Premier League reports
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LONDON - Brief reports of Premier League matches played at the weekend:
Played Sunday:
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 0 ARSENAL 0
A draw did little for either side's ambitions although Arsenal will be happier after playing for nearly an hour with 10 men after Emmanuel Eboue was sent off.
Eboue, who had a goal disallowed, was shown a first yellow card for dissent and then kicked out at Luca Modric for his second. Modric should have won the game game for Spurs in stoppage time when he went through on goal but could not beat Manuel Almunia. Robbie Keane also headed a good chance over on his return to struggling Tottenham.
WEST HAM UNITED 0 MANCHESTER UNITED 1
Veteran winger Ryan Giggs sent United back to the top of the table with a classy 61st-minute goal as the champions racked up an eighth successive league win.
United were rock-solid at the back without posing much threat up front but Giggs broke the deadlock when he weaved past two West Ham players and fired a low shot past Robert Green.
Carlton Cole wasted West Ham's best chance as they lost for the first time this year.
Played on Saturday:
BLACKBURN ROVERS 0 ASTON VILLA 2
James Milner put Villa on the road to a club record seventh successive away league victory with a tremendous angled shot after 27 minutes.
Villa missed a host of chances to increase their lead and were nearly made to pay when Roque Santa Cruz swivelled late on and lashed a shot just past the post.
Gabriel Agbonlahor sealed victory with a deflected near-post shot in the 90th minute.
CHELSEA 0 HULL CITY 0
Chelsea's tally of dropped home points rose to 16 as their title hopes took another battering.
Ricardo Quaresma made his debut after signing on loan from Inter Milan but was largely ineffective.
Hull, without a league win for two months, were well worth a point and could have taken all three had Dean Marney converted a chance instead of shooting across the face of goal.
EVERTON 3 BOLTON WANDERERS 0
Brazilian Jo marked his debut in style, earning a penalty that Mikel Arteta converted to put Everton ahead and then scoring twice after the interval.
Everton dominated from start to finish as they consolidated sixth place with Jo, signed from Manchester City last week, looking to have solved the club's problem of a lack of strikers.
His first goal was a well-struck volley and his second a penalty in stoppage time.
MANCHESTER CITY 1 MIDDLESBROUGH 0
City eased further away from the wrong end of the table as Craig Bellamy showed again why manager Mark Hughes spent most of January trying to sign him.
The impish Welsh striker cut in from the right after 52 minutes and planted a shot past keeper Brad Jones to register his second goal for the club.
Shay Given played well in goal on his City debut, making three saves to deny Afonso Alves. Boro have now gone 13 matches without a win.
PORTSMOUTH 2 LIVERPOOL 3
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez started with strikers Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt on the bench but they both came on late in the game to spark a superb fightback and keep the pressure on leaders Manchester United.
David Nugent shot Portsmouth in front just past the hour before Fabio Aurelio equalised following an indirect free kick in the box.
Hermann Hreidarsson headed Pompey back in front and they seemed set for a priceless victory until Kuyt shot past David James from a tight angle after 85 minutes and Torres won it in stoppage time with a header from Yossi Benayoun's cross.
SUNDERLAND 2 STOKE CITY 0
Stoke remain just outside the relegation zone after losing and having Matthew Etherington sent off in the second half for a straight red card.
Henri Camara was denied by the woodwork for Stoke just after Etherington's dismissal and Kenwyne Jones headed Sunderland in front with 12 minutes left. David Healy then scored the second.
WEST BROMWICH ALBION 2 NEWCASTLE UNITED 3
Newcastle won at bottom club West Brom despite manager Joe Kinnear being taken to hospital on the morning of the match after feeling unwell.
Damien Duff put United ahead only for Marc-Antoine Fortune to level, both goals coming in the opening four minutes.
New signing Peter Lovenkrands made it 2-1 and Steven Taylor added a third before halftime. Fortune struck again with 17 minutes to go but Newcastle hung on.
WIGAN ATHLETIC 0 FULHAM 0
Egyptian striker Mido wasted the best chance for Wigan when he headed off target from an inviting position.
Bobby Zamora was also wasteful for Fulham as the game petered out to a dull draw between two mid-table sides.