Champions Arsenal retained their two-point lead at the top of the English Premier League with a 1-0 win at Manchester City as title rivals Chelsea beat Middlesbrough 1-0 on Saturday.

Manchester United's revival continued when they ended Tottenham Hotspur's unbeaten run with a 1-0 victory at White Hart Lane, courtesy of a Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty.

Liverpool cantered to a 3-0 victory over Norwich City, Dutch newcomer Patrick Kluivert and skipper Alan Shearer scored in Newcastle United's 3-1 victory over 10-man West Bromwich Albion, and Fulham were 1-0 winners over struggling Southampton.

Arsenal's England full back Ashley Cole scored his first league goal for over two years to take his team back to the top after Chelsea's earlier win at the Riverside.

Cole's 14th-minute strike extended Arsenal's record unbeaten league run to 47 games and left them on 19 points. Chelsea are second on 17 points, with Everton third on 13 before their game on Sunday at Portsmouth.

Chelsea had to be patient at Middlesbrough, Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba scoring the 81st-minute winner with a deflected low drive after midfielder Frank Lampard had squared a free kick.

Yet to produce sparkling football under new coach Jose Mourinho, Chelsea ground out their third 1-0 league win and have conceded only one goal in seven league games.

"At halftime, I was saying to the players we are playing amazingly and... we are not scoring goals, but we must keep the self belief," Mourinho told Sky Sports News.

CHELSEA'S ATTACK

Despite scoring only seven goals in the seven games, Mourinho believes it is only a matter of time before Chelsea's attack clicks.

"I'm very pleased, and the players are really happy in the dressing room -- and that's a good sign," he said.

"Some of the players are saying that one day, we don't know when or against who, but a team will be unlucky, we will score from every single situation and it will be 4-0 or 5-0."

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson watched his team clock up their first away win of the season and take provisional fourth place on 12 points.

United's winner came just before the break when Van Nistelrooy converted from the spot following a challenge by Spurs' Swedish defender Erik Edman on John O'Shea.

The Dutch striker also had a second-half goal disallowed for offside, United substitute David Bellion missed a great chance, and defender Rio Ferdinand continued his impressive return from an eight-month ban for missing a drugs test.