Chelsea moved five points clear at the summit as West Brom climbed into the top four and Tottenham shared the points with Everton.
Blues move clear; Baggies into top four; Spurs share spoils
Chelsea moved five points clear at the summit with victory over Wolves as West Brom climbed into the top four by defeating Fulham and Tottenham shared the points with Everton at White Hart Lane.
West Ham remained bottom after defeat to Newcastle, Birmingham claimed their first three-point haul since August with a home win over Blackpool, Sunderland were given a helping hand by Aston Villa at the Stadium of Light and Bolton drew away to Wigan.
Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou were on target as
Chelsea eased clear at the top of the Premier League with an unspectacular victory over battling
Wolves.
The France international side-footed home in the 23rd minute after good work from Nicolas Anelka and Yuri Zhirkov, with Carlo Ancelotti's side having to wait until nine minutes from time before Kalou put the finishing touch to a fine move.
Mick McCarthy's men more than held their own at Stamford Bridge, with Stephen Hunt making his debut for the visitors to a chorus of boos from the home faithful, who have not forgotten or forgiven his clash with Petr Cech back in October 2006.
Baggies bouncing
West Brom climbed to fourth in the table as they hit back from going a goal down to secure a 2-1 home success over
Fulham.
Zoltan Gera's low drive from the edge of the box was tipped onto the post by Scott Carson, only for the unlucky goalkeeper to see the ball rebound off his back and into the net.
But the home side swiftly hit back as Chris Brunt's pass allowed Youssuf Mulumbu to beat Mark Schwarzer at his near post, before Brunt and Jerome Thomas combined to set up Marc-Antoine Fortune to side-foot home soon after.
Tim Howard's blunder allowed
Tottenham to recover from a goal down in their 1-1 draw with
Everton as the keeper's flap allowed Peter Crouch to nod across goal for Rafael van der Vaart to lash into the empty net.
David Moyes' men, who are now on a four-game unbeaten run, had taken the lead just moments earlier as Leighton Baines' sublime free-kick arrowed into the top corner of Heurelho Gomes' net.
West Ham remained rooted to the bottom of the table after throwing away the lead to lose 2-1 to
Newcastle at Upton Park in the evening kick-off.
Avram Grant's side went in front through Carlton Cole, but their visitors equalised before half-time courtesy of Kevin Nolan and under-the-spotlight striker Andy Carroll settled the contest in the 69th minute.
Nikola Zigic was handed his first home Premier League goal on a plate as
Birmingham ended their six-game winless run with victory over
Blackpool.
The giant striker, who opened his top-flight account in the defeat at Arsenal last week, gleefully fired home from six yards after Charlie Adam's inexplicable decision to try and play the ball out of a crowded box.
Liam Ridgewell had forced the Blues ahead in the 36th minute as he met a corner from the right, which Zigic headed onto the bar from close range with the defender continuing his run into the box to nod home.
Dunne blunder
Richard Dunne secured an unwanted Premier League record as the eighth own goal of his top-flight career handed
Sunderland a 1-0 victory over
Aston Villa at the Stadium of Light.
The Villa centre-back only succeeded in turning the ball beyond Brad Friedel as he attempted to cut out Steed Malbranque's cross from the right in the 25th minute, with team-mate James Collins already in position to clear.
Johan Elmander continued his fine form with a fifth Premier League goal of the season as
Bolton hit back to secure a 1-1 draw at
Wigan.
Hugo Rodallega finished a flowing Latics move with an assured finish beyond Jussi Jaaskelainen, but there was a hint of offside about the effort, with Franco Di Santo arguably beyond the last defender before feeding his team-mate.
However, the Trotters hit back almost immediately in the second half, with the Sweden international stabbing home from close range after Kevin Davies' header back across goal.
