Sunderland, West Brom keep in touch

LONDON (AP):

Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion both kept in touch with the Premier League's top six sides yesterday, Sunderland beating West Ham 1-0 and the Baggies defeating Newcastle 3-1.

Jordan Henderson scored his first goal for a year in the 34th minute to lift Sunderland into seventh place and push West Ham back to the bottom of the standings.

West Bromwich Albion climbed to eighth after a goal by Somen Tchoyi and two from Peter Odemwingie secured a first league win over Newcastle in 26 years.

Sunderland trails sixth-place Bolton only on goal difference.

Arsenal moved into first place on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Fulham after previous leader Manchester United's game at Blackpool was postponed because of a frozen pitch.

Henderson, who made his England debut last month, was picked as man of the match after he turned in Asamoah Gyan's 34th-minute cross to give his side all three points and end West Ham's recent revival.

"It's a long time since I scored a goal," Henderson said. "I've been working on it a lot in training, my finishing. I need to score more goals from midfield wherever I play. But the main thing is we won today."

Few real scares

Carlton Cole went close to cancelling out the lead four minutes after the break and Victor Obinna hit the post 11 minutes from time, but Sunderland manager Steve Bruce saw his side hold out with few real scares.

While Sunderland is in their highest position for a decade, West Ham have not won away from home since the opening day of last season.

The Hammers are tied on 12 points and a minus-13 goal difference with Wolverhampton Wanderers, but trails because they have scored fewer goals.

Tchoyi's first goal at The Hawthorns - and fourth overall this season - gave the Baggies a deserved 32nd-minute lead. Chris Brunt found Tchoyi in space inside the box and the Cameroonian midfielder cut inside Jose Enrique to curl a left-footed drive past Tim Krul from 15 metres (yards).

Newcastle manager Chris Hughton brought on Peter Lovenkrands at half-time but Odemwingie doubled Albion's lead in the 71st following a slip on the halfway line by Newcastle midfielder Danny Guthrie. Odemwingie was left with a clear run on goal and he kept his composure to slip a left-foot shot wide of Krul.

Guthrie, who was injured in the fall, was carried off and replaced by Alan Smith.

Odemwingie rounded Krul with a minute left to score before Lovenkrands's injury-time consolation.

"I thought everything about today was good," West Brom manager Roberto Di Matteo said. "We scored three great goals and we controlled the game for the majority of the time.

"I think we pressed them quite high up the pitch, we never let them settle in. We recovered possession quite well."

Samir Nasri's two goals took Arsenal to 32 points on Saturday, when Chelsea's run without a league win was stretched to four matches by a 1-1 draw with Everton. Chelsea has 30 points, one fewer than Manchester United - which still has its game against Blackpool yet to play.

Manchester City has 29 points, three more than Tottenham.

 Saturday, December 4

ARSENAL 2 FULHAM 1

Two flashes of genius from Samir Nasri nudged Arsenal past Fulham at the Emirates and took them to the top of the Barclays Premier League table. He lashed the hosts into an early lead after dancing inside two defenders and Arsenal then wasted a host of chances. A clash of heads left Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny dazed letting Diomansy Kamara slot a slick but contested equaliser. But Nasri decided the match late on after jinking past a posse of defenders to slip the ball home from an angle.

GOALS: ARSENAL: NASRI 14, 75. FULHAM: KAMARA 30.

BIRMINGHAM CITY 1 TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR 1

Craig Gardner's second-half header salvaged a point for Birmingham against Tottenham at St Andrew's. Sebastien Bassong gave Spurs the lead when he lashed in from five yards but Gardner equalised with 10 minutes remaining.

GOALS: BIRMINGHAM: GARDNER 81. TOTTENHAM: BASSONG 19.

BLACKBURN ROVERS 3 WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 0

Blackburn increased the agony for Wolves and boss Mick McCarthy with a convincing victory at Ewood Park. David Dunn headed Rovers in front after Wolves failed to deal with Morten Gamst Pedersen's corner, and Brett Emerton added a second after Jason Roberts proved too strong for Steve Mouyokolo. Wolves were exposed again when Ryan Nelsen turned Pedersen's free-kick past Wayne Hennessey.

GOALS: BLACKBURN: DUNN 29; EMERTON 43; NELSEN 55.

BLACKPOOL V MANCHESTER UNITED

POSTPONED.

CHELSEA 1 EVERTON 1

Chelsea's run of Barclays Premier League games without a win was extended to four as they were held at home by Everton. John Terry hit the crossbar before Didier Drogba scored a penalty after Tim Howard fouled Nicolas Anelka. Everton struck the post through a Jack Rodwell header in the second half while home team defender Ashley Cole failed to convert a low cross from six yards. Jermaine Beckford then headed a late equaliser as Chelsea missed the chance to return to the top of the table.

GOALS: CHELSEA: DROGBA PEN 42. EVERTON: BECKFORD 88.

MANCHESTER CITY 1 BOLTON WANDERERS 0

An early strike by Carlos Tevez ended Manchester City's two-month wait for a home Barclays Premier League goal and proved enough to see off a dogged Bolton side. Tevez ran on to Yaya Toure's pass to fire home after four minutes. City went on to dominate, going closest to a second when Mario Balotelli and then David Silva hit the woodwork. But Bolton were given late hope when Aleksandar Kolarov was sent off for a second booking, and the home side had to survive a late spell of pressure.

GOAL: CITY: TEVEZ 4.

WIGAN ATHLETIC 2 STOKE CITY 2

Wigan twice came from behind to earn a pulsating draw with Stoke in miserable conditions at the DW Stadium. Robert Huth's deflected free-kick put the Potters ahead, before Danny Collins's own goal put Wigan level. Matthew Etherington restored Stoke's lead but Tom Cleverley's shot deflected in off Rory Delap to restore parity before half-time. Both sides had chances in the second half, with Charles N'Zogbia's shot against the post the pick of the bunch.

GOALS: WIGAN: COLLINS OG 30; CLEVERLEY 40. STOKE: HUTH 18; ETHERINGTON 31.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5

WEST BROMWICH ALBION 2 NEWCASTLE UNITED 0

Goals from Somen Tchoyi and Peter Odemwingie handed West Brom a comfortable victory over Newcastle. Midfielder Tchoyi opened the scoring just after the half-hour mark when he curled in a superb effort from just inside the 18-yard area. Odemwingie then took advantage of a Danny Guthrie slip when he ran into the box and fired a low shot past Tim Krul. Odemwingie slotted in his second late on before Peter Lovenkrands poked in a consolation strike.

GOALS: WBA: TCHOYI 32; ODEMWINGIE 71, 89. NEWCASTLE: LOVENKRANDS 90.

SUNDERLAND 1 WEST HAM UNITED 0

A first-half goal by Jordan Henderson was enough to ensure Sunderland beat struggling West Ham. Record signing Asamoah Gyan crossed from the right to find midfielder Henderson who fired past Robert Green in the West Ham goal. The win maintains Sunderland's unbeaten home record in the league as West Ham fought hard to find an equaliser. Sunderland move up to seventh while the Hammers go bottom below Wolverhampton Wanderers on goal difference.

GOALS: SUNDERLAND: HENDERSON 34.