Arsenal stay two points in front

LONDON, England -- First-half goals from Eduardo (above) and Emmanuel Adebayor gave Arsenal a 2-0 home victory over West Ham, which kept them two points clear of Manchester United at the top of the English Premier League.

United held onto second spot by beating Birmingham City 1-0, with a goal from Carlos Tevez, but the Argentine hobbled off at the end with what appeared to be an ankle injury.

Chelsea stayed third when they came from behind to win the west London derby at Fulham 2-1.

West Ham, the only visiting team to win at the Emirates Stadium, came into the game fresh from their 2-1 home win over Manchester United, but they paid the price for some poor defensive play.

It took Arsenal less than two minutes to take the lead when Anton Ferdinand allowed Eduardo too much room and the Croatian chested the ball down before volleying home.

West Ham responded well, Mark Noble going close with a swerving shot, Carlton Cole having a shot deflected by Kolo Toure and Ferdinand seeing a shot cleared off the line by Gael Clichy.

But the Hammers then gifted Arsenal a second goal when Ferdinand and Matthew Upson allowed Clichy's long ball to elude them and Adebayor headed the ball wide of the stranded keeper Robert Green before squeezing his shot into the net from a difficult angle.

In the 37th minute West Ham's Freddie Ljungberg, who had been keen to do well against his old team, went off injured and Arsenal held on comfortably in a tame second period.

Manchester United, showing five changes after their setback at West Ham, and still without unfit Wayne Rooney, soon had Birmingham under pressure and Tevez headed against a post after five minutes.

Tevez combined with Cristiano Ronaldo to score the 25th minute matchwinner. Ronaldo returned a Tevez pass with a deft backheel and the Argentine sped through to direct his shot past Maik Taylor for his ninth goal of the campaign.

Gary McSheffrey wasted two good chances for Birmingham but United might well have increased their lead when Taylor had to make a brilliant save to keep out a Ronaldo header and Tevez fired a shot against the woodwork. E-mail to a friend