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Arsenal smash seven as Manchester City go clear

Robin van Persie scored three poacher's efforts for Arsenal © PA Photos

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Plays of the Day: You've got to hate Arsenal

A Robin van Persie hat-trick helped Arsenal turn up the heat on Chelsea in the race for fourth spot with a thumping victory over Blackburn on Saturday, a result that leaves Rovers in the bottom three on a day when Wolves were the big movers in the relegation battle and Manchester City stormed back to form.

Arsenal had not won a league game in 2012, taking one point from a possible 12, but they corrected that sequence in emphatic fashion with a 7-1 win against Blackburn at the Emirates. After Morten Gamst Pedersen cancelled out Van Persie's opener, Arsenal ran riot as Van Persie completed his hat-trick in addition to goals from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain(2), Mikel Arteta and Thierry Henry, punishing Blackburn for the first-half sending off of Gael Givet.

Blackburn had already taken points from away trips to Old Trafford and Anfield this season, but they sparked their own downfall at the Emirates, committing defensive suicide after only two minutes. A poor clearance allowed Walcott a free run to the byline, where he simply squared for Van Persie to tap home for 1-0.

Rovers, without Christopher Samba - who continues to be left out of the squad after handing in a transfer request, looked rudderless and without a clear vision for how they would approach the game, yet the Gunners' first foul of the match led to a Blackburn equaliser. Laurent Koscielny got too tight to Anthony Modeste, who spun his man and subsequently earned Koscielny a yellow card, and Gamst Pedersen clipped the free-kick over the wall into the top corner, with Wojciech Szczesny slow to react.

The equaliser stunned the home crowd, completely against the run of play, but they needn't have worried as Arsenal hit back with a rapid two-goal salvo to lead 3-1 at half-time. The Gunners' second goal was almost a carbon copy of the first, Walcott squaring for Van Persie's 21st league goal of the season, and then two minutes later Van Persie turned provider for Oxlade-Chamberlain, who rounded Paul Robinson for his first Premier League goal.

There was even time for things to get worse for Blackburn before the interval as Givet got his marching orders for a two-footed lunge on Van Persie. From that point on the game was set up for an Arsenal onslaught, with Arteta slamming home from the edge of the penalty area for 4-1, before a glorious run by Walcott set up their fifth for Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Djibril Cisse was sent off for QPR against Wolves © PA Photos

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Arsenal's sixth and Van Persie's third arrived just after the hour, more dire Blackburn defending allowing the Dutchman to turn home Francis Coquelin's cross, and the cherry was applied to the cake by Henry, who netted the seventh in injury-time.

Manchester City bounced back from their surprise defeat to Everton by meting out a 3-0 defeat to Fulham.

With snow falling in Manchester, the Etihad resembled a festive scene and Fulham defender Chris Baird came bearing gifts. He conceded a penalty, which Sergio Aguero converted, and turned a ball into his own net - before Edin Dzeko put a seal on the win with a third 18 minutes from time.

Aguero drove home his 19th goal of the season from the penalty spot, then set up strike partner Edin Dzeko with some unselfish work after half-time. Between them, the pair have scored 35 times this season, making a mockery of recent assertions that the pair have difficulty operating in tandem.

And with Baird turning Adam Johnson's cross into his own net, City were not hindered by the wintry conditions that even left the fans to chant for the end long before the five minutes' injury-time had been completed.

Blackburn's defeat leaves them firmly in the bottom three, where they are no longer joined by Wolves, who came from behind to win 2-1 against ten-man QPR at Loftus Road. Mick McCarthy has come under increasing pressure as Wanderers boss and his plight was not helped by an early goal from Bobby Zamora, but Matthew Jarvis and Kevin Doyle turned the game on its head for Wolves to earn three points after Djibril Cisse was sent off.

QPR had the luxury of spending big on a new strike partnership during the January window, and after Cisse opened his account at Aston Villa, Zamora did likewise early against Wolves. An attempted back-heel inadvertently fell for the England forward, who drove home the loose ball with Wolves defenders static.

Zamora's home debut went rather better than that of Cisse, who did not even last until half-time after he saw red for grabbing Roger Johnson by the throat following a dangerous challenge by the Wolves man. Reduced to ten men, QPR promptly conceded one minute into the second half, Jarvis bending the ball past Paddy Kenny, and then forgotten man Doyle came off the bench for a 71st-minute winner.

Victory for Wolves means Bolton are now in the relegation places after they came away from Norwich with a 2-0 defeat at Carrow Road. Owen Coyle's men have enjoyed an upturn in form in recent weeks, but Andrew Surman struck with 20 minutes remaining before Anthony Pilkington added a second on a day when Norwich wasted a plethora of chances.

Wigan complete the relegation spots after they failed to capitalise on a woeful Tim Howard error to draw 1-1 with Everton at the DW Stadium. The Latics have only won one home game in the league all season, but they threatened to alter that record when Howard spilled a deflected cross into his own net for a Phil Neville own goal.

Everton handed a debut to Nikica Jelavic as a second-half substitute, but it was another replacement Victor Anichebe who earned a late point with a header to deny Wigan the victory.

In the battle of two sides boasting an outside hope of European football next season, Sunderland came out on top of a controversial clash with Stoke, winning 1-0 at the Britannia Stadium. The home side were reduced to ten men on the stroke of half-time when referee Martin Atkinson dismissed Rob Huth, much to the disgust of Tony Pulis, and Sunderland took advantage through James McClean.

In a match of little incident, it was the sending off of Huth that raised temperatures directly before half-time. The towering defender did lunge in on Craig Gardner, but it was another tackle that will be placed in the "harsh" category with the German seemingly making every effort to maintain control of his challenge.

It took until after the hour for Sunderland to make their numerical advantage pay, with fans' favourite McClean finding a way past Thomas Sorensen. The former Derry City man played a one-two with Stephane Sessegnon to power into the area before keeping his cool to slot into the corner.

And in the day's other game, Swansea stayed above West Brom in the table with a 2-1 victory at the Hawthorns. The Baggies had a strong penalty appeal for handball rejected in the first half, but they took the lead when Marc-Antoine Fortune found the net nine minutes into the second period.

The lead lasted less than two minutes though as Swansea found an instant response, Gylfi Sigurdsson opening his body to slide the ball wide of Ben Foster. Siguardsson then turned provider for Swansea's second, laying the ball on for Danny Graham on the hour, although West Brom should have equalised late on when Peter Odemwingie missed the target from six yards.

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