At the Reebok Stadium, the Gunners came from behind to defeat Bolton 3-1 in a thrilling encounter where momentum ebbed and flowed between the two teams.

Fired by an unusually vocal home support, the Trotters took the lead against Arsenal when Kevin Davies nodded home Joey O'Brien's corner in the 14th minute.

But after hitting the upright twice, the Gunners produced two strikes in two minutes to take the lead as Emmanuel Eboue slotted his first Premiership goal and young Danish striker Nicolas Bendtner tapped the ball in from close range after some good work by Denilson.

Bolton were fortunate not to be reduced to 10 men on the stroke of half-time after Davies sent Gael Clichy to hospital with a terrible two-footed lunge.

But with their numbers intact, the Trotters set about restoring parity during the second half before Denilson's 87th minute goal finished off the hosts' challenge.

The result sees Arsenal climb to the top of the Premiership table with 12 points, although third-placed Chelsea will have the opportunity to re-take the position when they play Manchester United on Sunday, as Bolton drop to 17th.

Liverpool, however, missed an excellent opportunity to climb atop proceedings as they were held to a 0-0 draw by fired-up minnows Stoke (18th).

Despite facing a rampaging Reds' side that had accounted for Manchester United at Anfield last weekend, the Potters produced one of the best rearguard actions of the season to deny wave after wave of attacking Red intent.

West Ham also climbed into the top four as the Hammers provided new manager Gianfranco Zola with his first Premiership victory in a 3-1 win over a hapless Newcastle (19th) at Upton Park.

On-load Torino striker David Di Michele did most of the damage for the Hammers, scoring twice and setting up the third goal for Matthew Etherington while Michael Owen played a lone hand up front for the Magpies, scoring with his only decent opportunity after the result was well and truly in the bag for the Londoners.

Sunderland moved into sixth on the table having accounted for North-East rival Middlesbrough (13th) 2-0 via a late brace to Michael Chopra as Matt Derbyshire scored the only goal in Blackburn's (eighth) 1-0 win over Fulham.

Rovers were unfortunate not to score from a beautifully curling shot by Socceroo Brett Emerton in the 39th minute that struck the woodwork but eventually found the back of the net six minutes from time when Derbyshire applied the finishing touches after Roque Santa Cruz did well to flick Carlos Vilanueva's ball into a dangerous position.

English Premiership League

Sunderland 2 (Chopra 81, 90)
Middlesbrough 0

Blackburn 1 (Derbyshire 84))
Fulham 0

Liverpool 0
Stoke City 0

West Ham 3 (Di Michele 8, 37, Etherington 53)
Newcastle 1 (Owen 67)

Bolton 1 (Davies 14)
Arsenal 3 (Eboue 26, Bendtner 27, Denilson 97)