Chelsea regained the English Premier League top spot on Sunday after they beat Blackburn Rovers 2-0 through Nicolas Anelka's double at a rain-soaked Ewood Park.
Anelka struck before the break and midway through the second half to celebrate manager Luiz Felipe Scolari's 60th birthday.
Chelsea overtook Liverpool, who spent less than 24 hours at the summit with Saturday's 3-0 win over West Brom, on goal difference. Arsenal are third with 23 points, six behind the leaders.
Aston Villa could have moved above Manchester United into fourth but lost 2-1 at Middlesbrough after Tuncay Sanli scored an 88th-minute winner.
Tottenham Hotspur continued their revival under new boss Harry Redknapp as Darren Bent scored twice for a 2-1 victory at nine-man Manchester City, which extended their unbeaten run to five matches.
Danny Murphy scored the winner from the penalty spot for his 100th club career goal to earn Fulham a 2-1 win over Newcastle, who are back into the relegation zone.
Winning at Blackburn maintained Chelsea's 100 percent away league record this season and is the ideal response from Scolari's men following victories of title rivals Liverpool and Arsenal on Saturday.
The torrential downpour in the first half made conditions very difficult but Chelsea made the breakthrough five minutes before halftime when Anelka deflected in Jose Bosingwa's drive.
"The pitch was dangerous in the first half because it was raining and it was very difficult for us," said Scolari.
"But we finished the half 1-0 and we knew if we made a second goal we would kill this team."
Chelsea could have opened scoring earlier but keeper Paul Robinson saved well from Anelka and Jon Obi Mikel.
Rovers rallied after the break with Carlos Villanueva and Jason Roberts making Petr Cech busy. But Anelka put the game beyond them as he clipped the ball over the advancing Robinson on 68 minutes.
The French striker missed a hat-trick chance late in the closing stages but already took his league tally to 10 goals this season.
"Anelka is trying every day in training to make (more goals) than he has and now he has more opportunities and scores more goals and that's good for us - and for Anelka," Scolari said.
(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2008)