Henry scores two for Arsenal; Liverpool win

London, November 6:

Thierry Henry scored twice in Arsenal’s 3-1 victory over last-place Sunderland, while Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso struck in the last five minutes in Liverpool’s 2-0 win at Aston Villa in the English Premier League. Wigan remains the leading chaser after a 2-0 win at Portsmouth cut Chelsea’s lead to six points. Defender Pascal Chimbonda scored the first and set up a breakaway second for Jason Roberts as Wigan remained second.

Although still 11 points behind the Blues, the Gunners moved up to third place on goal difference with Tottenham. Liverpool moved up one place to 12th.

In other results on Saturday, Blackburn outplayed Charlton 4-1; Fulham edged Manchester City 2-1; Newcastle won 1-0 over Birmingham; and West Ham beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0.

Spanish La Liga

MADRID: Defender Carlos Cuellar scored a 68th-minute winner and Osasuna downed Real Sociedad 2-1 to take a five-point lead in the Spanish League. Cuellar headed powerfully home from a floated free kick by Patxi Punal. Osasuna’s Raul Garcia opened the scoring in the 34th minute, also with a header.

Sociedad netted through Xabi Prieto’s 44th-minute penalty, awarded after Osasuna’s Valmiro Lopes was adjudged to have handled. Osasuna has 24 points from 11 games, while Barcelona and Villarreal have 19. Real Madrid is next with 18, one more than Getafe and Celta Vigo.

Also, Luciano Figueroa’s goal brought Villarreal a 1-0 win over Valencia. Last-place Athletic Bilbao drew 1-1 at Espanyol.