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Arsenal climbing the ladder
12/11/2006 20:42 - (SA)
Krystyna RudzkiI
London - Arsenal jumped to third in the English Premier League and extended Liverpool's poor away form with a 3-0 win on Sunday.
Mathieu Flamini, Kolo Toure and William Gallas scored to help Arsenal rise three places.
Liverpool's title hopes faded further with the defeat. This was their fifth league loss - and all have been away from their Anfield home.
Also on Sunday, Reading snapped a five-match losing streak to end Tottenham's 10-match unbeaten run, winning 3-1 off goals from Nicky Shorey, Steve Sidwell and Kevin Doyle.
Manchester United leads the league with 31 points, with Chelsea second on 28. Arsenal are third with 21 points - ahead of Aston Villa and Bolton on goal difference. Liverpool is ninth, with 17 points.
At Emirates Stadium, Flamini put Arsenal ahead in the 41st minute, taking a cross from Cesc Fabregas to stab in the ball at close range.
Toure made it 2-0 in the 56th, receiving a flick from Robin van Persie and running forward to score through the legs of Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina.
An unmarked William Gallas headed in Arsenal's third goal in the 80th minute. A corner from van Persie provided the cross.
Referee Mark Clattenburg needed lengthy treatment on his lower legs from the 70th minute after jarring his body when the ball hit his midsection. He continued officiating the match.
Liverpool and Arsenal also meet in the League Cup quarter-finals next month.
Long range diagonal strike
At the Madejski Stadium, Robbie Keane gave Tottenham the lead by converting from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute.
Shorey equalized in the 38th with a long range diagonal strike, and Sidwell put Reading ahead in the 45th by chipping the ball in from Glen Little's corner.
Doyle scored the third goal in the 79th minute after taking a headed cross from Leroy Lita.
Reading, which is playing in the Premier League for the first time, moved up three places to 11th with the win. Tottenham dropped to 12th.
"The bottom line remains that if we retain our status in this division, it will be a far better achievement than gaining promotion last season," Reading manager Steve Coppell said.
Tottenham's unbeaten run in all competitions included a 2-1 win over Chelsea last Sunday. It was the team's first win over Chelsea in the league in 16 years.
"At halftime we wanted to put it right but you need personality and character," Tottenham manager Martin Jol said.
"If we would have had a good result today everything would be fine - last eight of the Carling (League) Cup, in the Uefa Cup and probably seventh in the league. And you throw it away."
Both Manchester United and Chelsea won on Saturday. Louis Saha scored in Man United's 1-0 win over Blackburn. Didier Drogba scored three goals and Andriy Shevchenko added another in Chelsea's 4-0 victory over Watford.
Also, Saturday, it was: Everton 0, Aston Villa 1; Sheffield United 2, Bolton 2; Manchester City 0, Newcastle 0; Middlesbrough 1, West Ham 0; Portsmouth 1, Fulham 1; and Wigan 3, Charlton 2.
- SAPA
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