Liverpool maintained its three-point lead over Chelsea at the top of the Premier League as a blunder by Papa Bouba Diop marred Tony Adams's first match as Portsmouth manager. The visitors were hanging on to a goalless draw at Anfield on Wednesday when Diop handled in the box 14 minutes from time to give away a penalty. Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard beat former Reds keeper David James from the spot as Rafael Benitez's men backed up their win away to Chelsea. The Blues, having surrendered their 86-game unbeaten league run at their Stamford Bridge home, kept the pressure on with a 3-0 win away to surprise package Hull City. Arsenal leapfrogged Hull into third place but only on goal difference after an extraordinary 4-4 draw against Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby at the Emirates Stadium. The result left Spurs, who'd beaten Bolton in new manager Harry Redknapp's first game in charge, still at the bottom of the table. Stoke City, however, climbed out of the bottom three with a 1-0 win at home to Sunderland. Fulham also pulled clear of danger with a 2-0 win over Wigan, the visitors dropping into the relegation zone. Elsewhere Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as champions= Manchester United beat West Ham 2-0 at Old Trafford. Aston Villa stayed in the top five by coming from behind to beat Blackburn Rovers 3-2. In other matches, Middlesbrough beat Manchester City 2-0 while Everton left it until the last minute before seeing off fellow strugglers Bolton 1-0. Udinese, Napoli stay atop Udinese and Napoli won to extend their surprising runs atop the Serie A on Wednesday, while Inter Milan dropped behind following a 0-0 draw at Fiorentina. Udinese beat Catania 2-0 with goals from Chile forward Alexis Sanchez and Italy forward Fabio Quagliarella. Argentine striker German Denis racked a hat trick as Napoli defeated last-place Reggina 3-0 to celebrate the reopening of the curves at San Paolo Stadium. Napoli next visits AC Milan, which beat Siena 2-1 with Filippo Inzaghi scoring once and earning a penalty that Kaka converted. After dropping its opening two games, Milan has gone unbeaten in its last seven, winning six. The closest Inter came to scoring was when Amantino Mancini hit the crossbar five minutes in. Inter also drew 0-0 against Genoa at the weekend. Udinese and Napoli lead with 20 points each, 1 more than Milan, followed by Inter with 18 and Fiorentina with 17. Juventus has 15 points after Pavel Nedved scored twice in a 2-1 win over Bologna. It was Juve's second straight win after going a month without a victory. Also, it was: Chievo Verona 1, Lazio 2; Genoa 2, Cagliari 1; Lecce 1, Palermo 1; and Torino 2, Atalanta 1. The AS Roma-Sampdoria game was stopped after six minutes with the score 0-0 due to heavy rain. It will be replayed later. Villarreal, Sevilla upset Primera Liga teams Villarreal and Sevilla suffered shock defeats at third-tier sides Poli Ejido and Ponferradina in the first legs of their King's Cup last-32 ties on Wednesday. Villarreal was humbled 5-0 by Poli Ejido, with Jorge Molina scoring a hat trick for the south coast club, and Sevilla lost 1-0 to Ponferradina thanks to a 90th-minute strike from Cristian Portilla. Earlier, Fernando Morientes netted twice as holders Valencia brushed aside modest Portugalete 4-1. Valencia, who left joint Primera Liga top scorer David Villa out of Wednesday's squad, beat Getafe 3-1 in last season's final to claim their seventh King's Cup. There were four all-Primera Liga ties on Wednesday. Athletic Bilbao beat visiting Recreativo Huelva 2-0 while Numancia lost 1-0 at home to Sporting Gijon and Malaga and Real Mallorca drew 1-1 in Malaga. In Tuesday's only match, teenage striker Bojan Krkic was on target to give an under-strength Barcelona a 1-0 win at Segunda B (third-tier) side Benidorm.
