LONDON, 6 November 2005 — Thierry Henry scored twice to help Arsenal to a 3-1 home victory over bottom team Sunderland yesterday that lifts them to third in the Premier League. Arsenal are equal on 20 points with north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Bolton Wanderers but have the superior goal difference. City lost 2-1 at Fulham and Charlton Athletic remained a point further adrift after with a 4-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers. Spurs play at Bolton tomorrow. Veteran striker Teddy Sheringham scored early in the second half to give West Ham United a 1-0 home win over West Bromwich Albion. Hammers are on 18 points with Manchester United. Newcastle United beat Birmingham City 1-0 at home with a 25-meter piledriver from Emre. European champions Liverpool notched their first away league win of the season, 2-0 at Aston Villa, after scoring twice in the final five minutes through a Steven Gerrard penalty.

Makaay Breaks Goal Drought as Bayern Beat Bremen 3-1

In Frankfurt, Bayern Munich surged five points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with a 3-1 victory at home to closest rivals Werder Bremen yesterday, helped by Roy Makaay’s first goal since August 27.

Bremen took the lead inside the first minute with a Miroslav Klose header but Bastian Schweinsteiger equalized soon afterwards and Claudio Pizarro put the champions ahead in the 34th minute. Dutch international Makaay got the third a minute before the end of the first half, stroking in a Pizarro cross to end his long scoring drought. Bayern’s victory gave them 31 points from 12 games, with Bremen staying second on 26. Hamburg SV, in third place with 24 points, could trim Bayern’s lead by a point if they win at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday. Schalke 04, runners-up to Bayern last season, won 3-0 at home to Duisburg to keep hold of fourth place on 21 points.

JEF Win J-League Cup in Shootout

In Tokyo, JEF United Chiba won their first title as a J-League club by defeating Gamba Osaka 5-4 on penalties in the Japanese League Cup final yesterday.

The two sides scrapped hard in normal time and 30 minutes of extra time before the match, watched by 45,039 fans at Tokyo’s National Stadium, ended 0-0. Seiichiro Maki stroked home JEF’s final penalty to clinch victory after Gamba’s Japan midfielder Yasuhito Endo had his effort turned away by goalkeeper Yosuke Fujigaya, who was voted man of the match.