LONDON, Nov 25: Two schoolboy blunders by Manchester United goalkeeper Fabien Barthez handed Arsenal a 3-1 victory over the English champions at Highbury on Sunday.

Ten-man Liverpool stayed top with a 1-0 win over Sunderland, Leeds United had goalscorer Alan Smith sent off in a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa and Middlesbrough were held 0-0 at home by Ipswich Town.

But the place to be for drama was north London, where Arsenal rallied from a 1-0 deficit at the break to romp home after Barthez’s error-prone season continued.

Fredrik Ljungberg cancelled out Paul Scholes’s first-half strike for United but the game turned in the 80th minute when Barthez miscued an easy clearance and sent it straight to the feet of French international team mate Thierry Henry, who slotted home.

Five minutes later, Henry steered in a second after Barthez spilled a long upfield ball which the World Cup and Euro 2000 winner looked to have covered.

The win gave Arsenal 23 points and third place in the table, ahead of Newcastle United and Aston Villa on goal difference.

Elsewhere, red cards provided a searching test of title credentials as leaders Liverpool moved on to 26 points despite losing Dietmar Hamann but Leeds stayed second on 24 after Alan Smith opened the scoring before being dismissed in the 32nd minute.

Liverpool, with striker Michael Owen rested, had Germany international Hamann dismissed two minutes before the break for a two-footed challenge on Swiss defender Bernt Haas.

Fortunately for the hosts, slack defending by Sunderland had enabled Emile Heskey to head home a Danny Murphy free-kick in the 22nd minute from inside the six-yard box.

It was Heskey’s first goal for Liverpool in 18 matches, a drought stretching back to a 2-1 defeat to Bolton Wanderers on August 27.

Sunderland had plenty of second-half possession but failed to make their numerical advantage count, while Gary McAllister ballooned a sitter for Liverpool in a 68th-minute counter-attack.

Over at Elland Road, Leeds took an 18th-minute lead with Robbie Keane supplying the pass and Smith supplying an equally neat finish with a crisp shot.

But Smith got his marching orders soon afterwards, being judged to have elbowed Alpay Ozalan, and Villa levelled within three minutes — Hassan Kachloul lashing home Paul Merson’s free-kick.

SPANISH LEAGUE

MADRID: Barcelona slumped to a 2-1 Spanish league defeat on Saturday against an inspired Athletic Bilbao side, who pulled off a deserved win despite playing the last 15 minutes with 10 men.

Bilbao, beaten 7-0 in this fixture last season, appeared determined to make up for that painful defeat from the start as they snuffed out Barca’s early attacks and took the lead on 10 minutes, Ismael Urzaiz nodding in from a free kick.

Barca substitute Rivaldo grabbed an equaliser on the hour and the home side looked set to complete the win they needed to go top of the table after Jesus Maria Lacruz was sent off for a second yellow card on 76 minutes.

The Catalans piled forward but Santi Ezquerro struck the winner nine minutes from time on a rare Bilbao counter-attack.

The result left Barca in third place, three points behind leaders Deportivo Coruna, who take on Real Mallorca on Sunday.

Bilbao moved up to fifth, behind Barcelona on goal difference.

Barcelona could not find the sort of slick passing game that earned them a 3-1 win over Liverpool in the Champions league in midweek, with Bilbao never allowing them time on the ball.

After a scrappy opening spell, the visitors took the lead after some bustling forward play from Tiko won a free kick on the right touchline.

Francisco Yeste chipped the ball into the penalty area and Urzaiz flicked a header in off the far post for his sixth goal of the season.

Javier Saviola and Gabri wasted good chances in the last seven minutes of the first half after being set clear on goal by Patrick Kluivert, and Bilbao managed to hang on until the break.

Urzaiz struck the bar at the start of the second half and Joseba Etxeberria also came close to adding a second as Bilbao pushed forward with more purpose.

The appearance of Rivaldo as a substitute got Barca back in the game, the Brazilian getting the equaliser within two minutes of coming on.

Frank de Boer chipped the ball forward, Kluivert headed on over the defence and Rivaldo hooked the ball in to level the scores.

Lacruz’s sending-off made matters worse for Bilbao but they showed great character to take the lead again through Ezquerro and hold on as Barca pressed forward until the final whistle.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:

Arsenal 3 Manchester United 1

Leeds United 1 Aston Villa 1

Liverpool 1 Sunderland 0

Middlesbrough 0 Ipswich Town 0

Played on Saturday

Bolton Wanderers 0 Fulham 0

Chelsea 0 Blackburn Rovers 0

Leicester City 0 Everton 0

Newcastle United 1 Derby County 0

Southampton 1 Charlton Athletic 0

West Ham United 0 Tottenham Hotspur 1

FRENCH FIRST DIVISION:

Olympique Marseille 4 Sochaux 2

Troyes 1 RC Lens 1

Sedan 5 Lorient 0

Metz 1 Monaco 0

En Avant Guingamp 2 Montpellier 2

Bastia 1 Girondins Bordeaux 2

GERMAN FIRST DIVISION

Bayern Munich 0 Nuremberg 0

VfL Wolfsburg 3 Bor. Moenchengladbach 1

Energie Cottbus 0 VfB Stuttgart 0

FC St Pauli 1 Cologne 2

Bayer Leverkusen 4 Hamburg SV 1

Schalke 04 1 Werder Bremen 4

Hansa Rostock 1 Hertha Berlin 1

—Reuters