Arsenal climbed into the Premier League’s top four with a laboured 2-1 win against spirited Leicester City and Liverpool continued their push with a pulsating 3-2 home defeat of rivals Tottenham Hotspur last night.

With a revitalised Mesut Ozil playing a central role, Arsenal led 2-0 through Laurent Koscielny and Theo Walcott but Andrej Kramaric pulled a goal back as Leicester dominated the second half.

The result was harsh on Nigel Pearson’s side, showing plenty of industry for their under-fire manager, who came down from the director’s box to orchestrate the second-half recovery.

Mario Balotelli’s first Premier League goal for Liverpool sealed a topsy-turvey game that they twice led through Lazar Markovic and a Steven Gerrard penalty before being pegged back by the in-form Harry Kane and Mousa Dembele.

Fourth-placed Arsenal have 45 points from 25 games – two clear of sixth-placed Spurs and three ahead of Liverpool in seventh – though they could be displaced by Manchester United in fifth who host lowly Burnley tonight.

Dame N’Doye scored one and set up another on his full debut as Hull City climbed out of the relegation zone at the expense of a brow-beaten Aston Villa.

The Senegalese striker, a £3 million deadline day signing, was the key figure in a scrappy 2-0 victory that could nevertheless have a profound effect on both sides’ battle against the drop.

He showed a fine first touch and good awareness to tee up Nikica Jelavic for the 22nd-minute opener and settled matters deep in the second half with a close-range finish.

Tigers’ optimism

After drawing with Manchester City at the weekend a rare win on home soil – just Hull’s third this term – confirmed a feeling of renewed optimism in East Yorkshire, with the Tigers up three places to 15th.

But for Villa, the outlook is grim. Not only does the result see them slump into the bottom three, it poses serious questions about their ability to bounce back.

Meanwhile, caretaker boss Chris Ramsey presided over QPR’s first league away win of the season as owner Tony Fernandes closed in on his new manager.

Hours before kick-off Fernandes revealed his hope that he had got his man, sending Michael Laudrup’s odds tumbling, and spirits within the camp soared, with first-half goals from Leroy Fer and Bobby Zamora setting the club on their way to three points on the road after 11 successive defeats.

The 2-0 success was QPR’s first win away from Loftus Road since their play-off final victory over Derby at Wembley on May 24 last year and was witnessed by only 395 travelling fans among a crowd of 39,077 at the Stadium of Light.

Summaries

Arsenal 2
Koscielny 27, Walcott 41;
Leicester City 1
Kramaric 62;

HT: 2-0. Att: 60,032.

Hull City 2
Jelavic 22, N’Doye 74;
Aston Villa 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 23,000.

Liverpool 3
Markovic 15, Gerrard 53 pen, Balotelli 83;
Tottenham 2
Kane 26, Dembele 61;

HT: 1-1. Att: 44,577.

Sunderland 0
QPR 2
Fer 18, Zamora 45;

HT: 0-2. Att: 39,077.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Chelsea	24	17	5	2	54	21	56
Man. City	24	14	7	3	47	24	49
S’thampton	24	14	3	7	38	17	45
Arsenal	25	13	6	6	47	28	45
Man. United	24	12	8	4	40	23	44
Tottenham	25	13	4	8	39	34	43
Liverpool	25	12	6	7	36	29	42
West Ham	24	10	7	7	36	28	37
Swansea	24	9	7	8	28	31	34
Stoke City	24	9	6	9	27	29	33
Newcastle	24	8	7	9	30	36	31
Everton	24	6	9	9	31	34	27
C. Palace	24	6	8	10	26	34	26
Sunderland	25	4	12	9	22	36	24
Hull City	25	5	8	12	23	34	23
West Brom	24	5	8	11	22	34	23
QPR	25	6	4	15	26	43	22
Aston Villa	25	5	7	13	12	34	22
Burnley	24	4	9	11	23	40	21
Leicester	25	4	5	16	22	40	17

Playing today
Chelsea vs Everton - 20.45
Man. United vs Burnley - 20.45
Southampton vs West Ham - 20.45
Stoke City vs Man. City - 20.45
C. Palace vs Newcastle - 21.00
West Brom vs Swansea - 21.00

The Championship
Bournemouth vs Derby 2-2; Birmingham vs Millwall 0-1; Blackburn vs Rotherham 2-1; Blackpool vs Middlesbrough 1-2; Brentford vs Watford 1-2; Cardiff vs Brighton 0-0; Charlton vs Norwich 2-3; Huddersfield vs Wolves 1-4; Ipswich vs Sheffield Wed. 2-1; Bolton vs Fulham 3-1; Reading vs Leeds United 0-2.

League One
Barnsley vs Fleetwood 1-2; Bristol City vs Port Vale 3-1; Chesterfield vs Preston 0-2; Coventry vs Scunthorpe 1-1; Crawley vs Doncaster 0-5; Crewe vs Yeovil 1-0; Leyton Orient vs Notts County 0-1; Oldham vs Swindon 2-1; Peterborough vs Gillingham 1-2; Sheff. United vs Colchester 4-1; Walsall vs Rochdale 3-2.

League Two
Accrington vs Oxford 1-0; Burton vs Wimbledon 0-0; Carlisle vs Shrewsbury 1-2; Dagenham vs Portsmouth 0-0; Exeter vs Cambridge 2-2; Hartlepool vs Northampton 1-0; Luton vs York 2-2; Morecambe vs Mansfield Town 2-1; Newport vs Tranmere 1-1; Southend vs Cheltenham 2-0; Stevenage vs Bury 0-0; Wycombe vs Plymouth 0-2.

Scottish League Two
Albion Rovers vs East Fife 2-3.