Bolton and Blackburn fought to a 0-0 draw Sunday in the English Premier League.
Bolton had most of the play in the first half but failed to break through. Ivan Campo probably had the best chance in the first half, but his header from close range in the 41st sailed over the crossbar.
Blackburn goalkeeper Brad Friedel was busy in the second half. The US 'keeper made several key saves, including a bouncing volley by Kevin Nolan three minutes into second-half injury time.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The draw gave Bolton eight points from five games, even with Tottenham in fifth place. Chelsea leads with 15, followed Charlton with 12, Manchester City with 11, and Manchester United with 10.
Blackburn neared the middle of the standings with five points. Sunderland is last without a point, while Newcastle has two, topped by 18th-place Everton with three.
Bolton coach Sam Allardyce was hoping for a strong game before the team's UEFA Cup opener on Thursday at home against Bulgaria's Lokomotiv Plovdiv.
Aston Villa plays at West Ham today.
Chelsea has yet to yield a goal in its first five matches. Geremi and Didier Drogba scored on Saturday in the team's 2-0 win over Sunderland.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, who had 17 players away on international duty last week, survived a trying week.
"Last season we dropped a lot of points in the matches after the international fixtures, and today I am very happy because we won this game," Mourinho said.
Charlton won its fourth straight match, a 1-0 victory at Birmingham through a 15th-minute goal by England striker Darren Bent.
Playing without the injured Thierry Henry, Arsenal lost 2-1 at Middlesbrough on goals by Aiyegbeni Yakubu and Massimo Maccarone. Jose Antonio Reyes scored in second-half injury time for Arsenal.
The Gunners slipped nine points behind Chelsea with a game in hand.
Ruud van Nistelrooy gave Manchester United a 1-0 lead before halftime, but Joey Barton snatched a point for Manchester City, which is unbeaten in 13 games going back to last season.
Scottish Premier League leader Hearts kept its record perfect with a 4-1 win at last-place Livingston.
Paul Hartley scored two goals, the first in the 34th minute and the second from the penalty spot in first-half injury time.
Rudolf Skacel and Andy Webster added the others for Hearts.
Livingston's lone goal was from Paul Dalglish.
Hearts leads the Premier League with 18 points, five ahead of Celtic, Kilmarnock and Hibernian. Rangers is eight off the pace with 10 points. Livingston remained in last place with one point from six matches.
Samuel Eto'o scored twice, and defending champion FC Barcelona beat Mallorca 2-0 to earn its first victory of the Spanish season.
The Cameroon striker, the team's top scorer with 24 goals last season, scored with headers in the 27th and 32nd minutes to kill off the hopes of his former club, which ended the match with nine men.
A 74th-minute goal by substitute Luciano Figueroa earned Villarreal a 1-1 draw with Sevilla.
Lars Ricken stole the show from Lukas Podolski and scored two goals to give Borussia Dortmund a 2-1 win over Cologne.
Hertha Berlin blanked Wolfsburg 3-0 to jump into fifth place.
Podolski came into the match in Dortmund riding a wave of publicity after scoring three goals in Germany's 4-2 win over South Africa on Wednesday. The 20-year-old striker is rapidly becoming one of Germany's most popular players.
But it was Ricken, himself a promising young star, who gave Dortmund its first victory of the season. Ricken has several indifferent seasons behind him, but he has played strongly this season.
He converted a penalty in the 25th and secured the victory with another goal in the 73rd, off a good cross from the speedy David Odonkor, who had hit the post earlier.
In Berlin, Hertha needed 70 minutes to wear down Wolfsburg's defense. But then the goals came in rapid succession.
Captain Arne Friedrich picked up a long cross from the left and drove the ball home for a 1-0 lead.
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