The Frenchman's double after Jose Bosingwa had opened the scoring helped Chelsea rewrite the history books and equal Tottenham's 47-year-old record of 10 successive away wins in the top flight.

Anelka has now scored eight times in the last four matches.

Scolari said: "Anelka is happy because he has more confidence. The players, the fans believe more in Anelka than before. They give him more chance to score goals.

"As for the away record, I think my players know about this. They are more happy and they want to try to extend more times this record."

Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard scored as Liverpool claimed a 2-0 win at Bolton to trail Chelsea only on goal difference.

However, referee Rob Styles courted controversy by disallowing what would have been a Bolton equaliser at the end of the first half.

Trotters boss Gary Megson said: "I wasn't surprised to see Rob Styles refereeing. He gave a ridiculous decision against us at Old Trafford, that was a mistake.

"Now there has been another one. We seem to be on the wrong end of him making mistakes."

Reds counterpart Rafael Benitez had a different view, saying: "The rules are very clear. They say that the six-yard box is for the keeper, if you have three players in front of him and he cannot go for the ball, then it is simple, it is a free-kick."

Sir Alex Ferguson hailed the contribution of Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored twice in Manchester United's 5-0 demolition of Stoke.

Michael Carrick, Dimitar Berbatov and Danny Welbeck also scored as the Red Devils moved into third place.

Ferguson said: "Overall, he has scored 101 times in 253 appearances, which is an unbelievable return for a winger."

Arsenal suffered their second home defeat of the season after Aston Villa ran out 2-0 winners at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners also lost Bacary Sagna for "a few weeks" with an ankle injury.

The defeat came a week after they beat Manchester United and manager Arsene Wenger admitted the side's form is erratic.

"The performance was not good," Wenger said. "Top-level performances are

about consistency and at the moment we are not consistent enough."

Villa boss Martin O'Neill was exhilarated as they drew level with their opponents but also called for consistency.

"The landmarks are to do with consistently performing," O'Neill said. "It was a great performance but it's a tough old season."

Elsewhere, Harry Redknapp suffered his first defeat as Tottenham manager after goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes made another blunder to gift Fulham a 2-1 victory.

Gomes allowed a Simon Davies cross to slip through his fingers and Andrew Johnson doubled the lead before Fraizer Campbell reduced the deficit but the hosts prevailed.

Titus Bramble headed an 89th-minute equaliser on his return to Newcastle as Wigan claimed a 2-2 draw.

Trailing to Ryan Taylor's third-minute strike despite Emmerson Boyce's 54th-minute dismissal, the Magpies belatedly launched a fightback - which saw Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins score inside seven minutes at the end of the game.

But with seconds remaining, Bramble headed past Damien Duff on the line to snatch a point.

Sunderland claimed a vital win at Blackburn with Djibril Cisse claiming the winner after Kenwyne Jones had equalised Christopher Samba's opener for the hosts.

West Ham and Portsmouth fought out a goalless draw.