Liverpool's unbeaten start in the English Premier League was ended after a 2-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur as Chelsea took the advantage to go top with an euphoric 5-0 win over Sunderland on Saturday.
Harry Redknapp's dream start to life at White Hart Lane continued as a 90th-minute winner from Roman Pavlyuchenko hauled Spurs off the foot of the table.
Liverpool were made to pay for a series of opportunities they spurned after an early lead as a Jamie Carragher own goal and Pavlyuchenko's strike in the final 20 minutes knocked them off the top spot.
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was reluctant to criticise his players after they fell to their first defeat of the season.
"We played really well and we were creating enough chances to win the game," he said.
"It could have been 4-0 and to lose the game is unbelievable. We were really unlucky not to win.
"We have to win the next game but the mentality of the players will be high again." he added.
Nicolas Anelka's hat-trick helped Chelsea to a comfortable Sunderland win, which lifted Luiz Felipe Scolari's side to the summit of the table on goal difference.
Manchester United moved up to third on 21 points, trailing Chelsea and Liverpool by five points, as they held off a brave challenge from sixth-placed Hull City who fought back from 4-1 down to be edged out 4-3 at Old Trafford.
Arsenal's title hopes were dealt with a major blow as they lost 2-1 away to promoted Stoke City, had Robin van Persie sent off and picked up several injuries.
The Gunners' third defeat of the season left them fourth in the table and six points behind the leaders.
Ricardo Fuller and Seyi Olofinjana both scored for Stoke after long throw-ins by Rory Delap caused confusion for the visitors' defence.
Clichy's late effort pulled a goal back for consolation but Arsene Wenger could be without three other first-teamers, in addition to van Persie, in the coming weeks.
Walcott was stretchered off with a shoulder problem while Emmanuel Adebayor and Bacary Sagna also left the field with knocks.
"We conceded goals that Stoke are strong at. We lost many players and had a red card," said Wenger.
"We lacked sharpness. It was very difficult. You could see that Stoke, physically, were a bit stronger than us."
Dirk Kuyt put Liverpool in front after only three minutes but the Reds then squandered numerous chances to double their advantage, hitting the woodwork three times.
Spurs were given hopes when Carragher could only head David Bentley's corner under pressure from Ledley King in the 70th minute, and Pavlyuchenko tapped in from Bent's cross to hand Liverpool their first league loss of the season.
Spurs are heading into a revival under the new boss, having earned two wins and a 4-4 draw with Arsenal since Redknapp replaced the fired Juande Ramos six days ago.
"We rode our luck at times but the character was fantastic," Redknapp said.
Being asked about his input, he said: "There's a smile about the place and you need to be positive with them."
Elsewhere, Wigan snatched a last-gasp winner to beat Tony Adams' Portsmouth 2-1, while 10-man Blackburn grabbed a late leveller for a 1-1 draw at West Brom.
Everton won for the first time on home soil this season as Louis Saha's late effort was enough to overcome Fulham 1-0 and Mido was on target as Middlesbrough drew at home to West Ham 1-1.
(Xinhua News Agency November 2, 2008)