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LONDON -- Theo Walcott scored twice as Arsenal returned to the top of the English Premier League by fighting back to win 3-1 at West Ham on Thursday. Arsenal fell behind when goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny spilled Kevin Nolans shot and Carlton Cole pounced to score a minute into the second half. West Ham goalkeeper Adrian was also culpable for Arsenals equalizer, with Walcott cutting in from the right and striking between his legs in the 68th. Walcott headed Arsenal in front three minutes later, and Lukas Podolski netted in the 79th to ensure a three-game winless run in the league ended. "From our disappointing results in the last few games its nice to get a good positive away win," Walcott told BT Sport. "Its great to be top but its going to be a very tough league this year, everyone is very tight, a lot of people are taking a lot of points off each other so weve just got to make sure we look after ourselves." Arsenal displaced Liverpool from top spot, with the Reds dropping to fourth after losing 2-1 at Manchester City. Arsenal is two points ahead of Chelsea, which beat Swansea 1-0 on Boxing Day when every team was in action. The only blot on the win was the 23-year-old Aaron Ramsey being forced off with an apparent thigh strain. "The Christmas period is certainly over for him. It was his birthday today," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "I dont know how long it will be. We will have to see tomorrow morning. He knew straight away, but we have to see." This was not a victory without other worrying moments for Arsenal. It began a spell of pressure that belied West Hams insipid first-half display, but it was brought to an abrupt end when Walcotts shot somehow evaded Adrian in the 68th. Walcott cut in from the right and unleashed a hopeful strike that slipped through Adrians grasp. Three minutes later the match was turned on its head. Podolski, brought on after Ramsey took a knock, swung in a fine cross from the left and Walcott ghosted in to power home a header from close range. It was quite the impact by Podolski in his first appearance since a hamstring injury in August. There would also be a goal for the Germany forward as Giroud held up the ball for Podolski to bury a strike into the bottom corner to put the game out of sight. The result saw Sam Allardyces West Ham slip into the bottom three. "We had three golden chances after we scored -- Matt Jarvis in the box, one-on-one, Joey OBriens free header in the six-yard box and Carlton Coles side-foot tap," Allardyce said. "We paid the price because what Arsenal do then is take more and more chances when they are losing. "It was either going to be us getting that second goal and then we would have made sure we tightened it up or theyd score." Cheap Wholesale Basketball Shoes . Vinci also beat Dulgheru last week in Bucharest en route to her first WTA final in a year. Vinci next faces sixth-seeded Kurumi Nara of Japan, who beat Czech qualifier Katerina Siniakova 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-2. No. Wholesale Basketball Shoes Free Shipping .J. Hardy finally got in on the fun Saturday, against a likely opponent. http://www.basketballshoeswholesale.com/ . Fognini won 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 after Argentinas Carlos Berlocq had beaten Andreas Seppi 4-6, 6-0, 6-2, 6-1 on the outdoor clay surface. Doubles are set for Saturday with reverse singles on Sunday to decide which team reaches the quarterfinals. Basketball Shoes Wholesale . He will play 10th-seeded Feliciano Lopez in Sundays final, after the Spanish left-hander defeated Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7), 6-4. Discount Basketball Shoes Online . Thaddeus Young scored seven of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, Evan Turner added 22 points, and the 76ers hung on for their first road win since Nov. 1, beating the depleted Los Angeles Lakers 111-104 on Sunday night.BARCELONA, Spain -- Striker Ikechukwu Uche scored two goals and earned a penalty in Villarreals 3-0 win against 10-man Levante on Sunday, keeping the promoted side near the top of the Spanish league. Sergio Garcia did one better for Espanyol in its 4-1 victory at 10-man Rayo Vallecano, earning the dismissal of the opposition goalkeeper before scoring a hat trick to break a four-game winless streak for the Catalan club. Sevilla rolled over 10-man Betis 4-0 in the always heated Seville derby, while Elche edged Valencia 2-1 at home thanks to substitute Cristian Herreras late winner. Villarreals victory kept it in fourth place and in control of Spains last Champions League spot. "We are just going ahead game by game," Uche said. "We are going to try to win all we can and then well see." Uche broke free in the area in the 10th minute and was brought down by goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who was shown a direct red card. Villarreal team captain and midfielder Bruno Soriano stroked in the penalty kick after Javi Jimenez replaced Navas. Jimenez kept Levante in the match until Soriano delivered a through ball for Uche to score in the 74th. The Nigeria international scored again with a bicycle kick in the 89th. Garcia drew a foul from Rayo goalkeeper Ruben Martinez who was sent off with a red card in the 25th. Garcia converted the penalty kick and then added a second goal for Espanyol from the spot in the 51st when striker Jonathan Cordoba was fouled by Anaitz Arbilla. Saul Niguez gave Rayo some hope with a headed goal in the 81st. But Garcia managed to toe the ball home while falling backwards to seal the win two minutes later. Substitute Christian Stuani hit on the break in the 85th to cap Espanyols much-needed victory. "Its impossible to take the ball from Rayo," said Espanyol coach Javier Aguirre. "It always has more possession than its rivals, even Barcelona and Real Madrid. We tried to maintain our composure and take advantage of the chances their errors provided us, and early on thats what we got with Sergio Garcia and Cordoba. If we had pressed Rayo early they would have run over us." Sevilla forward Carlos Bacca scored one goal and set up another at Sancchez Pizjuan Stadium to keep Betis winless on the road this season and stuck in last place.dddddddddddd Bacca struck two minutes in from a touch pass by Jose Antonio Reyes to set the tone, and Sevillas defence dogged Betis up and down the pitch from start to finish. Betis lost defender Paulao when he was booked for a second time in the 42nd for fouling Reyes, and Stephane Mbia headed the resulting free kick served by Ivan Rakitic through the hands of goalie Sara Guillermo. After Betis again lost the ball in its half, Bacca chipped a pass to Victor "Vitolo" Machin to beat Sara from a tight angle in the 65th. Vicente Iborra, who had hit the post earlier, completed the demolition in the 88th with a header to turn in Rakitics corner kick. "We knew that as hosts we had to go at them," Bacca said after his first game against Sevillas crosstown rival. "The derbies are like finals, you dont play them, you win them. All week when I was out, at a restaurant eating with my family, people stopped to tell me how important this game was." Valencia outplayed Elche in the first half but could go no closer than Jonas shot off the crossbar from close range six minutes in. Fidel Chaves put Elche in front in the 57th with a well-directed header to flick Edu Abacars pass off the base of the far upright and into the net. Valencia pushed Elche into its area and Juan Bernat banged in his own rebound in the 73rd after goalkeeper Manuel Herrera parried his initial volley. Cristian Herrera went on in the 79th and five minutes later took Ferran Corominas pass lobbed into the area and beat keeper Diego Alves with a shot from the left elbow of the six-yard box to claim the three points. Elches win lifted it level on points with Valencia in the middle of the table. On Saturday, leader Barcelona didnt miss the injured Lionel Messi as it eased past Granada 4-0 to maintain its three-point advantage over Atletico Madrid, which demolished Getafe 7-0. Also, Real Madrid lost Cristiano Ronaldo to a hamstring injury after he scored in a 5-0 win at Almeria, while Carlos Vela scored four goals to give Real Sociedad a 4-3 win over Celta Vigo. Athletic Bilbao hosts Malaga on Monday. ' ' '