February 13, 2008	Wednesday	Safar 05, 1429

LONDON, Feb 12: Arsenal opened a five-point gap at the top of the English Premier League after taking advantage of their title rivals’ weekend wobbles by beating Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Monday.

A Philippe Senderos header from a fourth-minute corner gave them an early lead against a Blackburn side who had lost only two of their previous 12 away games.

Visiting goalkeeper Brad Friedel made several decent saves, three to deny Emmanuel Adebayor, as Arsenal made almost all the running but the home fans remained nervous until the prolific Togo striker got the second with an expert finish in injury time.

With 12 games remaining Arsenal have 63 points to the 58 of Manchester United, who lost 2-1 at home to Manchester City on Sunday. Chelsea are three points further back on 55 after their goalless draw with Liverpool while Blackburn remain ninth.

Results:

Played on Monday:

Arsenal 2 Blackburn Rovers 0

Played on Sunday:

Chelsea 0 Liverpool 0

Manchester United 1 Manchester City 2

Played on Saturday:

Aston Villa 4 Newcastle United 1

Bolton Wanderers 0 Portsmouth 1

Derby County 0 Tottenham Hotspur 3

Everton 1 Reading 0

Middlesbrough 1 Fulham 0

Sunderland 2 Wigan Athletic 0

West Ham United 1 Birmingham City 1

—Reuters