Last season, on no occasion did Stoke avoid defeat in consecutive away matches. Tony Pulis's side show clear progress this season therefore, with Sunday's 1-1 draw at Everton, which ended the Toffees' own five match winning streak, extending our unbeaten run in all competitions on the road to four matches. That draw could have been a win, as Robert Huth opened the scoring for Stoke, but Leon Osman's fine strike earned the hosts a share of the spoils.
In the weekend's headline clash, Chelsea saw off Liverpool 2-0 at Stamford Bridge thanks to goals from French international teammates Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda. That result puts the Blues back to the top of the Premier League, as Manchester United stumbled at home to Sunderland, an unsurprisingly late Anton Ferdinand own goal handing the champions a draw despite trailing twice to goals from Darren Bent and Kenwyne Jones, with a Dimitar Berbatov strike sandwiched in between.
2-2 was a popular score in another high-scoring round of fixtures, with Bolton and Tottenham sharing four goals at the Reebok Stadium. Jamaican Ricardo Gardner put the Lancashire club into an early lead, before Niko Kranjcar equaliser for Spurs. Kevin Davies edged the hosts in front twenty minutes from time, but Vedran Corluka's first goal for the club four minutes later won Tottenham a point. Struggling duo West Ham and Fulham also played out a 2-2 draw at Upon Park on Sunday, with only a late Junior Stanislas goal denying the Cottagers all three points after goals from Danny Murphy and Zoltan Gera had eclipsed Carlton Cole's opener for the Hammers.
Arsenal keep within touching distance of the early pace-setters after a thrilling 6-2 victory against Blackburn at the Emirates Stadium. Steven Nzonzi put Rovers ahead inside four minutes, but prolific defender Thomas Vermaelen equalised with his fifth goal of the season. David Dunn restored the visitors' advantage, but quickfire goals from Robin van Persie and Andrei Arshavin put the Gunners into a 3-2 half time lead. The game was over as a contest when the excellent Cesc Fabregas fired home a fourth in the 57th minute, before Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner added late gloss to the scoreline.
Manchester City stay in the Champions League places after a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa on Monday night, with goals coming from former City captain Richard Dunne, remarkably at the right end, for Villa and Craig Bellamy for the visitors. Burnley surged to ninth after a fourth straight home victory, with Birmingham the latest away team to struggle at Turf Moor. Sebastian Larsson's late goal was slim consolation for the travelling Blues fans, who had seen their side fall two goals behind after second half strikes from Steven Fletcher and Andre Bikey, as the Clarets ultimately triumphed 2-1 in the battle of the newly promoted sides.
Portsmouth remain at the foot of the table, but, with their second new owner in a month in place, things are looking up for them and particularly after they won their first points of the season at Wolves, Hassan Yebda heading the only goal of the game. Meanwhile Hull beat Wigan at home, goals from their latest big name signing, Jan Venegoor of Hesselink and Geovanni seeing off the Latics, for whom Scott Sinclair struck a late consolation.