Luis Suarez made his Liverpool debut as a substitute in a 2-0 win over Stoke, while Manchester City slipped eight points behind Premier League leader Manchester United after a 2-2 draw at Birmingham.
City went ahead on the fouth-minute when Carlos Tevez took a pass from David Silva and put City ahead with an angled shot that took a slight deflection off Birmingham’s Martin Jiranek on its way into the far corner. Nikola Zigic equalized in the 23rd, but Kolarov restored City’s advantage four minutes before halftime with a free kick hit from outside the area into the bottom left corner. But Craig Gardner gave Birmingham a very valuable point as he scored with a 77th-minute penalty for Patrick Vieira’s foul on Kevin Phillips.
After just one win in four Premier League matches, City’s challenge for a first title since 1968 is fading. City are now three points behind second-place Arsenal and two ahead of Chelsea, having played a game more than its rivals.
Tottenham maintained its challenge for the final Champions League spot with a 1-0 win at Blackburn, thanks to a third-minute goal from Peter Crouch. Spurs had several key Spurs players injured or suspended but Crouch clinched a much needed victory for Spurs as he left above defender Christopher Samba to head Rafael van der Vaart’s cross into the corner.
Tottenham are still in fifth place, three points behind Chelsea, which occupies fourth place and the final Champions League qualifying spot.
The Kenny Dalglish magic is starting to work at Liverpool as they won their third straight Premier League match beating Stoke 2-0. Raul Meireles got Liverpool’s first goal in the 47th minute, latching onto a loose ball in the area following a free kick and smashed it past goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.
Suarez, who joined from Ajax on Monday, came on in the 63rd and struck a left-footed shot 16 minutes later that trickled over the line, despite the best attempts of Stoke defender Andy Wilkinson to keep it out. Still they all count and Suarez has opened his account at Liverpool and the Kop have a new hero.
There were some big results at the bottom of the table. On-loan Sturridge scored in injury time to give his Bolton a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, sending Wolves to the bottom of the Premier League. Wolves goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey disastrous back pass from Ronald Zubar gave Sturridge an easy chance he could not miss.
Elsewheere, another on-loan striker scoring for his new team was Robbie Keane as his goal helped West Ham beta Blackpool 3-1, while Damien Duff scored against his former club to give Fulham a 1-0 win over Newcastle.
