Arsenal's second trip to the North East in the space of five days ended in disappointment again as they lost their unbeaten domestic record to Middlesbrough, while Bolton continue to head in the right direction courtesy of a 4-1 thumping of Wigan.

 

 

The Tottenham faithful had substitute Jermain Defoe to thank for the late winner which secured a 2-1 victory over 10-man Manchester City at White Hart Lane.

 

And it was another super-sub that did the damage at Blackburn, as Dean Ashton scored a second half winner for West Ham at Ewood Park.

 

Wednesday night's stalemate in Newcastle cast perhaps the first doubts over whether Arsene Wenger's band of starlets have the required experience and seasoned nous for a title tilt, and their performance at The Riverside will fail to put such misgivings to bed.

 

History favoured Arsenal as they had tasted success in this fixture nine times out of the past 12 but on Sunday struggling Middlesbrough were full value for a victory that was for the most part more comfortable than a 2-1 scoreline suggests.

 

It was a former Gunner that was the architect of the game's opening goal in just the third minute, as Jeremie Aliadiere tempted Kolo Toure into a foul and from the resulting penalty; Stewart Downing beat Manuel Almunia from 12 yards.

 

In the second period an expected Arsenal onslaught failed to materialise as Boro doubled their lead through Tuncay Sanli, after Gary O'Neil's strike proved too hot for Almunia.

 

Tomas Rosicky's goal in the game's dying embers proved to be no more than a scant consolation for the table toppers.

 

Bolton's hosting of Wigan at The Reebok manifest a quintessential North West derby, with both sides robust and spirited in a game that yielded countless chances.

 

Wigan got off to the worst possible start when under little pressure Paul Scharner put through his own goal in the third minute.

 

Steve Bruce will be pleased with the response from his side as they found themselves level before the quarter of an hour mark, as Denny Landzaat's cool slotted finish from the edge of the box beat an unsighted Jussi Jaaskelainen.

 

Nicolas Anelka then followed up his open goal miss against Liverpool last week with a penalty he struck horribly over the top of Chris Kirkland's goal, after a Danny Guthrie shot had hit Andreas Granqvist on the arm.

 

The Frenchman's blushes were spared before the break when Kevin Nolan found a clever finish to flick the ball home, after Anelka's shot was deflected into his path.

 

Bolton wrapped up the win with a killer third that saw Kevin Davies stretch at the far post to prod in El-Hadji Diouf's free-kick, before Anelka finally had something to smile about as he smartly finished off Davies' right wing delivery.

 

Tottenham recorded their seventh successive win over Manchester City, in what was an evenly fought contest in North London.

 

Spurs took the lead on the stroke of half-time, with Pascal Chimbonda credited with the final touch off Dimitar Berbatov's clever flick from Jermaine Jenas' free-kick. It appeared as though Chimbonda used his arm and was possibly in an offside position, but to City's dismay the goal was allowed to stand.

 

By the 58th minute mark Sven Goran Eriksson had seen enough and summoned Rolando Bianchi from the bench. The Italian misfit needed just three minutes to make his point, as a thumping header from Martin Petrov's corner exposed obligatory poor Tottenham marking to draw City level.

 

The game looked destined for a draw when, with nine minutes left on the clock, Stephen Ireland was given his marching orders for a two-footed lunge on Lee Young-pyo that would have made Hong Kong Phooey blush.