Arsenal, Man City stay on Chelsea's tail

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Arsenal and Manchester City replied in kind after John Terry scored an injury-time winner against Everton to preserve Chelsea's position as Premier League leaders on Saturday.

Chelsea's victory momentarily gave them a four-point lead at the summit, but Arsenal closed the gap to a point by overwhelming Sunderland 4-1 and City are three points back with a game in hand after edging Stoke City 1-0.

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Left on the bench against Bayern, Arsenal's Olivier Giroud was restored to the starting line-up to face Sunderland and the Frenchman responded with a brace of goals in the first 31 minutes.

The former Montpellier man also played a role in the glorious move that led to Tomas Rosicky chipping in Arsenal's third goal before half-time, with Laurent Koscielny heading home a fourth in the 57th minute.

Emanuele Giaccherini claimed a late consolation for Gus Poyet's side, who face City in next weekend's League Cup final.

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Manuel Pellegrini's side toiled in front of goal against Stoke at the Etihad Stadium and there was a sense of relief when Yaya Toure broke the deadlock from Aleksandar Kolarov's cut-back in the 70th minute.

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Earlier, Terry's last-gasp winner allowed Chelsea to hold onto top spot as they snatched a 1-0 victory against Everton at Stamford Bridge.

With Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard in sparkling form, Chelsea looked set to drop points until Terry marked his return to the team after a three-game absence by toeing home a Frank Lampard free-kick in the 93rd minute.

Terry's strike was a bitter blow for an enterprising Everton side, who squandered an opportunity to close the eight-point gap that currently separates them from fourth-place Liverpool.

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Manchester United capitalised by stealing into sixth place - ahead of Everton on goal difference, albeit having played a game more - with a 2-0 success at Crystal Palace.

Robin van Persie opened the scoring at Selhurst Park with a 62nd-minute penalty after Marouane Chamakh tripped Patrice Evra just inside the Palace area.

Wayne Rooney doubled United's lead six minutes later, celebrating his new five-year contract and marking his 300th league appearance for the club by slamming a half-volley into the top-right corner.

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Meanwhile, Felix Magath saw victory snatched from his grasp in his first game as Fulham manager after a 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion.

Fulham were on course to climb off the foot of the table thanks to Ashkan Dejagah's 28th-minute goal, only for Matej Vydra to plunder an 86th-minute equaliser with a shot that squirmed past Maarten Stekelenburg.

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Vydra's goal meant that Cardiff City remained second from bottom after they were crushed 4-0 at home by Hull City, who prevailed through a Nikica Jelavic brace and strikes from Tom Huddlestone and Nikica Jelavic.

Hull are now six points above the relegation zone and West Ham United are a point better off in 10th place after goals from Matt Jarvis, Carlton Cole and Kevin Nolan set up a 3-1 win at home to Southampton.