Arsenal left it late to beat Cardiff City at a rain-soaked Emirates.

Two goals in the last five minutes from Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott gave the injury hit Gunners all three points and put them back at the top of the table after Man City won earlier on New Year's Day.

Meanwhile Chelsea kept pace at the top by beating Southampton 3 - 0 at St. Mary's with Fernando Torres, Willian and Oscar on the mark. The latter was also booked for diving.

Elsewhere, Liverpool bounced back from consecutive defeats to City and Chelsea by overcoming Hull 2 - 0 at Anfield, thanks to goals from Daniel Agger and Luis Suarez.

A last minute Leighton Baines penalty gave their Merseyside rivals Everton a point away to Stoke City at the Britannia, after Liverpool loanee Oussama Assaidi had put Stoke ahead.

West Brom picked up a crucial three points against 10-man Newcastle at The Hawthorns, thanks to a Berahino penalty. Toon right-back Mathieu Debuchy was shown a straight red card for a rash tackle on Claudio Yacob.

There was also intrigue towards the foot of the table as Fulham came out on top of a relegation six pointer at home to West Ham by a 2 - 1 scoreline.

Mohamed Diame gave West Ham the lead, but goals from Steve Sidwell and Dimitar Berbatov gave Fulham a valuable three point haul.

Crystal Palace and Norwich drew 1 - 1 at Selhurst Park. Bradley Johnson put Chris Hughton's Norwich in front but Jason Puncheon equalized from the penalty spot.

Aston Villa heaped more misery on bottom side Sunderland with a 1 - 0 at the Stadium of Light thanks to a Gabby Agbonlahor goal.