West Ham United's Mathew Upson (third left) scores against Manchester United during their Premier League match at Upton Park yesterday. West Ham won 2-1. - Reuters
LONDON (AP):
EDUARDO SILVA scored twice yesterday to give Arsenal a 4-1 win at Everton that lifted them above Manchester United at the top of the Premier League.
Defending champions United slipped from top spot after they lost 2-1 at West Ham, with Cristiano Ronaldo missing a penalty kick to give West Ham a chance to rally.
Ronaldo had put United in front with his 18th goal of the season before Anton Ferdinand and Matthew Upson scored for the Hammers.
Back in contention
Chelsea moved back into contention after they beat visiting Newcastle 2-1, while Tottenham rallied three times before beating Reading 6-4.
Also yesterday, Sunderland beat Bolton 3-1, Fulham drew 1-1 at Birmingham, Aston Villa won 2-1 at Wigan and Middlesbrough won 1-0 at Portsmouth.
Everton had lost just once - to Manchester United - in 15 matches before facing the Gunners and took a 19th-minute lead through midfielder Tim Cahill.
Cahill and Ayegbeni Yakubu both attacked Mikel Arteta's corner kick into the area, with the Nigeria striker getting to it first with his head and Cahill making a second, final touch with his boot.
Yakubu and Phil Neville had chances but Arsenal drew level less than two minutes into the second half through Eduardo, who then made it 2-1 in the 58th when he collected a long ball, beat defender Phil Jagielka and scored with a low shot.
Emmanuel Adebayor scored 20 minutes later and Tomas Rosicky rounded off the scoring in injury time as Arsenal moved to 47 points, two more than United, who led in the 14th at Upton Park when Ronaldo headed a cross by Ryan Giggs into the net.
Ronaldo had the chance for a 19th goal of the season, and 13th in the Premier League, when he missed a second-half penalty, and West Ham equalised soon after through Ferdinand. Ferdinand, whose more famous brother Rio is on Manchester United's team, headed in a cross by Noble from about six yards in the 77th.
West Ham, who beat United on the last day of last season to keep their place in the Premier League, then got their winning goal in the 82nd. Upson also headed in from a cross by Noble, clinching his team's eighth win of the season with his first goal for the east London club.
"We're human beings and you can't expect us to be perfect all the time," United manager Alex Ferguson said. "They struggled today, our team. When you concede goals from set pieces, you know you're not at your best."
Chelsea were just four points behind United after a debated winner by Salomon Kalou at Stamford Bridge.
Michael Essien had put the Blues ahead in the 29th but former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt equalised in the 56th from a left-wing cross by Charles N'Zogbia.
Newcastle were having the best of the second half, but Chelsea clinched the three points with three minutes left when Kalou scored, despite appearing to be offside.
'Blow to our confidence'
"We were very good today," Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce said. "Unfortunately, the game's been taken today by something we can't control. It was a clear, clear offside by two or three yards. We don't know why the assistant referee can't see across the line and put his flag up. It's a severe blow to our confidence."
At the other end of the standings, Sunderland boosted their chances of avoiding demotion with a win over Bolton that lifted it out of the relegation zone.
Fulham slipped a place to 19th in their last match before Roy Hodgson takes charge as manager. Dimitar Berbatov hit four goals as Tottenham and Reading almost equalled the record for the Premier League's highest scoring match, set earlier this season when Portsmouth beat the same opponent 7-4.
