Wenger's men slipped to fifth in the table and the 14-point gap between the two London clubs is beginning to look too big to close.

"We had a bad game," Wenger complained after seeing his side well-beaten by first half goals from Abdoulaye Faye and Stelios Giannakopoulos.

Chelsea maintained their 100 percent home record and their ten-point advantage over Manchester United with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Middlesbrough, while United kept up the chase by beating manager-less Portsmouth 3-0.

Arsenal's stumble leaves them out of the top four and 14 points adrift of Chelsea.

Liverpool moved up to third with their sixth straight win and clean sheet, Peter Crouch finally opening his account for them in a 3-0 win over Wigan.

Middlesbrough, who had beaten both Arsenal and Man Utd this season, frustrated Chelsea until the 62nd minute, when England captain John Terry headed in from a Damien Duff corner.

"They had the first chance of the game and they gave us a game until the last moment," acknowledged Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.

Paul Scholes's first league goal of the season, a glancing header from a Ryan Giggs corner, and late efforts from Wayne Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy earned Man Utd the points at Old Trafford.

The evening game was preceded by a minute's applause for George Best on the day of the club legend's funeral in Northern Ireland.

Crouch, the tallest striker in English football, ended a 22-match run without a goal for Liverpool or England with a first-half double, a deflected effort being followed by a confidently-taken second.

Luis Garcia completed an impressive win by deflecting Fernando Morientes' goal-bound header over the line with his chest, 20 minutes from the end.

Under-pressure Newcastle manager Graeme Souness had a massive let-off when Aston Villa's Gareth Barry blasted a late penalty over the bar in a 1-1 draw at St James' Park.

Souness, who had been tipped for the sack if Newcastle lost, watched in dismay as Villa midfielder Gavin McCann cancelled out Alan Shearer's first half penalty to earn the visitors a point with 15 minutes left.

Tottenham leapfrogged north London rivals Arsenal and moved up to fourth place with a 3-2 win over Sunderland in an entertaining, see-saw affair at White Hart Lane.

Michael Carrick struck the winner 13 minutes from the end. Egypt striker Mido and Robbie Keane, with his 50th for the club, had been on the mark earlier for Spurs. Dean Whitehead, who had given his side an early lead, and Anthony Le Tallec scored for Sunderland.

Everton's recovery from a disastrous autumn gathered pace with a 2-0 win at Blackburn, their first win this season that was not by a 1-0 scoreline.

Scotland winger James McFadden and Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta scored first-half goals to make it four wins in five matches for the Merseysiders.

Fulham had skipper Luis Boa Morte sent off just before half-time but held out for a 0-0 draw at West Brom.