London, October 6:

Liverpool rallied from two goals down to beat Manchester City 3-2 and stay neck-and-neck with Chelsea at the top of the Premier League, and promoted Hull climbed into third place after a 1-0 victory at last-place Tottenham.

Leaders Chelsea outplayed Aston Villa 2-0 with goals from Joe Cole and Nicolas Anelka, but Liverpool’s comeback put them even at the top with 17 points. Fernando Torres scored two goals and Dirk Kuyt added the winner in injury time.

Playing first division football for the first time in their 104-year history, Hull followed up their shock 2-1 win at Arsenal last week by beating Tottenham. Geovanni scored with a powerful free kick in the ninth-minute.

After Stephen Ireland put Man City ahead in the 19th minute, Javier Garrido made it 2-0 in the 41st with a free kick. Torres turned home Alvaro Arbeloa’s cross in the 55th minute and, after City defender Pablo Zabaleta had been sent off in the 67th for a two-footed foul, the Spain striker made it 2-2 with a glancing header in the 73rd from Steven Gerrard’s inswinging corner. A serious knee injury to Martin Skrtel led to six minutes of injury time, and Kuyt scored his first league goal in 26 matches for the Reds.

Cole gave the Blues a 21st-minute lead from Frank Lampard’s cross and Anelka scored with a tap-in a minute before halftime after Aston Villa goalkeeper Brad Friedel saved a shot from Michael Ballack.

Also, Bolton won 3-1 at West Ham, Portsmouth beat next-to-last Stoke 2-1 and Newcastle came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Everton.

Spanish La Liga

BARCELONA: Veteran striker Raul Gonzalez scored twice but Real Madrid still lost ground in the Spanish title race after they were held 2-2 by Espanyol.

A below-par Madrid went behind from the penalty spot after 21 minutes with Raul Tamudo firing home after he was felled by Gabriel Heinze. Raul equalised with a header four minutes later. On the half-hour, Luis Garcia restored Espanyol’s advantage, scoring from close range after good build up play from Roman Martinez, Tamudo and Ivan de la Pena. But then Raul was on hand to bring Real back level at the end of the first half. The result brought Real’s six-match winning streak to an end and left them in fifth place, three points behind leaders Valencia who beat Valladolid 1-0. A Manuel Fernandes strike in the 54th proved enough for a lethargic Valencia to reclaim top spot with 16 points.

Villarreal also have 16 points but are in second spot on goal difference. Earlier, Sevilla enjoyed a 4-0 mauling of Athletic Bilbao. Also, it was: Getafe 2, Almeria 2; Recreativo Huelva 0, Malaga 4; Mallorca 0, Sporting Gijon 2; Osasuna 0, Racing Santander 1; and Deportivo La Coruna 1, Numancia 0.

Italian Serie A

TURIN: Fabrizio Miccoli and Levan Mchedlidze scored to give Palermo a 2-1 win over Juventus in Serie A.

Palermo’s win gave the team 12 points, one less than leaders Lazio, Udinese and Inter Milan.

Miccoli put Palermo ahead in the 24th minute and then exited the game five minutes later with an injury. Alessandro Del Piero pulled Juventus even in the 39th with a free kick from just outside the area that curved around the barrier.

Juventus played the entire second half a man down after Mohamed Sissoko got a second yellow in the 41st, and Palermo finally managed to take advantage of their extra man in the 81st when Mchedlidze, an 18-year-old Georgian, took a low pass from Fabio Simplicio and beat Gianluigi Buffon.

Also, AC Milan could only manage a goalless draw against Cagliari. In other matches on Sunday, it’s: Udinese 2 Torino 0; Siena 1 AS Roma 0; Fiorentina 2 Chievo Verona 0; Atalanta 4 Sampdoria 2; Napoli 2 Genoa 3; and Reggina 1 Catania 1.