Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas marked his return from injury with an opening goal, helping the Gunners defeat Bolton 2-0 away at the Premier League on Sunday.

Arsenal now are two points behind defending champions Manchester United but have one game in hand. They are trailing leaders Chelsea with a three-point gap as the Blues smashed Sunderland 7-2 on Saturday.

After Ivan Klasnic's first minute goal was ruled out for offside, Bolton quickly surrendered to the dominant Arsenal. Fabregas, missing three matches due to a hamstring problem, put the visitors ahead with a low shot on 28 minutes, after playing a wall pass with Croatian Da Silva Eduardo.

Bolton managed to show some threats in the second half but failed to score in front of their new boss Owen Coyle. Twelve minutes from time, Eduardo delivered Fabregas' pass to substitute Fran Merida, allowing the Spanish teenager to slot home in close range.

With the scoring efforts of Christopher Samba and Ryan Nelsen, Blackburn saw off Fulham 2-0 and grabbed their first win in 13 games in all competitions.

Samba fired in the first on 25 minutes and captain Nelsen nodded home Benni McCarthy's freekick nine minutes after the break.

West Ham United stifled Aston Villa to a 0-0 draw with determined defense and the vital away point enabled them to move out of the relegation zone.