West Bromwich Albion piled the pressure on Chelsea with a 1-0 victory yesterday as Premier League leaders Manchester City downed Bolton to open up a five-point lead at the top of the table.
An 82nd-minute strike from Gareth McAuley secured all three points for West Brom at the Hawthorns to deal a fresh blow to under-fire Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas, reportedly battling to hang on to his job.
The defeat left Chelsea three points adrift of the top four after Arsenal’s push for Champions League qualification was given fresh momentum following a dramatic 2-1 win over Liverpool in yesterday’s early kick-off.
Elsewhere, leaders City cruised to a straightforward 2-0 win over Bolton at Eastlands courtesy of an own goal from Gretar Steinsson and a Mario Balotelli strike at Eastlands.
The win preserved City’s 100 per cent home record and left second-placed Manchester United needing to get a result at Tottenham today to reduce their rivals’ lead at the top.
Earlier, Robin van Persie struck an injury-time winner as Arsenal shattered Liverpool’s hopes of Champions League qualification at Anfield.
Dutch international Van Persie volleyed home magnificently in the third minute of stoppage time to claim his second of the match and take his season’s tally to 31 in all competitions.
Van Persie had earlier equalised for Arsenal after a Laurent Koscielny own goal had given Liverpool the lead.
But the defeat has left Liverpool with a mountain to climb if they are to secure a return to Europe’s elite next season, with 10 points now separating them from Arsenal in fourth.
Van Persie admitted Liverpool had been unlucky to lose.
“I don’t think we deserved it if I’m being honest because Liverpool played better but to nick it like we did – we can only be pleased,” the striker said.
Arsenal boss Wenger hailed the contribution of his match-winning striker.
“When you see the ball land at the feet of Van Persie you know what he can do,” Wenger said.
“We cannot afford to lose him. Overall you have to give him credit because in every match he does something special.”
Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish was struggling to come to terms with defeat after a match which saw the Reds miss their sixth penalty of the season and a string of clear scoring opportunities.
“It’s difficult to believe but that’s the way it goes, we played some fantastic stuff and came away with nothing,” Dalglish said.
“The scoreline doesn’t reflect the game. We showed what we are capable of in the first half.”
In other games, Wigan’s problems worsened as they were beaten 2-0 at home by Swansea.
Two goals from Gylfi Sigurdsson set up the victory for the Welsh side as Wigan remained firmly rooted to the bottom of the table.
Swansea finished the game with 10 men after Nathan Dyer was sent off in the second half but Wigan were unable to mount a fightback.
Queens Park Rangers came from behind to secure a 1-1 draw against Everton at Loftus Road.
Royston Drenthe gave Everton the lead, punishing slack play by QPR midfielder Adel Taarabt to open the scoring on 31 minutes with a long-range effort.
But QPR hit back through transfer window signing Bobby Zamora, the former Fulham striker heading in Akos Buzsaky’s free-kick to level in the 36th minute.
Blackburn scrambled a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa at Ewood Park after David Dunn’s equaliser five minutes from time cancelled out Charles N’Zogbia’s first half opener.
Meanwhile Stoke beat Norwich 1-0 at the Britannia Stadium after Matthew Etherington’s second-half strike settled a drab encounter.
Results and standings
Premier League
Blackburn 1
Dunn 85;
Aston Villa 1
N’Zogbia 24;
HT: 0-1. Att: 20,717.
Liverpool 1
Koscielny 23 og;
Arsenal 2
Van Persie 31, 90;
HT: 1-1. Att: 44,922.
Missed penalty: Kuyt (L) 19.
Man. City 2
Steinsson 23 og; Balotelli 69;
Bolton 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 47,219.
QPR 1
Zamora 36;
Everton 1
Drenthe 31;
HT: 1-1. Att: 18,033.
Stoke City 1
Etherington 72;
Norwich 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 27,483.
West Brom 1
McAuley 82;
Chelsea 0
HT: 0-0. Att: 24,838.
Wigan 0
Swansea 2
Sigurdsson 45, 54;
HT: 0-1. Att: 19,001.
Red card: Dyer (S) 61.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Man. City | 27 | 21 | 3 | 3 | 69 | 19 | 66 |
| Man. United | 26 | 19 | 4 | 3 | 63 | 26 | 61 |
| Tottenham | 26 | 16 | 5 | 5 | 51 | 30 | 53 |
| Arsenal | 27 | 15 | 4 | 8 | 55 | 38 | 49 |
| Chelsea | 27 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 47 | 32 | 46 |
| Newcastle | 26 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 38 | 38 | 43 |
| Liverpool | 26 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 30 | 25 | 39 |
| Stoke City | 27 | 10 | 6 | 11 | 27 | 38 | 36 |
| West Brom | 27 | 10 | 5 | 12 | 34 | 35 | 35 |
| Norwich City | 27 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 38 | 44 | 35 |
| Everton | 26 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 27 | 28 | 34 |
| Sunderland | 26 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 34 | 30 | 33 |
| Fulham | 26 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 32 | 36 | 33 |
| Swansea | 27 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 30 | 34 | 33 |
| Aston Villa | 27 | 6 | 12 | 9 | 30 | 35 | 30 |
| QPR | 27 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 28 | 46 | 22 |
| Wolves | 26 | 5 | 7 | 14 | 30 | 51 | 22 |
| Blackburn | 27 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 38 | 60 | 22 |
| Bolton | 27 | 6 | 2 | 19 | 29 | 56 | 20 |
| Wigan | 27 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 52 | 20 |
Playing today
Fulham vs Wolves - 15.05
Newcastle vs Sunderland - 13.00
Tottenham vs Man. Utd - 17.10
Leading scorers
25 goals: Van Persie (Arsenal).
17 goals: Rooney (Man. United).
16 goals: Aguero (Man. City), Ba (Newcastle).
13 goals: Yakubu (Blackburn), Dzeko (Man. City).
Next fixtures
Tuesday: FA Cup, fifth round replay, 20.45 Birmingham vs Chelsea.
Wednesday: FA Cup, fifth round replay, 20.30 Tottenham vs Stevenage.
Saturday: Premier League, 13.45 Bolton vs QPR. 16.00 Aston Villa vs Fulham; Chelsea vs Stoke City; Sunderland vs Liverpool; Wolves vs Blackburn. 18.30 Everton vs Tottenham.
Sunday: Premier League, 15.00 Man. United vs West Brom; Swansea vs Man. City. 17.00 Norwich vs Wigan.
Monday, March 12: Premier League, 21.00 Arsenal vs Newcastle.
The Championship
Barnsley 1 - N. Forest 1
Birmingham 2 - Derby County 2
Crystal Palace 1 - Peterborough 0
Doncaster 1 - Brighton 1
Ipswich 3 - Bristol City 0
Leeds 0 - Southampton 1
Leicester 2 - Coventry 0
Millwall 1 - Reading 2
Portsmouth 1 - M’brough 3
Watford 3 - Burnley 2
Playing today
Cardiff vs West Ham - 13.45
Standings: Southampton 65; West Ham 61; Reading 60; Blackpool, Middles-brough 56; Birmingham 55; Brighton 54; Cardiff 53; Hull 52; Leeds 49; Leicester 48; Burnley, C. Palace 47; Ipswich, Barnsley, Derby, Watford 43; Peterborough 38; Millwall 34; N. Forest 32; Bristol City 31; Coventry 28; Portsmouth, Doncaster Rovers 26.
League One
Bournemouth 0 - Charlton 1
Bury 3 - Huddersfield 3
Chesterfield 1 - Tranmere 0
Colchester 3 - Preston 0
Exeter City 1 - Stevenage 1
Hartlepool 1 - MK Dons 1
Leyton Orient 1 - Walsall 1
Notts County 2 - Carlisle0
Rochdale 0 - Sheffield Wed. 0
Scunthorpe 4 - Wycombe 1
Sheffield Utd. 2 - Oldham 3
Yeovil Town 2 - Brentford 1
Standings: Charlton 78; Sheffield United 65; Sheffield Wednesday 61; Huddersfield 60; MK Dons 59; N. County 52; Stevenage 50; Carlisle 49; Hartlepool 45; Brentford, Colchester, Bournemouth 44; Oldham 42; Bury 41; Preston, L. Orient 40; Yeovil 36; Scunthorpe 35; Tranmere, Exeter 34; Walsall 33; Chesterfield, Rochdale 30; Wycombe 29.
League Two
Accrington 2 - Port Vale 2
Aldershot 1 - Morecambe 0
Barnet 1 - Rotherham 0
Bristol Rovers 0 - Macclesfield 0
Burton Albion 0 - Southend 2
Cheltenham 2 - Northampton 2
Crawley 0 - Torquay 1
Crewe 1 - Shrewsbury 1
Dagenham 1 - Bradford City 0
Hereford 2 - Wimbledon 1
Oxford 2 - Swindon 0
Plymouth 0 - Gillingham 1
Standings: Swindon 67; Cheltenham 64; Southend 62; Shrewsbury 61; Torquay 59; Crawley 56; Oxford 54; Gillingham 51; Port Vale 50; Crewe 48; Rotherham, Aldershot 46; Morecambe, Accrington 44; Burton 43; Bristol Rovers 41; Wimbledon 38; Bradford City 35; Barnet 34; Macclesfield 33; Hereford, Dagenham 31; Plymouth Argyle 29; Northampton 28.