Chelsea and Liverpool continued setting a hot pace at the top of the Premier League with emphatic away victories.
Liverpool briefly went top courtesy of a 2-0 victory at Bolton Wanderers with goals from Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard before Chelsea responded by thrashing bottom club West Bromwich Albion 3-0 at the Hawthorns.
Jose Bosingwa's curling left-foot shot and two goals from Nicolas Anelka had the points in the bag by halftime for Chelsea who set a new Premier League record of 10 consecutive away wins.
They climbed back above Liverpool on goal difference with both clubs on 32 points from 13 matches.
Arsenal's title hopes suffered another blow as they were beaten 2-0 at home by Aston Villa, Gael Clichy's own goal and Gabriel Agbonlahor's strike condemning the Gunners to a fourth league defeat of the season.
Manchester United moved above Arsenal into third place on 24 points by thumping Stoke City 5-0 at Old Trafford with Cristiano Ronaldo twice on target for the champions, who have a game in hand on their title rivals.
Sunderland jumped from 19th to 11th place with a 2-1 victory at Blackburn Rovers, who drop into the bottom three. Tottenham Hotspur are back in the relegation zone after a 2-1 reverse at Fulham, their first defeat under new manager Harry Redknapp.
Ten-man Wigan Athletic drew 2-2 at Newcastle United while Portsmouth drew 0-0 at West Ham United.
