Defender secures victory against neighbours & relegation rivals

Bolton moved out of the relegation zone courtesy of David Wheater's double in a crucial 2-1 victory over Blackburn, at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday.

It was also a good day for Wigan, who beat Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield to leave Wolves three points adrift at the bottom of the league.

Terry Connor's men took the lead against Norwich, before being pegged back to a 2-1 defeat leaving them in danger of being left behind.

Liverpool's defeat could see them slip into bottom half of the table because of wins for Newcastle, Sunderland and Everton who are all piling pressure on Kenny Dalglish's men.

At the top, a wonder goal from Peter Crouch ensured that Manchester City's sticky spell continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Stoke.

Arsenal 3 Aston Villa 0

Kieran Gibbs opened the scoring after just 16 minutes, latching onto a pass from Gervinho before slotting the ball past Shay Given.

Theo Walcott added a brilliant second 10 minutes later, plucking a high ball from Alex Song out of the air and finding the corner of the net.

Mikel Arteta sealed the win in the final minute with a blistering free kick from the edge of the box.

Bolton 2 Blackburn 1

David Wheater opened the scoring after half an hour, heading in a cross by Martin Petrov.

Petrov's cross was flicked on by a defender, but the intervention did not significantly alter the path off the ball so the Bulgarian gets the assist.

Six minutes later, Wheater doubled the lead when he powerfully headed in Ryo Miyaichi's corner.

Steven N'Zonzi headed home a consolation for Rovers, just after the break, when he glanced in Morten Gamst Pedersen's corner at the near post.

Chelsea 0 Tottenham 0

Liverpool 1 Wigan 2

Shaun Maloney opened the scoring from the penalty spot after a high boot had caught Victor Moses in the face.

Luis Suarez levelled just after the break, slotting Steven Gerrard's low cross into the corner.

Defender Gary Caldwell bagged the winner when he controlled a loose ball, after it had deflected to him off a defender, before calmly beating his man and slotting home.

Norwich 2 Wolves 1

Matthew Jarvis gave the league's bottom club the lead when he found the back of the net after Michael Kightly's cross had been touched on by Kevin Doyle.

The touch from Doyle did not significantly alter the direction of Kightly's cross and so a double assist was given.

Norwich were level less than a minute later when Grant Holt latched onto a lofted pass from Simeon Jackson before flicking the ball over the advancing keeper and heading into an empty net.

Holt completed the turn-around just before the break when he scored from the penalty spot following a handball.

No assist is awarded for a handball that is not a goal-line clearance.

Stoke 1 Man City 1

Peter Crouch brilliantly fired Stoke in front on the hour mark, controlling a header from Jermaine Pennant before spinning and unleashing a looping volley over Joe Hart.

Yaya Toure smashed in a leveller 15 minutes from time, via a slight deflection, after receiving the ball from Gael Clichy.

Sunderland 3 QPR 1

Nicklas Bendtner opened the scoring just before half-time when he headed in a cross from James McClean.

McClean doubled the lead himself with 20 minutes remaining, latching onto a poor defensive header he drove in a low shot, at the second attempt, after seeing his initial effort saved.

The returning Stephane Sessegnon made the game safe when he slotted in David Vaughan's low cross six minutes later.

Taye Taiwo scored a consolation for the visitors 11 minutes from time with an excellent free-kick.

Swansea 0 Everton 2

Leighton Baines opened the scoring for Everton on the hour-mark when his free-kick found the top corner of the net.

Nikica Jelavic sealed the win 15 minutes from time when he turned in Marouane Fellaini's low cross.

West Brom 1 Newcastle 3

Papiss Cisse gave Newcastle an early lead, sliding in to divert Hatem Ben Arfa's low cross into the net.

Ben Arfa added the second himself inside 15 minutes, picking up the ball from Cisse and firing home from the edge of the box to end a swift counter-attacking move.

Cisse made it 3-0 just after the half-hour mark, driving into the roof of the net after a cut-back from Ben Arfa.

Shane Long scored a consolation just after half-time when he latched onto a long-ball from Youssouf Mulumbu, and taking advantage of an error from Mike Williamson to slot in.

The header from Williamson does not significantly change the path of the ball from Mulumbu, and so the assist stands. The touch takes the ball slightly further in field, but it was running into the path of Long anyway, and he was still able to score with the same foot as he would have done without the intervention. Other players are not taken into account, so that fact that Krul would most likely have picked up the pass, without the touch from Williamson, is irrelevant.