Premier League round-up

Arsenal threw down the title gauntlet with a victory over West Ham, while Iain Dowie started his Hull City reign with a dramatic defeat.

Tottenham also tightened their grip on fourth place as Aston Villa were held by Wolves.

Wigan edged out Burnley in a crucial encounter at the bottom of the table, while Sunderland overcame Birmingham and Everton saw off 10-man Bolton.

Arsenal took advantage of Chelsea and Manchester United's inactivity on Saturday to move top of the standings, temporarily at least, with a 2-0 success at home to West Ham.

Denilson drove in Arsenal's opener in only the fifth minute after being fed by Nicklas Bendtner, but the Emirates Stadium faithful were given a major fright on the stroke of half-time when Thomas Vermaelen was dismissed and referee Martin Atkinson pointed to the penalty spot following a foul on Guillermo Franco.

Arsene Wenger was incensed with the decision but Manuel Almunia pulled off a fine save down to his left to deny set-piece specialist Alessandro Diamanti and preserve the Gunners' lead.

West Ham hunted for an equaliser in the second half but Arsenal held firm and sealed the win seven minutes from time when Cesc Fabregas converted his spot-kick following a Matthew Upson handball.

The bottom two did battle at Fratton Park and Portsmouth came from behind to snatch a 3-2 victory over Hull City and spoil Dowie's big day.

Fortune has not favoured Pompey this season and there was little David James could do to prevent Hull taking the lead in the 27th minute as Craig Fagan's powerful effort from the edge of the area flew through a crowd of players before deflecting in off Caleb Folan.

Tommy Smith scrambled home an equaliser from just a couple of yards out 10 minutes later after the visiting defence failed to deal with Jamie O'Hara's devilish inswinger.

Folan restored the Tigers' advantage with a neat strike on 73 minutes but Portsmouth, whose nine-point deduction for entering administration was confirmed earlier this week, staged a sensational late fightback.

O'Hara drew the South Coast club level with a brilliant free-kick two minutes from time and Kanu then slotted in the decisive goal after great work down the left by Nadir Belhadj.

Thrilling

Tottenham were made to work by Stoke at the Britannia Stadium before coming out on top 2-1 to boost their chances of securing the final UEFA Champions League spot.

Spurs struggled to find their usual fluency in the first half and were not helped when the in-form Roman Pavlyuchenko departed due to injury, but it was his replacement Eidur Gudjohnsen who made the breakthrough immediately after the restart.

The Iceland international drilled a shot high into the net after playing a one-two with Peter Crouch and holding off Abdoulaye Faye.

Stoke's hopes of getting back into the game suffered a major blow just moments later when Dean Whitehead was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Luka Modric.

But the Potters were gifted an equaliser in the 64th minute as Benoit Assou-Ekotto brought down Dave Kitson to concede a penalty and Matthew Etherington stepped up to send Heurelho Gomes the wrong way.

However, Tottenham were not to be denied and Niko Kranjcar rifled home a winner with 13 minutes remaining at the end of a flowing move.

Aston Villa had earlier had to settle for a point following a hard-fought 2-2 draw with Midlands rivals Wolves in the day's lunchtime kick-off.

Aston Villa were rewarded for a strong start when John Carew provided the finishing touch to Ashley Young's cross from close range, but Wolves levelled midway through the first half as goalscoring centre-back Jody Craddock once again showed a knack for being in the right place at the right time after the ball broke for him in the box.

Wolves moved ahead seven minutes before half-time thanks to an own goal from James Milner, who may have been one of the stars of the Premier League season but was unable clear his lines under pressure after Matt Jarvis slipped the ball in towards the centre.

A thrilling second half ensued and Villa managed to equalise eight minutes from time when Carew got the faintest contact on Steve Sidwell's shot and Wolves' appeals for offside were waved away.

Prolific

Darren Bent continued his prolific campaign in front of goal by netting twice inside the opening 11 minutes to send Sunderland on their way to a 3-1 triumph over Steve Bruce's former club Birmingham.

Bent broke the deadlock with a composed finish on five minutes after being given too much time by Birmingham's defence, before latching onto a Steed Malbranque pass and cutting inside to lash a second past Joe Hart.

Hart and opposing goalkeeper Craig Gordon traded magnificent saves before Cameron Jerome reduced Birmingham's arrears with a fine goal to carry on his own hot streak.

Sunderland's nerves were finally settled with just a couple of minutes to go when Fraizer Campbell scored a third to move them further clear of trouble.

Wigan left it late before beating Burnley 1-0 at the DW Stadium in a hugely competitive relegation six-pointer.

The Latics thought they should have been awarded a spot-kick early in the second half when James McCarthy appeared to be tripped by Leon Cort but their shouts fell on deaf ears.

But it did not turn out to be a significant decision as Hugo Rodallega's last-gasp diving header clinched three valuable points for Wigan.

Everton notched a seventh consecutive victory at Goodison Park by defeating Bolton 2-0.

Chances were few and far between in the first half as an increasingly resilient Bolton frustrated Everton and pressed forward themselves with some panache but little end product.

The pivotal moment arrived on 71 minutes when last man Gretar Steinsson was shown a straight red card for bringing down Yakubu Aiyegbeni just outside the area and Mikel Arteta curled home a wonderful free-kick.

Steven Pienaar added a second in the closing stages to lift the Toffees above Birmingham and into eighth place.