Gallas goal keeps Gunners in front

LONDON, England -- Arsenal returned to the top of the English Premier League after captain William Gallas scored the winning goal against his former club Chelsea on Sunday.

The Gunners bounced back from last weekend's shock 2-1 defeat away to Middlesbrough with a 1-0 home victory against their third-placed London rivals, and moved one point ahead of Manchester United.

United had claimed top spot earlier on Sunday as Carlos Tevez scored his ninth goal this season to inflict a 1-0 defeat on fellow title hopefuls Liverpool at Anfield.

The result left Liverpool in fifth place, nine points adrift of United, but with a game in hand on the teams above them.

Gallas, who spent five seasons at Chelsea before moving to Arsenal at the start of last season, headed home a corner by the fit-again Cesc Fabregas in first-half injury-time as visiting keeper Petr Cech completely missed the ball.

The match was marred by an injury to Chelsea's England captain John Terry, with the defender going off with a foot problem seven minutes before half-time following a challenge by Emmanuel Eboue.

Eboue was himself stretchered off with 20 minutes to play after a foul by Joe Cole in what was a bruising derby match which also saw Terry, Frank Lampard and Emmanuel Adebayor yellow-carded for poor tackles.

Chelsea should have been level after 75 minutes when the ball flicked off the head of Gallas from Claudio Pizarro's cross and straight into the path of Wright-Phillips -- but the England winger missed the target from close range.

Robin van Persie, in his second match back for Arsenal following an injury lay-off, was unlucky to have a goal ruled out for offside with five minutes left after converting a cross by Tomas Rosicky.

Cech redeemed himself with a fine double save to deny first van Persie and then playmaker Fabregas -- making his comeback after three weeks out with injury -- from close range.

Arsenal striker Adebayor also had the ball in the net soon after, but it was ruled out for a push on Tal Ben Haim, who replaced Terry.

With five minutes added on at the end of the second spell, there was time for Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia to tip over a fierce free-kick from Andrei Shevchenko and for Fabregas to be booked after a clash with former Gunners full-back Ashley Cole -- who appeared to catch the Spaniard with an outstretched arm.

It was Arsenal's first win in 11 games against Chelsea in all competitions, including the 2004 Champions League quarterfinals, with the visitors left six points adrift.

Manager Arsene Wenger said of skipper Gallas: "He pops up when you need it. He is a leader and that is the best definition of a leader. When you need it, he shows the example. He did that against Manchester United in the last seconds. It shows he is a winner.

"I'm not sure I would have jumped behind Cech because I think I would have thought he would have taken the ball.

"Arsenal is a special club. William this season has taken that on board and he is completely the leader and represents how we want to behave. He is transformed completely, does a lot of things with the team but also off the pitch which are great for the club."

At Anfield, Tevez struck two minutes before the half-time break, with the Argentina forward diverting the ball into the net from close range after a powerful shot by Wayne Rooney following Ryan Giggs' corner.

It was a bitter blow for the home side, who had dominated the match up until that point.

Manager Rafael Benitez put out an unchanged side following the 4-0 win in Marseille in midweek which clinched qualification from the group stage of the Champions League.

Dirk Kuyt fired over the crossbar and then Liverpool again went close to scoring when Harry Kewell's shot was cleared off the line by Patrice Evra and top scorer Fernando Torres headed wide from the rebound.

And United almost suffered a calamitous own-goal when keeper Edwin Van der Sar, whose weak punch had earlier let in Kewell, collided with Rio Ferdinand and the ball headed towards the net -- but Evra came to the rescue again.

Torres went close again, but United stung the home fans when Giggs drilled a low set-piece to Rooney on the edge of the box, and Tevez sent the England striker's shot past helpless keeper Jose Reina.

In the second half, Steven Gerrard twice went close for Liverpool -- smashing a drive straight at Van der Sar, then volleying wide from a cross by Kewell.

Australian Kewell made way for Ryan Babel with 25 minutes left, and the Dutch winger fired an effort just wide of the posts.

United had a chance to double the lead with 13 minutes remaining, but Rooney sidefooted wide from Cristiano Ronaldo's low cross with the goal at his mercy.

Alex Ferguson's team have now not lost a league match at the home of their biggest rivals since 2001.

"It was a typical United v Liverpool game. The crowd creates such a noise it is difficult for the referee," Ferguson said.

"It's not about playing flowing football, it's about winning the game. I said before the game that the games between the top sides will be important, so it's great for us.

"It's going to be a long struggle and fight throughout the season, but if we get to New Year's Day top or around there we have an outstanding chance of staying there."

Liverpool later announced that Benitez had "positive" clear-the-air talks with the the club's American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

The Spaniard met the billionaires following a falling-out over his desire to make plans for signings during the January transfer window.

"The discussions were amicable and constructive. All those present are united in their desire to bring further success to the club," the club said in a statement. E-mail to a friend

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