English Premier league champion Chelsea completed a miserable seven days by suffering back-to-back Premier League defeats, losing 1-0 to Birmingham City in the shock of the day at St Andrew's.
The goal sparked memories of Bowyer's glory days at Leeds as he displayed excellent anticipation to gamble on a Cameron Jerome flick-on, darting into a gaping hole in the Chelsea defence, which was still missing John Terry. Latching onto the ball around the penalty spot, Bowyer then lifted it past Petr Cech to rattle Carlo Ancelotti's fragile side.
In fairness to Chelsea, their answer was to lay siege to the Birmingham goal, but Didier Drogba in particular could be held accountable for two glaring misses. Both were created by Florent Malouda, who first sent the Ivorian clean through, and then found his team-mate with a wicked cross that Drogba diverted onto the bar.
Roger Johnson delivered a monumental performance for Blues, denying Ramires with a last-ditch challenge late on, and Ben Foster staked a claim for a regular spot in the England line-up with a string of saves as Chelsea were denied. Manchester United are now level with Chelsea at the top of the table after Sir Alex Ferguson's under-strength side beat nine-man Wigan Athletic 2-0 at Old Trafford. United, who remain unbeaten this season, are only second due to an inferior goal difference.
Ferguson went into the match with Dimitar Berbatov missing from the matchday squad and Wayne Rooney only fit enough for the bench, meaning Gabriel Obertan and Federico Macheda led the United attack. Early warning signs were there too as Charles N'Zogbia attached himself to the inexperienced Rafael da Silva at right-back, out-pacing the United defence in a strong start from the visitors.
However, Patrice Evra proved an unlikely hero with a diving header on the stroke of half-time, before Wigan totally capitulated in the second period. Antolin Alcaraz and Hugo Rodallega both saw red in the space of five minutes, the former for two bookings and the latter for a dangerous challenge, leaving plenty of room for Javier Hernandez to add a second as Rooney eased himself back into action against nine men.
In the day's early fixture, Tottenham Hotspur showed tremendous resolve to battle back from two goals down to claim a stunning 3-2 win over north London rivals Arsenal. Victory momentarily lifted Harry Redknapp's men into fourth ahead of the afternoon fixtures.
Samir Nasri, who refused to shake hands with William Gallas before the match, drew first blood when rounding Heurelho Gomes and slotting home from a tight angle. The Gunners moved into cruise control when a rapid break involving Cesc Fabregas and Andrei Arshavin allowed Marouane Chamakh to slot home.
Spurs boss Redknapp threw on Jermain Defoe at the break and within five minutes they had secured a foothold through Gareth Bale. Tottenham were awarded a penalty on 67 minutes and Rafael van der Vaart kept his cool to score. And the comeback of comebacks was completed four minutes from time as Younes Kaboul headed home to hand Spurs a famous win at the Emirates.
Liverpool returned to winning ways in comfortable fashion with a 3-0 victory but their task was made easy by a woeful West Ham side at Anfield.
Goals from Glen Johnson and Maxi Rodriguez, either side of a Dirk Kuyt penalty, were enough to wrap up the points. Hammers goalkeeper Robert Green kept the score down with a string of saves as the pressure mounted on manager Avram Grant.
Bolton Wanderers moved level with Manchester City on 22 points as Kevin Nolan suffered a nightmare return to his old stomping ground with ten-man Newcastle United, losing 5-1 at the Reebok Stadium. Nolan was given a man-marking job on Kevin Davies whenever Bolton looked to launch the ball forward, but he only succeeded in conceding a penalty to spark a rout for the home side.
