hannover, which had outscored its opponents 14-2 in its five-match win streak and risen to fourth, or faced the prospect of dropping five points off the lead.
Hannover's fans reveled in the change of fortunes, wearing T-shirts proclaiming of their red-clad side, "Bayern chasing the reds," with a picture of the table.
But in front of 62,000 at Olympiastadion, Bayern had little trouble against Hannover, which proved too harmless in front of the Bavarians' goal.
Just three minutes into the match, Claudio Pizarro scored on a Makaay cross. In the 80th minute, the Dutchman went clear on a through pass and circled around onrushing goalie Robert Emke to push in the easy goal and seal the win.
The goal ended a 782-minute scoreless span for Makaay, who led Europe in scoring two years ago at La Coruna, had been consistent with Bayern but had not tallied since a three-goal performance in a 4-0 European Champions League victory over Ajax on Sept. 28.
"I'm especially pleased about that," Bayern coach Felix Magath said. "We didn't play that well, but we were more effective in front of the opponent's goal than we've been lately."
Makaay then headed to Paolo Guerrero in the 90th minute to give his teammate his first Bundesliga goal.
Wolfsburg led with 24 points, one ahead of Munich and three better than Schalke, which was to play Hamburg on Sunday.
Lowly Reggina handed league leader Juventus its first loss of the season Saturday, beating the Turin powerhouse 2-1 in the 10th round.
One player down for the last 23 minutes, the team from southern Italy withstood steady pressure as Juventus struck one post and had one goal disallowed in extra time as it attacked with all its men looking for a late equalizer.
It was the second win of the season for Reggina, which lifted itself to 10 points and out of the relegation zone.
La Juve (8-1-1) still leads the Serie A standings ahead of Sunday's matches, five points ahead of second-place AC Milan. However, the loss prevented Juventus from equaling a 1954 AC Milan record of 9-1-0 in the first 10 rounds.
Reggina opened the scoring with a fluke in the 13th minute when midfielder Giuseppe Colucci bounced the ball into the net. He hit the ball with his thigh as Juventus defender Fabio Cannavaro tried to clear.
Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who joined Juventus in the off season, leveled the score after one minute on a defensive blunder by the home team.
Ibrahimovic rushed unmarked into the area and easily scored his fifth goal this season.
Defender Marco Zamboni netted the game-winner in the 26th on a long distance free kick. Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon slapped the ball which still ended into the net. La Juve commanded play throughout the second half, helped by the ejection of Colucci, who received his second yellow card in the 73rd.
Uruguay striker Marcelo Zalayeta struck the post with a powerful header in the 53rd. His substitute Alessandro Del Piero, Pavel Nedved and Emerson then missed some easy chances.
French midfielder Olivier Kapo, fielded in the closing minutes, scored in the fourth minute of extra time but the referee disallowed the goal, after consulting with the linesman, for a dubious offside position.
"No doubt we were unlucky tonight," Juventus coach Fabio Capello said. "There were some dubious calls and some dubious actions."
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