Arsenal blow Leeds away

Arsenal hammered Leeds United 4-1 on Saturday to stay top of the English Premier League but there was no let-up in the pressure as champions Manchester United and title rivals Chelsea both clocked up victories.

Thierry Henry scored twice and Robert Pires and Gilberto grabbed one apiece at Elland Road as Arsenal swept to an easy victory over struggling Leeds to stay top on 27 points.

But Chelsea remain just a point behind after Romanian striker Adrian Mutu got the only goal of their game at Everton, while third-placed United have 25 points after a 3-0 win over Portsmouth.

United, beaten at home by Fulham last weekend, made no such mistake at Old Trafford on Saturday as Diego Forlan gave them a first-half lead, Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo added his first for the club and fellow substitute Roy Keane smashed home a late third.

Elsewhere, Newcastle United drew 1-1 with 10-man Aston Villa after skipper Alan Shearer had a late penalty saved, Manchester City won 2-0 at Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur suffered their first defeat under caretaker boss David Pleat, losing 1-0 at home to Bolton Wanderers.

Saturday's defeat rounded off a miserable week for Leeds after they announced record losses for a Premier League club of nearly 50 million pounds and debts of 78 million pounds.

Matters on the pitch for Peter Reid's side fared no better as Arsenal accelerated into a 3-0 lead by halftime after a series of counter-attacks to keep Leeds second from bottom.

"They were very, very good and we didn't handle them on the break, in particular," Reid said of Arsene Wenger's side.

"They've got world class players and ... ultimately we paid the penalty."

Thanking the club's supporters, he told Sky Sports: "We've just got to get through this difficult time and one of the ways we'll get through it is with the fantastic support of our fans."

Arsenal ended a week in which the club were fined 175,000 pounds and four players were suspended after ugly scenes at the end of a 0-0 draw at Manchester United in September.

Wenger, who said the bans had affected his squad during training, told Sky Sports: "Today we responded well, because we can focus on what's in front of us and get on with it."

Anticipating the media's response, Henry said: "After all those people were talking about Arsenal for the wrong things, I hope tomorrow they'll be talking about us for the right things."

Chelsea coach Claudio Ranieri had to be grateful for a string of misses by Everton in both halves before recording their victory at Goodison Park.

"In the first half it was all Everton," Ranieri conceded.

"The second for us was much better. I just told them to try and keep possession, because we cannot play like Everton they have good organisation and always get the ball forward."

A blossoming Forlan scored his third goal in three games to kick-start United's win against Portsmouth.

Looking ahead to what appears to be a three-way title race, United manager Alex Ferguson said: "You're always waiting for someone to slip up. Chelsea and Arsenal won today, it's going to be nip and tuck, and it was important for us to win today too."

Birmingham City, who host Charlton Athletic on Monday, are fourth on 19 points, while Manchester City moved up to fifth place, a point behind, after a wonder goal from Robbie Fowler set them on the way to their 2-0 win at Southampton.