LONDON, 8 October 2007 — Arsenal beat Sunderland 3-2 yesterday to move back to the top of the Premier League after Robin van Persie secured victory with a well-worked winner 10 minutes from time. It was Arsenal’s 10th successive win in all competitions but they made hard work of it after racing into a 2-0 lead in the opening 14 minutes before allowing Sunderland to pull level early in the second half.

Manchester United, who beat Wigan Athletic 4-0 on Saturday and led the table overnight, slipped back to second, with Sven-Goran Eriksson’s Manchester City consolidating their third place with their fifth straight home league win, 3-1 over Middlesbrough.

Liverpool, beaten 1-0 by Olympique Marseille in the Champions League at Anfield on Wednesday, were just 90 seconds away from another home defeat when Fernando Torres scored with a header to force a 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur, whose goals came from Robbie Keane either side of halftime. Chelsea scored for the first time in five league matches to win 1-0 at Bolton Wanderers where Salomon Kalou grabbed the only goal after 41 minutes. Arsenal’s victory took them on to 22 points from eight matches, followed by United on 20 from nine and Manchester City, 19 from nine. Liverpool are fourth with 16 points from eight games. Portsmouth, who won 2-0 at Fulham, are fifth with 15 points. Derby stay bottom with five points after losing 1-0 at Reading, while Bolton also have five points after losing to Chelsea. Spurs climbed out of the bottom three thanks to their point at Liverpool, but Fulham slipped to 18th spot after losing to Portsmouth.

Real Stay Top After 2-0

Win Over Recreativo

In Madrid, second-half strikes from Ruud van Nistelrooy and Gonzalo Higuain earned Real Madrid a 2-0 win at home to Recreativo Huelva yesterday that kept them top of the Primera Liga. The game looked to be heading for a draw until Van Nistelrooy slotted a low shot past keeper Stefano Sorrentino after Raul had clipped a neat pass into his path on the edge of the area 17 minutes from time.

Substitute Higuain added the second just before the final whistle, rounding Sorrentino and steering into the open net after a fine through-ball from midfielder Guti.

Argentine forward Lionel Messi scored one and set up another as he helped Barcelona to a comfortable 3-0 win at home to Atletico Madrid that pushed them up into second place ahead of Villarreal who went down 3-2 at Osasuna.

Real head the standings with 19 points from seven games, two clear of Barcelona and four ahead of Villarreal and their regional rivals Valencia, who lost 2-1 at home to Espanyol on Saturday. An out-of-sorts Sevilla slipped to their fourth league defeat in a row when they went down 1-0 at home to Deportivo Coruna and drop to 15th place in the table although they have a game in hand.

Real Zaragoza bounced back from their midweek exit in the UEFA Cup with a 3-0 win over basement side Levante while Michael Laudrup’s Getafe remain without a win after surrendering a 2-0 lead to lose out 4-2 to Real Mallorca in the game of the day.

Toni Scores Twice as Bayern

Trounce Nuremberg

In Berlin, Italy striker Luca Toni scored twice to give Bayern Munich a 3-0 victory over Nuremberg and a five-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga yesterday. Toni put Bayern ahead in the 31st minute, tapping in a Hamit Altintop free kick that Nuremberg keeper Jaromir Blazek only parried. Ze Roberto added the second from 15 meters, set up by a fine pass from Bastian Schweinsteiger nine minutes later. Bayern eased up in the second half, though France midfielder Franck Ribery was a constant threat and Toni scored his second in the 81st minute, outjumping his marker to head in a Ze Roberto corner.

Toni, who came to Bayern in the close season, took his tally to eight league goals for the season and joined teammate Miroslav Klose at the top of the goalscorers’ table. Sotiris Kyrgiakos scored both goals as Eintracht Frankfurt beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 in yesterday’s other game.