LONDON, Nov 30: Premier league leaders Arsenal were held to a 0-0 home draw by Fulham on Sunday after an outstanding performance by the visitors’ Dutch keeper Edwin Van Der Sar.

Liverpool came from behind to beat Birmingham City 3-1 at Anfield, while an own goal by Chinese defender Sun Jihai sent Manchester City to a 1-0 home defeat by Middlesbrough.

But there was only frustration for Arsenal at Highbury as a barrage of shots from their much-vaunted strike force in both halves were all dealt with by the unflappable Van Der Sar.

The result left Arsenal on 34 points, two ahead of second-placed Chelsea, who were taking on champions Manchester United in the late kickoff.

Liverpool cancelled out a Mikael Forssell strike with a penalty converted by skipper Steven Gerrard after 35 minutes.

Victory was achieved with second half goal from Australian forward Harry Kewell and a superb solo effort by England striker Emile Heskey.

Sunday’s results:

Arsenal 0 Fulham 0

Liverpool 3 Birmingham City 1

Manchester City 0 Middlesbrough 1

ROMA, MILAN WIN

ROME: AS Roma and AC Milan leapfrogged Juventus to the top of Serie A on Sunday with comfortable wins over Lecce and Modena respectively.

The victories lifted the two clubs to joint top on 27 points, one ahead of reigning Italian champions Juve, who suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday, 3-1 at home to Inter Milan.

Results:

AC Milan 2 Modena 0

Parma 3 Chievo Verona 1

Perugia 1 Empoli 1

Reggina 0 Bologna 0

AS Roma 3 Lecce 1

Sampdoria 2 Ancona 0

VALENCIA ON TOP

MADRID: Valencia snatched top spot in the Primera Liga on Saturday thanks to a 3-2 home win over Real Zaragoza, while champions Real Madrid slipped to second after a barely deserved 1-1 draw at dominant Osasuna.

Brazilian legend Ronaldo saved the day for Real with a 74th-minute strike to cancel out a top-class finish from Ivory Coast striker Ibrahima Bakayoko, who had put the Navarrans ahead early in the first half.

Saturday’s results:

Atletico Madrid 2 Malaga 0

Murcia 2 Real Sociedad 2

Osasuna 1 Real Madrid 1

Valencia 3 Real Zaragoza 2

—Reuters