Arsenal overcame the sending-off of defender Thomas Vermaelen to battle back to the top of the table with a 2-0 win over struggling West Ham United. Denilson fired the Gunners in front after only five minutes as Arsene Wenger's men looked to leapfrog Manchester United and Chelsea, who do not play until tomorrow.

Vermaelen was deemed to have been the last man when he pulled down Guillermo Franco, and was shown a straight red card, but Manuel Almunia saved Alessandro Diamanti's penalty and captain Cesc Fabregas made it 2-0 with nine minutes left from the same spot following a handball by Matthew Upson.

Spurs dare to dream
Tottenham Hotspur boosted their chances of playing UEFA Champions League football next season, moving four points clear in the chase for fourth place in the Barclays Premier League with a 2-1 win at Stoke City. Substitute Eidur Gudjohnsen put Spurs ahead and things got worse for the home side four minutes later when Dean Whitehead was sent off for his second bookable offence after clattering Luka Modric in the centre circle.

But they drew level when Benoit Assou-Ekotto was adjudged to have fouled Dave Kitson in the box and Matthew Etherington sent Heurelho Gomes the wrong way from the penalty spot. Assou-Ekotto redeemed himself, though, when he crossed for Niko Kranjcar to net the winner with 13 minutes remaining.

Carew to the rescue
That enabled Spurs to capitalise on Aston Villa's draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers, a result which could have been even worse for Martin O'Neill's men. John Carew salvaged a point for Villa after Wolves had looked set for their first win over their local rivals for 30 years, Jody Craddock's equaliser and James Milner's own goal putting them in front.

But Carew followed up his opener with his 13th goal of the campaign with only seven minutes remaining.

Hull City slipped closer to relegation after a late capitulation at rock-bottom Portsmouth. After Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink had headed against a post, Craig Fagan's strike was deflected into the net by Caleb Folan to give Hull the lead in the 27th minute.

But Pompey were level ten minutes later as Jamie O'Hara's cross following a short corner bounced into the path of Tommy Smith, who back-heeled past Boaz Myhill. Folan restored the Tigers' lead, beating the offside trap and producing a composed finish across goalkeeper David James.

But O'Hara levelled two minutes from time with a superb curler after a 20-yard free-kick and Richard Garcia's howler enabled Nadir Belhadj to tee up Kanu to seal a dramatic 3-2 win.

Bent brace
Hugo Rodallega's injury-time header helped Wigan Athletic boost their survival hopes with a deserved 1-0 win over Burnley. And Darren Bent's early brace set Sunderland on their way to a 3-1 win over Birmingham City.

Cameron Jerome ran onto Michel's superbly weighted through-ball to halve the deficit with a neat curling finish, but Fraizer Campbell grabbed a late clincher for Sunderland.

Everton eased to a 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers at Goodison Park. Wanderers were reduced to ten men when last man Gretar Steinsson bundled over Yakubu as he raced clear and Mikel Arteta stepped up to double the punishment by curling a superb free-kick over the wall. Leon Osman then laid the ball back for Steven Pienaar to slam in a late second.