West Ham United made light of striker Craig Bellamy's absence on Sunday, beating Fulham 3-1 to move further away from the Premier League relegation zone. Wales international Bellamy, a reported target for Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, was not included in the squad but his stand-in, Italian David di Michele, took his chance to impress in the lunchtime kick-off at Upton Park.
Di Michele put West Ham in front early on after a mistake from Fulham defender John Pantsil but Fulham levelled before the break when former West Ham defender Paul Konchesky fired an unstoppable shot past keeper Robert Green.
West Ham were much the better side in the second half and went ahead again after Konchesky brought down Carlton Cole in the area and Mark Noble swept in the penalty.
Cole wrapped up the points for West Ham when Di Michele played him in for a neat finish past Fulham's exposed keeper Mark Schwarzer. Victory moved West Ham above Fulham and Hull City into eighth place in the league. Later on Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur host Portsmouth needing at least a point to move off the bottom of the table. Meanwhile in Saturday's action Manchester United moved top of the Premier League for the first time this season on Saturday as striker Dimitar Berbatov headed a last-minute winner in a 1-0 defeat of Bolton Wanderers.
The reigning champions, bidding for an 18th English title, chalked up a 10th consecutive clean sheet in the league on a day of late goals and red cards in the top flight. Chelsea breathed a huge sigh of relief as England midfielder Frank Lampard struck four minutes into stoppage time to earn a 2-1 victory over Stoke City at Stamford Bridge after Brazilian Juliano Belletti had equalised for the Blues after 88 minutes.
United have 47 points from 21 matches, one ahead of Liverpool who can reclaim top spot with victory over Everton on Monday. Chelsea have 45 points from 22 matches with Villa on 44. Fifth-placed Arsenal have 41 points after goals from Samir Nasri and Nicklas Bendtner in the final 10 minutes earned a 3-1 victory at Hull City. Manchester City put aside the hype surrounding their world-record bid for AC Milan's Kaka to beat Wigan Athletic 1-0 at Eastlands despite ending the match with 10 men after defender Richard Dunne was sent off.
While the battle for the title looks to be the most open for many years, the dogfight at the bottom is equally fascinating. West Bromwich Albion moved off the bottom with a 3-0 thrashing of Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers climbed out of the relegation zone with a 3-0 defeat of Newcastle United, for whom midfielder Nicky Butt was dismissed.
Results:
Played on Sunday:
-- West Ham 3 (Di Michele 7, Noble 60-pen, Cole 76) Fulham 1 (Konchesky 22)
Played on Saturday:
-- Blackburn 3 (McCarthy 61-pen, Roberts 66, 86) Newcastle 0
-- Bolton 0 Man Utd 1 (Berbatov 90)
-- Chelsea 2 (Belletti 88, Lampard 90) Stoke 1 (Delap 60)
-- Hull 1 (Cousin 65) Arsenal 3 (Adebayor 30, Nasri 82, Bendtner 86)
-- Man City 1 (Zabaleta 53) Wigan 0
-- Sunderland 1 (Collins 11) Aston Villa 2 (Milner 60, Barry 80-pen)
-- West Brom 3 (Brunt 4, Koren 54, 67) Middlesbrough 0.
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