Southampton kept their unbeaten home record intact as they came from behind to beat the champions 3-2 at St Mary's, whilst Fulham were always in front in their game with Liverpool which ended in the same score-line.
Arsenal took the lead in their game after 37 minutes when a fantastic move was finished by Dennis Bergkamp.
The attack was started by Thierry Henry, who played the ball on to Patrick Vieira, Freddie Ljungberg, Edu and then Sylvain Wiltord who pulled it back for Bergkamp to rifle the ball past Antti Niemi.
Southampton came back level when James Beattie smashed home a wonderful free-kick. Rory Delap tapped a free-kick to Beattie and he smashed home from 30 yards.
The game then turned on its head just before the hour when Southampton won a penalty and Arsenal were reduced to ten men.
Sol Campbell brought down Agustin Delgado from behind and was sent off by referee Paul Durkin - Beattie stepped up and converted to score his eighth goal in seven games
Delgado - making his first start for over a year - then made it 3-1 when he touched home a third goal from Fabrice Fernandes's cross.
The Gunners then pulled one back through Robert Pires. A corner from Henry header was met by his French compatriot only for the impressive Niemi to save but the winger was on hand to convert the rebound.
Both teams had chances to score again, but it was Gordon Stachan's side who took the win and moved into the top half of the table.
Liverpool have now gone four games without a win, as they suffered their second straight away loss as Fulham managed to hang on in a five-goal thriller at Loftus Road.
The first goal came after five minutes when Sean Davis struck a thunderous drive, Jerzy Dudek could not handle the ball and dropped it into the path of Facundo Sava who picked up the loose ball and clipped it over the Pole to score.
Davis and Sava were again involved in the second which came just before half time.
Steed Malbranque teed up Davis from 25-yards and his shot deflected off the back of Sava into the net and passed the helpless Dudek.
Liverpool then brought themselves back into the game when German Dietmar Hamann rifled home from 25 yards.
However, man-of-the-match Sava then scored a wonderful third for Fuham to complete his hat-trick after 68 minutes as his drive from 25 yards nestled into the bottom corner.
Just a minute after their third, Alain Goma was red-carded for a second yellow card and that led to constant pressure from the away side.
Substitute Milan Baros brought one back for Liverpool with a few minutes remaining, but it was too little too late for Gerard Houllier's men.
Chelsea once again had Gianfranco Zola to thank as they left it late at The Reebok Stadium to claim a point.
Danish striker Henrik Pedersen headed home Youri Djorkaeff's corner after 64 minutes and Bolton looked comfortable.
Celestine Babayaro was then sent off for Chelsea for an off the ball incident, which seemed to play into Bolton's hands.
However, with just a minute remaining Zola swung in a wicked ball which missed everyone apart from substitute Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink who got the slightest of touches to beat Jussi Jaaskelainen and earn a draw.
Chelsea's point was not enough to keep them in third as Everton's sixth successive league win sent them into the top-three.
The only goal of a fairly drab affair came after 35 minutes through Canadian star Tomasz Radzinski.
Chinese star Li Tie created the chance with a wonderful ball and Radzinski ran onto it and finished clinically past Russell Hoult.
Middlesbrough moved into sixth place as they comfortably dispatched Manchester City 3-1 at The Riverside.
After a goalless first half Boro took the lead just after the break when Ugo Ehiogu rose to head home Geremi's cross.
Croatian star Alen Boksic broke his duck for the season as headed home another Geremi cross.
Boro looked in control but a scramble after 68 minutes allowed Nicolas Anelka to fire home, although the sending off soon after of Shaun Wright-Phillips did not help City's cause and it was the home side who added to their tally.
Cameroonian star Geremi grabbed the third as he picked up a rebound from Massimo Maccarone's effort to seal the win.
Aston Villa recorded a morale boosting victory over West Ham United and they are now bottom-of-table after losing 4-1.
England international Lee Hendrie opened the scoring after 29 minutes before Oyvind Leonhardsen made it 2-0 just after the hour mark.
Paolo Di Canio pulled one back for The Hammers, but it was no more than a mere consolation as Dion Dublin (his 100th in the Premiership) and Darius Vassell piled on the misery for under-fire West Ham boss Glenn Roeder.
A relegation tussle at The Stadium of Light saw Birmingham produce a very good display to snatch a 1-0 win.
The Blues were always on top in what was billed a six-pointer, but they left it until the last minute before grabbing the winning goal.
Stan Lazaridis created the chance for Clinton Morrison who turned Jody Craddock before beating Jurgen Macho.
Click below for match summaries:
Aston Villa 4-1 West Ham
Bolton 1-1 Chelsea
Everton 1-0 West Brom
Fulham 3-2 Liverpool
Middlesbrough 3-1 Man City
Southampton 3-2 Arsenal
Sunderland 0-1 Birmingham
Click here for Premiership table
