PREMIERSHIP FOOTBALL
Nicholas Anelka netted his first goal in the Premiership for Arsenal against Manchester United back in 1997. A decade on the 28-year-old Frenchman was at it again as his early strike against the Red Devils gave Bolton a crucial 1-0 win at the Reebok stadium.
That win lifted Wanderers out of the bottom three and suddenly their future in the Premiership looks a whole lot brighter. They have now lost just one of their last seven games and under new boss Gary Megson seem to have turned the corner.
The suprising result leaves United three points behind leaders Arsenal with Arsene Wegner's side also having a game in hand.
The Gunners were unimpressive in their 2-0 home win over Wigan with William Gallas breaking the deadlock with just seven minutes remaining.
Arsenal are one of just two sides remaining in the Premiership with an unbeaten record - the other being Liverpool.
The league leader's game in hand will be played against Newcastle United on Wednesday, December 5th.
Republic of Ireland International Stephen Ireland maintained Manchester City's 100% home record with a stunning injury time volley to defeat Reading 2-1.
That result keeps City in third spot but if they want to challenge for top honours this season then they will have to vastly improve their away form.
Liverpool have been excellent away from Anfield this season and they picked up their fifth win on the road at
Newcastle United on Saturday with a 3-0 victory over the Magpies.
Once again Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez and American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett were at loggerheads.
The Spaniard is understood to be unhappy about the lack of commitment from the American pair in relation to January signings.
He said " They don't understand what the transfer window means in Europe. They need to understand how difficult it is to sign players."
There was greater harmony for the blue half of Liverpool on Saturday though when Everton ran out 7-1 victors over Roy Keane's Sunderland.
It was by far the heaviest defeat suffered by Keane in his career and the Irishman wasn't dodging any flak at the end of the one sided contest when he said " It's hard to take, but we lose as a team and I picked the team and sorted the tactics so I have no problem taking responsibililty for what happened."
Sunderland have now slipped into the bottom three in the Premiership for the first time this season.
The weekend Premiership results (and Getminted predictions)............
Arseanl 2-0 Wigan (Prediction was 3-0)
Birmingham 0-2 Portsmouth (Prediction was 1-3)
Bolton 1-0 Manchester United (Prediction was 0-2)
Derby County 0-2 Chelsea (Prediction was 0-1)
Everton 7-1 Sunderland (Prediction 1-1)
Manchester City 2-1 Reading (Prediction 4-1)
Middlesbrough 0-3 Aston Villa (Prediction 2-1)
Newcastle United 1-2 Liverpool (Prediction 0-3)
Fulham 2-2 Blackburn Rovers (Prediction 2-2)*
West Ham United 1-1 Tottenham (Prediction 1-2)
Getminted got 6 results right and one exact score right
