LONDON, Dec 21: Sol Campbell and Robert Pires ensured Arsenal will spend Christmas at the top of the league for the first time since the Premiership was launched a decade ago.

England centre-back Campbell headed home on the stroke of half-time and Frenchman Robert Pires notched the second on the stroke of full time to give the champions a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough at Highbury.

Middlesbrough were under intense pressure from the kick-off but they appeared to have weathered the storm when Campbell met Giovanni van Bronckhurst’s free-kick with a superb diving header just before the interval.

Middlesbrough were reduced to ten men midway through the second half when Luke Wilkshire picked up a second yellow card for a clumsy tackle on Pires, who celebrated his Man-of-the-Match award with a superbly taken late second.

Chelsea kept up the chase and, with Manchester United not playing until Sunday, moved up to second place after a 2-0 win over Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.

Icelandic striker Eidur Gudjohnsen, playing in place of the rested Gianfranco Zola, put the Blues ahead three minutes before the break and Frank Lampard secured the three points in the middle of the second half.

West Ham’s lack of a cutting edge in front of goal cost them dear in a 1-1 draw with Bolton which means they will spend Christmas anchored to the bottom of the table - a position from which no side has ever avoided relegation.

After centre-back Ian Pearce put them ahead in the 17th minute, the Hammers looked set to run out comfortable winners.

But a first victory at home this season slipped through their grasp when Bolton scored with virtually their only meaningful attack of the match.

A little bit of magic from Jay Jay Okocha made the difference, the Nigerian chesting the ball down before turning and releasing Michael Ricketts who finished perfectly.

Kevin Phillips rediscovered his goal touch to salvage a point for Sunderland with two second half goals at West Brom in the day’s other relegation battle.

Danny Dichio’s 27th minute strike and a free-kick from Jason Koumas six minutes later put West Brom in the driving seat at half-time.

But Phillips took advantage of a slack backpass for his first then levelled things up with a superb solo effort eight minutes later.

Controlling the ball wide on the left, he cut inside and waltzed through a succession of challenges before unleashing a drive into the corner of the net.

Leeds and Southampton shared the points at Elland Road after Fabrice Fernandes’ long-range free-kick a minute from time cancelled out Harry Kewell’s 74th minute strike for Leeds.

Ten-man Birmingham snatched an unlikely point against Charlton.

Danish midfielder Claus Jensen put Charlton ahead with his fourth goal of the season after 37 minutes.

Birmingham’s hopes of a fightback looked to have gone when Geoff Horsfield earned a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Charlton’s Luke Young.

But Scotland’s Paul Devlin equalised from the penalty spot after Jensen pulled down Aliou Cisse in the box.

Newcastle could afford the luxury of a rare penalty miss by Alan Shearer as they ran out comfortable winners over Fulham, who had Pierre Wome sent off for a wild tackle on Andy Griffin.

Nolberto Solano put the Geordies ahead after eight minutes and Craig Bellamy completed the victory with a late strike after Wome’s departure.

Results

Premier League

Arsenal 2 Middlesbrough 0

Birmingham City 1 Charlton Athletic 1

Chelsea 2 Aston Villa 0

Leeds United 1 Southampton 1

Newcastle United 2 Fulham 0

West Bromwich 2 Sunderland 2

West Ham United 1 Bolton Wanderers 1

Celtic close gap

GLASGOW: Celtic eased to a 2-0 win over Dundee on Saturday to keep up the pressure on Scottish Premier League leaders Rangers.

John Hartson and Henrik Larsson scored after 38 and 54 minutes as Martin O’Neill’s side closed to within one point of Glasgow rivals Rangers, who visit Partick Thistle on Sunday.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Hearts moved into third place with a 3-0 win at Dundee United, Aberdeen and Livingston drew 0-0 and Kilmarnock beat Hibernian 2-1.

Bottom club Motherwell’s clash with Dunfermline Athletic was postponed.

Scottish league results

Premier League

Aberdeen 0 Livingston 0

Celtic 2 Dundee 0

Dundee United 0 Hearts 3

Kilmarnock 2 Hibernian 1

Rangers DUBAI trip on

Glasgow Rangers’ mid-winter trip to Dubai will go ahead, despite the threat of war over Iraq, according to manager Alex McLeish.

The Ibrox side are set to spend several days in Dubai when the Scottish Premier League shuts down for part of January and McLeish said the trip would go ahead unless the club were advised it was unsafe to travel.

“We’ve been told that there are no problems at this stage. If there was any problems then I take it we wouldn’t go,” he said.

“We’ve got some other plans if that doesn’t happen but right now we’ve been told that it’s going ahead.

“Juventus are out there, 1860 Munich are out there, so there are other teams.”

Rangers take on Partick Thistle on Sunday in the hope that they can maintain their four-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premier League.

And McLeish has been boosted by the news that defender Lorenzo Amoruso will not be sidelined after picking up a knock against Celtic a few weeks ago.

He said: “Lorenzo is fine. He suffered a haematoma (blood clot) on the back of his knee in the Celtic game.

“But it’s one of these ones that you can play through because it’s not going to get any worse and it will get better the more you play.

“I did it myself as a player and it’s no problem for a central defender like Lorenzo.

“He’s a very important player and the more he plays, it will help to flush away the bruising.”

Meanwhile, Thistle boss John Lambie is counting down the days until the transfer window re-opens once again.

Lambie has long been a critic of the new system that prevents any under-contract players being traded while the window is shut.

He fumed: “I see plenty of other managers are starting to talk about how bad it is now.—Agencies