The Premier League's top two clubs set the tone on a day of 32 goals across England.
League leader Chelsea dominated again on Saturday, beating Fulham 4-1, while slumping Arsenal recorded its first league victory in three weeks, rallying past north London rival Tottenham 5-4.
PHOTO: AP
Arsenal's victory marked the first time nine different players scored in the Premier League.
Fulham briefly threatened Chelsea, leveling at 1-1 on Papa Bouba Diop's goal in the 57th at Fulham's Craven Cottage stadium in west London. The league goal was only the fourth Chelsea has yielded this season.
But the Blues bounced back with goals from Arjen Robben, William Gallas and Cardoso Tiago for the lopsided victory.
Out for three months with a knee injury, the Dutch winger Robben has lifted Chelsea since he made his team debut just two weeks ago.
"He [Robben] has a winning attitude, but his ambition is even bigger," Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said.
"Since he has been playing, the team has improved a lot."
Thierry Henry, Lauren, Patrick Vieira, Freddie Ljungberg and Robert Pires rallied Arsenal for the victory at archrival Tottenham, giving the Gunners their first league victory in four games.
The league victory was the first for the Gunners since Manchester United snapped their record unbeaten string of 49 league games three weeks ago.
The winless slide cost the defending champions first place, which Chelsea took over a week ago.
In a classic matchup at White Hart Lane, the attacking was wide open and the defending abysmal. By giving up four goals, Arsenal yielded as many as Chelsea has in all of its league games.
Chelsea leads the Premier League with 32 points followed by Arsenal (30), Everton (26), Bolton (22), Aston Villa (21) and Liverpool (20). At the bottom, Norwich (8) is topped by Blackburn (9) and West Brom (9).
Tottenham took a 1-0 lead in the 37th when defender Noureddine Naybet chipped in a free kick from Michael Carrick and Henry equalized just before halftime.
It got wild in the second half with seven goals. Arsenal's Lauren and Vieira made it 3-1. Spurs' Jermain Defoe narrowed it to 3-2 in the 61st.
Arsenal's Ljungberg increased the lead in the 69th. Spurs' Ledley King made it a one-goal margin again in the 74th, only to see substitute Pires score the clincher in the 81st. Spurs' Freddie Kanoute scored in the 88th.
It was Tottenham's fifth straight league defeat.
Third-place Everton continued to be the surprise of English soccer, beating Birmingham 1-0 on Thomas Gravesen's penalty in the 69th. The win came a day after manager David Moyes signed a new contract to stay with the club through the 2008-2009 season.
Czech striker Milan Baros scored all three goals for Liverpool -- two on penalties -- in the 3-2 win over Palace.
In Southampton's victory, Portsmouth went ahead 1-0 in the 12th on an own-goal by Claus Lundekvam. Dexter Blackstock equalized in the 18th with the winner from Kevin Phillips in the 71st.
Thomas Hitzlsperger scored in the 89th to give Villa its 2-1 come-from-behind victory at Bolton.
Charlton broke loose for four goals -- two from Jonatan Johansson -- in beating Norwich 4-0.
Antoine Sibierski gave Man City a 1-0 lead in first-half injury time with Paul Dickov equalizing on a penalty for Blackburn in the 78th.
In news off the field, Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer escalated the battle for control of Manchester United by voting three members off the board. The club is one of the richest sports franchises in the world, with a value of about US$1.3 million.
But fans opposed to his takeover plans took heart after hearing that his bankers J.P. Morgan were unhappy with his tactics and had withdrawn support.
Glazer used the weight of his 28.11 percent stock share to oust the three directors at the club's annual general meeting on Friday, signaling the possibilities of a hostile takeover.
John Hartson scored two goals to keep Celtic on top in Scotland with a 3-0 victory over Inverness.
Chris Sutton scored Celtic's other goal, a strike after just three minutes that set the tone for the match. Hartson scored in the 53rd and 77th.
Defending champion Celtic leads the Premier League with 37 points, seven ahead of chasing Rangers and 12 clear of No. 3 Aberdeen. Livingston is holding up the bottom with only nine points in 14 games.
James Patterson scored two second-half goals in Motherwell's victory over Dundee. At Aberdeen, Simon Donnelly notched the deciding goal in the 70th to break the 1-1 tie.
David McCracken scored the decider in the 78th in Dundee United's 1-0 victory over Livingston. Peter Leven scored in the 31st to give Kilmarnock a 1-0 lead over Hearts, with Dennis Wyness equaling in the 69th.
Struggling Valencia could only muster a 0-0 draw with Zaragoza in the 11th round of the Spanish league, extending its winless streak to 10 games in all competitions.
The defending champions gave a lifeless display which left Claudio Ranieri's team without a league victory in six games. Valencia last won on Sept. 26 when it beat Racing Santander.
"When you're ill you can't leave hospital," Ranieri said of his side. "We'll sort it out little by little. With hard work, we'll manage it."
In Saturday's late match, a 54th-minute Diego Tristan penalty earned Deportivo La Coruna a 1-0 win over Levante.
Also, Espanyol moved up to second place by beating visiting Racing Santander 2-1, while Sevilla fell at lowly Numancia 2-1.
FC Barcelona leads the league with 26 points, six more than Espanyol. Real Madrid and Levante have 19 points, followed by Zaragoza and Sevilla with 18 each. Valencia, Deportivo and Osasuna are next with 16.
Martin Petrov scored his second goal late in Wolfsburg's 3-0 thrashing of Stuttgart on Saturday when goalkeeper Simon Jentzsch flung the ball almost 50m to the streaking Bulgarian.
Petrov beat the entire Stuttgart defense before bearing down on Timo Hildebrand and flicking past the diving 'keeper.
Long after the match ended, Hildebrand was still seething over the unusual goal and a match which kept unheralded Wolfsburg atop the Bundesliga against his third-place team.
"When the whole team is beaten like that, something is wrong," Hildebrand said of the goal. "Even on attack you could see Wolfsburg was there to play and was aggressive and we just thought somehow it would take care of itself."
Little-known Wolfsburg appears to be getting used to being at the top of the Bundesliga.
The club owned by carmaker Volkswagen, which hasn't come close to a title since reaching the Bundesliga for the 1997-98 season, bounced back from its first real setback last week. The club was routed 4-0 by Nuremberg.
Wolfsburg entered the weekend locked in a four-way battle for first, with just one point separating the rivals. The win pushed the club to 27 points through 13 rounds, three ahead of second-place Schalke, which was upset 3-1 by Hertha Berlin. Bayern Munich could close to within a point today with a win against Bochum.
Stuttgart, which started the day just a point behind Wolfsburg, remained third with 23 points.
Berlin ended Schalke's 10-match winning streak -- six in the league -- under new coach Ralf Rangnick behind goals by Marcelinho, Nando Rafael and Niko Kovac.
Afterward, Rangnick blamed the loss on his team's heavy schedule. Stuttgart coach Matthias Sammer cited the same reason for his team's defeat.
PSV Eindhoven extended its lead in the Dutch premier league to five points by beating Willem II Tilburg 1-0 Saturday on a first-half goal by Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
AZ Alkmaar, still rolling after downing Auxerre in the UEFA Cup earlier this month, moved into to second place by blanking NAC Breda 3-0.
Vennegoor of Hesselink connected off a Mark van Bommel free kick in the 17th minute to put PSV ahead as Willem II Tilburg let the hosts control the ball from the start.
But PSV was content to relax after taking the lead, and the match offered little excitement. By halftime, PSV had only created one chance on a long-range attempt by van Bommel, while Willem II had two weak shots.
"I know that this wasn't the most exciting game. After my goal the ball didn't circulate well," Vennegoor of Hesselink said. "We needed to create more chances, but we won and that makes me happy."
Albert van der Haar had the only good opportunity for Willem II in the second half but his close-range shot was blocked by PSV goalkeeper Gomes.
Tarik Sektioui scored two goals for AZ Alkmaar after Martijn Meerdink had given the team the lead.
Strikers Pierre-Alain Frau and Sidney Govou both scored second-half goals as unbeaten Lyon beat visiting Nantes 2-0 to stay at the top of the French first division.
Lyon, which has not lost in 18 games in all competitions this season, has 32 points from 14 league matches, keeping it on course for a record-equaling fourth straight title.
Lille is four points adrift in second place, but can pull back to within one point if it beats Monaco at home today.
Auxerre, which beat lowly Ajaccio 1-0 thanks to a Yann Lachuer volley, is in third place with 25 points.
Sochaux is next with 22 points but needed a late equalizer from Jeremy Mathieu at home to draw 1-1 with last-place Istres.
Marseille has the same amount of points after a 2-0 home win over Strasbourg, but trails on goal difference. Habib Bamogo and Sergio Koke both scored for Marseille.
Saint-Etienne recorded its second straight win and striker Pascal Feindouno created all three goals. David Hellebuyck grabbed a brace and Frederic Piquionne was also on target.
Paris Saint-Germain, buoyant after back-to-back wins over archrival Marseille, crumbled against Bordeaux. Defender Stephane Pichot scored an early own-goal, and veteran striker Lilian Laslandes got the second.
Sebastien Mazure scored both goals for Caen, which moved up to ninth. Babacar Gueye had opened the scoring for Metz.
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