LONDON: Arsenal pushed  back on up the Premier League – and overtook Tottenham – after beating their neighbours 5-2 in their north London Premier League derby.

In other action Manchester City put five goals of their own past Aston Villa but Chelsea lost to West Bromwich while, at the other end of the table, Queens Park Rangers are still seeking a first win after losing to fellow strugglers Southampton.

The north London derby had started so well for Spurs and their under-pressure manager Andre Villas-Boas. They went 1-0 up through ex-Gunner Emmanuel Adebayor after only nine minutes and then saw a low, angled shot from Aaron Lennnon skid inches wide of Wojciech Szcsesny’s right-hand post.

However Adebayor was sent off by referee Howard Webb in the 17th minute for a reckless challenge on Santi Cazorla and Arsenal took advantage in punishing style. Per Mertesacker headed them level, Lukas Podolski put them ahead and then Oliver Giround  scored Arsenal’s third just before half-time.

That goal was Giroud’s fifth in his last five games.

Cazorla added a fourth on the hour but Spurs, showing plenty of spirit, pulled one back 10 minutes later with Gareth Bale’s fourth goal of the season. Tottenham’s courage in chasing the result left their players tired and stretched and a further Arsenal counter-attack in the last minute saw substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain provide the assist for Theo Walcott to score a fifth home goal.

That was a fourth defeat in five games for Tottenham and a second successive 5-2 defeat at the hands of Arsene Wenger and Arsenal.

Manchester City benefited from two penalty awards in their 5-0 thrashing of Aston Villa. David Silva scored the opening goal from close range just before half-time before Sergio Aguero scored from the penalty spot after Ciaran Clark handled the ball in the area – to the fury of Villa’s players and manager Paul Lambert.

Carlos Tevez added City’s third from the spot when Barry Bannan was also adjudged to have handled the ball before Aguero fired his second and Tevez wrapped up a resounding win.

City thus went four points ahead of Chelsea, who slumped 2-1 against West Brom at the Hawthorns. Shane Long opened the scoring in the 10th minute before Eden Hazard equalised for Chelsea on the stroke of half-time.

However, Peter Odemwingie headed past Petr Cech from Long’s assist to earn the Baggies – managed by one-time Chelsea assistant Steve Clarke – another impressive win.

Goals for Rickie Lambert and Jason Puncheon helped to seal a vital 3-1 win for struggling Southampton against QPR at Loftus Road .

Lambert headed in from close range before Puncheon added the second from 20 yards, with Junior Hoilett’s second-half header not enough for Mark Hughes’ side, as Anton Ferdinand’s own goal in the 83rd minute compounded QPR’s woes.

Luis Suarez scored two as Liverpool beat Wigan 3-0 at Anfield.

The Uruguay international beat Ali Al Habsi twice in the second half with strikes from the middle of the area as Liverpool moved closer to the top half of the table, with Jose Enrique’s tap-in sealing the win for Reds boss Brendan Rodgers.

Reading came from behind to earn their first Premier League win this season with a 2-1 win over Everton at the Madejski Stadium.

Poor defending by Reading allowed Steven Naismith to open the scoring for the Toffees before Adam Le Fondre marked his return to the Royals side by equalising with a glancing header.

Everton’s Seamus Coleman then conceded a penalty which Le Fondre duly converted to earn a much-needed three points for coach Brian McDermott.

Elsewhere, Swansea beat Newcastle 2-1 at St James’ Park thanks in part to a blunder by Tim Krul. The Magpies’ keeper miscued a clearance straight to Pablo Hernandez, who picked out Michu with a superb cross, allowing the Spaniard to head the ball past Krul and into the net.

Jonathan de Guzman sealed the win late in the game when he followed up substitute Danny Graham’s blocked strike with Demba Ba’s stoppage time score not enough for Newcastle.

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