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Arsenal back on top, Disaster for Dowie
Ten-man Arsenal went back on top of the Premier League as they saw off West Ham 2-0 in a battling performance at the Emirates Stadium.
• Jolly: Young impresses as Villa labour
• Premier League gallery
An early goal from Denilson - after he hammered the ball into the bottom corner from outside the box - gave Arsenal the lead, but they were given a disadvantage when Thomas Vermaelen was sent off for bringing down Guillermo Franco in the box just before the break.
Manuel Almunia threw himself to his left to deny Alessandro Diamanti from the spot and West Ham were unable to take full advantage of the extra man in the second period. In fact, Arsenal sealed the points with a penalty of their own with ten minutes left as Matthew Upson handled and Cesc Fabregas sent the Gunners top.
Iain Dowie was given nine games to save Hull City from relegation when replacing Phil Brown this week but his first fixture as Tigers boss saw the club surrender a 2-1 lead as they conceded two goals in the final two minutes to lose to doomed Portsmouth.
Avram Grant's side may be marooned at the bottom of the table following their nine-point penalty for entering administration but they continue to battle for pride and gave their beleaguered supporters something to cheer with a thrilling comeback to win 3-2.
Hull took the lead through Caleb Folan when he deflected a shot from Craig Fagan past David James but within ten minutes Pompey were level when Tommy Smith scored his first goal for the club from a corner. Folan added his second of the game to give Hull the lead once more but Portsmouth turned the game on its head with just two minutes remaining as Jamie O'Hara and Nwankwo Kanu scored.
Meanwhile, a poor game at the DW Stadium provided a dramatic conclusion when Hugo Rodallega scored in the 90th minute to hand Wigan Athletic a 1-0 victory over Burnley.
The victory takes Wigan seven points clear of the relegation zone while Burnley, who have won just once under Brian Laws, remain in 18th place, three points behind West Ham having played twice more than Gianfranco Zola's side.
Sunderland moved ten points clear of the relegation zone courtesy of a fine 3-1 home win over Birmingham City that damages the visitors' faint hopes of securing European football for next season.
The Wearsiders were looking to address a poor run of form that had seen them win only once in 16 games and Darren Bent put them on course for all three points, scoring twice in the opening 11 minutes. Birmingham responded in the second half when Cameron Jerome beat the offside trap to score, but Sunderland secured a valuable win when Fraizer Campbell scored late on.
Tottenham Hotspur moved four points ahead of Liverpool in fourth place courtesy of a battling 2-1 win against ten-man Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.
In a busy second half, Eidur Gudjohsen, on as a replacement for the injured Roman Pavlyuchenko, claimed his first goal for Tottenham, holding off Abdoulaye Faye to finish in style. Dean Whitehead was quickly dismissed for Stoke when being shown a second yellow card for a foul on Luka Modric but the Potters equalised when Matthew Etherington scored a penalty against his former club following a foul by Benoit Assou-Ekotto on Dave Kitson.
Initially making light of their numerical disadvantage, Stoke wasted a glorious chance to score a second when Ricardo Fuller somehow missed from six yards and they were duly punished when Gudjohnsen stepped over a cross from Assou-Ekotto, allowing Niko Kranjcar to slam the ball home.
Everton moved ahead of Birmingham City and into eighth place following a 2-0 win over Bolton that leaves the Trotters eight points clear of relegation.
After holding Everton at half-time, Bolton's resistance was ended following a red card shown to Gretar Steinsson for a professional foul on Yakubu. From the resulting free-kick, Mikel Arteta curled his shot out of the reach of Jussi Jaaskelainen and Steven Pienaar secured the win with just a minute remaining.
Aston Villa's challenge for fourth place was dented by a 2-2 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the day's early kick-off and Martin O'Neill's side required a late goal to snatch a point against their local rivals.
John Carew tapped home from Ashley Young's cross but Wolves responded when defender Jody Craddock scored his fifth goal of the season just six minutes later. Mick McCarthy's side took the lead when James Milner turned the ball into his own net but with eight minutes remaining, Carew scored his second when finishing from close range.
