> EPL: Super Sunday!!!

For the second season running, a close-range goal in front of the Kop proved enough to give Manchester United victory over Liverpool at Anfield. Whereas John O'Shea's goal in the corresponding fixture came in stoppage time and spurred United on to the title, this time the first half was nearing its end when Carlos Tevez struck.
And while the Argentina forward's effort will not prove decisive in the championship race at this early stage, it has left United nine points in front of their fierce north-west rivals, who, after suffering their first defeat at Reading last week, have now lost their unbeaten home record too.
It is not the ideal backdrop to Rafael Benitez's crunch meeting with co-owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks, although United, unbeaten in Premier League combat on this ground for six years now, will not care much about that. Twelve months ago, Liverpool did everything but beat United, virtually battering their north-west rivals into submission before O'Shea popped up in the final minute to snatch victory.
The home fans must have endured an uneasy feeling of deja vu as they watched the opening period unfold. What incisive football was played amid a frenzied atmosphere was all theirs. The chances fell the way of the men in red too. Unfortunately, the shots were either off target or failed to beat a United defender stood on the line.
Liverpool's efforts were assisted by a rare faltering performance from Edwin van der Sar, who twice had his attempts to take what looked like routine catches hindered by his own players. On the first occasion, the veteran Dutchman ran into a crowd of United defenders as he tried to collect a Steven Gerrard free-kick that had been deflected high into the air.
Harry Kewell was on to the loose ball first but drove his volley straight at Anderson, who was still marshalling a post. Fernando Torres, a man Ferguson tried to buy from Atletico Madrid on three separate occasions, should have finished off the rebound but, from six yards, nodded disappointingly wide.
Then, when Van der Sar came off worst in a collision with Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand's back header seemed destined to bounce into his own net until Patrice Evra raced back to clear. Torres was off-target with a couple of efforts, as was Sami Hyypia. Yet, for all the pressure, it was United who took the lead two minutes before the break as the Liverpool defence fell apart following a Ryan Giggs corner.
After failing to pick up Wayne Rooney on the edge of the area, Alvaro Arbeloa then remained rooted to the goalline as Liverpool pushed up hoping for an offside as the ball fizzed into the box. Tevez was actually behind Pepe Reina as he scooped home his eighth goal of the season but with Arbeloa behind him, it did not matter and the Argentina forward wheeled away in celebration, the ball hitting virtually the same spot O'Shea had found in March.
For a very brief moment, it appeared Torres ould level within a minute of the re-start as the United defence opened up in front of the Spain international. The ball seemed to get stuck under his feet and before he could regain any momentum, Torres had been robbed. It was the prelude for more sustained Liverpool pressure, which United countered by throwing their bodies in the way of anything vaguely threatening.
Ferdinand and Vidic were immense figures at the heart of the rearguard action, their efforts only made slightly easier by Dirk Kuyt's poor performance. The Dutchman was totally ineffective, his contribution paling in comparison to Torres, even though he was not having one of his better days.
Crouch's introduction gave the Red Devils' overworked defence another problem to counter and another substitute, Ryan Babel, almost took advantage of the extra space when he skimmed a shot agonisingly wide of Van der Sar's left post. Babel injected more life into the Liverpool attack but it was Rooney who would have saved the visiting fans an anxious final 10 minutes if he had not turned Ronaldo's low cross wide from eight yards.

William Gallas accepted the compliments of the season from his old club Chelsea in the feistiest of London derbies at the Emirates Stadium. The Arsenal captain cashed in on an uncharacteristic error from Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech on the stroke of half-time to head home the only goal of a pulsating match which proved conclusively that Arsene Wenger's men have what it takes to stay the course in what is turning into the most intriguing of Premier League title races.
The victory took Arsenal back to the top, a position they had relinquished for a couple of hours following Manchester United's triumph against Liverpool at Anfield. But, in a match which contained nine bookings, four for Arsenal and five for Chelsea, they were made to battle all the way.
Before the match Chelsea manager Avram Grant had tried to play down the importance of victory, suggesting that the title would be won and lost by results against teams other than the big four. But while Chelsea had not been defeated for 16 matches they have now lost to Manchester United and Arsenal and drawn against Liverpool and haemorrhaged eight points against their closest rivals this season.
Those are not title-winning statistics, but if ever there was a match which proved the thunderous appeal and total commitment of the Premier League then it was this one. A match which was always as much about who was missing as playing. While Arsenal saw Cesc Fabregas, Alexander Hleb and Mathieu Flamini all return from injury, Chelsea were missing Michael Essien, Ricardo Carvalho and Didier Drogba.
Drogba's absence, after a knee operation and with the African Nations Cup pending, could yet prove the most crucial of the Chelsea season. It was a match in which Arsenal employed their pleasing patterns, Fabregas and Hleb always at the heart of the creation and Emmanuel Adebayor a constant threat while Chelsea were content to soak up pressure and rely on the quick counter.
Strangely, however, in the first half especially it was Arsenal's Manuel Almunia who was the busier goalkeeper. One deflected shot from Shaun Wright-Phillips saw him make a spectacular flying save and a savagely swerving 25-yarder from Andriy Shevchenko saw him add another equally effective parry to his portfolio.
But if chances were at a premium then there was no lack of feistiness to this derby, which was played out to the accompaniment of constant boos for Ashley Cole on his first return to Arsenal since his controversial transfer to Stamford Bridge. One shuddering tackle from Cole on Arsenal full-back Bacary Sagna set the tone, as did a high lunge on Cole for which Adebayor was booked.
He was never going to be the last player in referee Alan Wiley's notebook. Both Frank Lampard and John Terry were shown yellow cards, the England captain for a reckless challenge on Fabregas which saw players from both sides squaring up and Lampard for a foul on Hleb.
Emmanuel Eboue also saw yellow for a lunging challenge on Terry, which left the Chelsea defender hobbling from what was feared to be a broken metatarsal, though Grant insisted this was not the case. Terry bravely attempted to continue but it was soon clear lasting damage had been done and he was replaced in the 38th minute by Israel's Tal Ben Haim.
Grant no doubt hoped to regroup in the dressing room but his plans were dashed by Gallas' header on the stroke of half-time. Fabregas' swinging corner should have been an easy catch for Cech but somehow he contrived to get underneath the ball and succeeded only in waving it by to see the unmarked Gallas head the ball into the empty net for his third league goal of the season.
Grant took off Claude Makelele and threw on Claudio Pizarro in search of a cutting edge and Flamini and Joe Cole found their way into the referee's notebook, the latter for a cynical foul on Eboue which saw the Arsenal man carried off on a stretcher True, Wright-Phillips should have scored when he skewed wide from three yards but Robin van Persie, on for Eboue, might have extended Arsenal's lead if he had not fired over following the most flowing move of the match.
The finale was truly frantic. Van Persie had the ball in the net only to be ruled offside, while a thunderous injury-time free-kick from Shevchenko was turned over by Almunia. Then right at the death Fabregas should have scored but was immediately booked for a lunge into the back of Ashley Cole. It was that sort of match. Spiky, and right to the end.