There was huge controversy at Stoke where referee Kevin Friend sent off Sunderland's Wes Brown despite the former Manchester United defender having appeared to win the ball fairly in a challenge with Charlie Adam.
Black Cats boss Gus Poyet was incensed by the decision, which came shortly after Adam had put the home side ahead and Steven Nzonzi scored late on to secure a 2-0 victory and leave Sunderland bottom of the table.
Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge came off the bench to head a last-minute equaliser against Everton in a thrilling 3-3 draw in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.
Everton had looked on course for victory with two goals from Romelu Lukaku, but were forced to settle for a point.
Philippe Coutinho had put the Reds ahead early on before Kevin Mirallas levelled, then Luis Suarez made it nine league goals for the season from a free-kick only for strike partner Sturridge to join him at the top of the scoring charts late on.
1 Arsenal 28 2 Liverpool 24 3 Chelsea 24 4 Southampton 22 5 Everton 21 6 Man Utd 20 7 Tottenham 20 8 Newcastle 20 9 Man City 19 10 Swansea 15 11 West Brom 14 12 A Villa 14 13 Hull City 14 14 Stoke City 13 15 Cardiff 12 16 Norwich 11 17 West Ham 10 18 Fulham 10 19 C Palace 7 20 Sunderland 7
An horrendous mistake from Southampton goalkeeper Artur Boruc help set Arsenal on their way to a 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium which sent Arsene Wenger's men four points clear at the top.
The Poland goalkeeper made a complete mess of his footwork when caught in possession by Olivier Giroud in the six-yard box on 22 minutes.
Arsenal never looked in danger of relinquishing their advantage and settled the game with a late penalty from France striker Giroud to take full advantage of Liverpool's draw.
Frank Lampard scored twice against his former club as Chelsea claimed a comfortable 3-0 win in the London derby at West Ham.
Lampard converted a penalty after Jussi Jaaskelainen upended Oscar when trying to meet Guy Demel's dreadful back-pass, with the Finland goalkeeper fortunate to stay on the field.
Oscar added a second before the break for Jose Mourinho's men and Lampard scored his second late on with a trademark effort from the edge of the area to extend West Ham's winless home run to five matches.
Newcastle beat Norwich 2-1 despite a nervous finish at St James' Park.
Loic Remy took less than two minutes to the open the scoring with a close-range header from Yohan Cabaye's corner, with Yoan Gouffran extending the lead against former Magpies manager Chris Hughton's side.
Leroy Fer's late header for the Canaries made it a tense finish but Alan Pardew's men held on.
West Ham 0 - 3 Chelsea Hull City 0 - 1 C Palace Stoke City 2 - 0 Sunderland Newcastle 2 - 1 Norwich Arsenal 2 - 0 Southampto Fulham 1 - 2 Swansea Everton 3 - 3 Liverpool
The pressure on Fulham boss Martin Jol ramped up after a 2-1 home defeat to Swansea.
Jonjo Shelvey and an Aaron Hughes own goal clinched the points for Swansea, while Fulham's only consolation was Scott Parker's first goal in all competitions since February 2011.
New Crystal Palace boss Tony Pulis was at the KC Stadium to watch his new club take a priceless 1-0 win over Hull despite being reduced to 10 men.
Palace, who appointed Pulis as new manager just before kick-off, leapfrogged Sunderland in the table after Barry Bannan's close-range goal, minutes after Yannick Bolasie was sent off for a challenge on Jake Livermore.
Source: Sunderland-Mad
Source: FOOTYMAD
