PREMIERSHIP
Come the middle of May when the Premiership Champions are crowned we may well look back at last weekend as the time that the pendulum swung in Arsenal's direction.
Not even the most optomistic of Gunner's supporters would have expected Manchester United to lose at home to their bitter rivals Manchester City.
So dominant have United been at home this season that prior to Sunday's shock 2-1 defeat they had only dropped points to Reading on the first day of the season when the Berkshire side fought for a well earned draw.
After a well respected minutes silence to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Munich air crash it was the visitors who played the better football.
Missing England striker Wayne Rooney the Premiership Champions seemed to lack the cutting edge to make the breakthrough.
Instead debutant Benjani Mwaruwari and Darius Vassell rattled the back of the United net with Petrov, Ireland and Hamann dictating things in midfield.
The defeat means United trails Arsene Wegner's side by two points with Arsenal also having a game in hand.
That game is against Blackburn Rovers tonight at the Emirates where Emmanuel Adebayor (pictured above) and company will be hoping to stretch the Londoner's lead at the top of the Premiership table to five points.
United's loss earlier in the day handed Chelsea the chance to narrow the gap on second place.
Victory over out-of-sorts Liverpool would have brought Avram Grant's charges to within a point of United and three points of Arsenal.
However Chelsea never got going in a drab encounter at Stamford Bridge and though they had the best chance of the day when Michael Ballack went close Liverpool were arguably the better side.
Peter Crouch had his opportunities to score with England manager Fabio Capello sitting in the stands but his efforts never seriously bothered Petr Cech in the Chelsea goals.
The result sees Liverpool move up to fifth with a game in hand over near neighbours Everton who are ahead of the Reds by just three points.
As it's FA Cup action next weekend attention turns away from the Premiership though the 5th round meeting between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford on Saturday will have added spice given their Premiership standings.
The struggling clubs at the base of the Premiership tabel may well welcome the rest with top clubs such as Newcastle United, Fulham and Birmingham City still very much in deep deep trouble.
| # |
Team |
P | W | D | L | F | A | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GD | |
| 1 | Arsenal | 25 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 10 | 60 | +34 | |
| 2 | Man Utd | 26 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 32 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 18 | 9 | 58 | +36 | |
| 3 | Chelsea | 26 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 23 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 55 | +21 | |
| 4 | Everton | 26 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 24 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 12 | 47 | +18 | |
| 5 | Liverpool | 25 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 26 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 8 | 44 | +23 | |
| 6 | Aston Villa | 26 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 24 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 24 | 17 | 44 | +14 | |
| 7 | Man City | 26 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 44 | +5 | |
| 8 | Portsmouth | 26 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 21 | 16 | 41 | +10 | |
| 9 | Blackburn | 25 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 18 | 39 | +1 | |
| 10 | West Ham | 25 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 10 | 37 | +7 | |
| 11 | Spurs | 26 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 33 | 22 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 15 | 19 | 32 | +7 | |
| 12 | Middlesbrough | 26 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 18 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 20 | 29 | -15 | |
| 13 | Newcastle | 26 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 29 | 28 | -18 | |
| 14 | Sunderland | 26 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 32 | 26 | -19 | |
| 15 | Bolton | 26 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 17 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 23 | 25 | -9 | |
| 16 | Wigan | 26 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 28 | 23 | -18 | |
| 17 | Birmingham | 26 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 24 | 22 | -13 | |
| 18 | Reading | 26 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 19 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 16 | 34 | 22 | -23 | |
| 19 | Fulham | 26 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 18 | 22 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 22 | 19 | -19 | |
| 20 | Derby | 26 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 24 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 31 | 9 | -42 | |
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