A brace from Thierry Henry and one from Fredrik Ljungberg took Arsenal to the top of the Barclaycard Premiership as they beat London derby specialists Charlton 3-0 at The Valley.
Manchester United and Liverpool were not in Bank Holiday action because of their Champions League commitments in midweek and the Gunners climbed to the summit with a game in hand on the other two.
Charlton began the day unbeaten against London opposition this season, but Henry scored the opener after 16 minutes, his first since returning from a three-match ban. Ljungberg's goal came following a typically free-flowing move and Henry tapped in the third.
Leeds' fading hopes of Champions League qualification took a further knock at White Hart Lane as they lost 2-1 to Tottenham, Steffen Iversen giving Spurs the lead before Teddy Sheringham, starting ahead of Sergei Rebrov, added the second.
Mark Viduka pulled one back with a powerful low shot across Kasey Keller in the 52nd minute, but it was all that David O'Leary's side could muster.
Sunderland were victorious after making an encouraging start at the Stadium of Light as they tried to stave off the threat of relegation, United States international skipper Claudio Reyna volleying home in the third minute against rock-bottom Leicester.
However, Dave Bassett's side pulled level through Matt Elliott to increase the jitters on Wearside, but Reyna restored the lead for the Black Cats with a curling free-kick from the edge of the box.
Derby's predicament at the bottom worsened at Pride Park, Robbie Mustoe scoring a rare goal for Middlesbrough in the 12th minute after a mistake by young Rams defender Chris Riggott and John Gregory's side were unable to respond.
Everton eased their relegation fears with a 3-1 victory over fellow strugglers Bolton in a cracking end-to-end match at Goodison Park.
The home side's cause was not helped when Duncan Ferguson got himself sent off inside the first 20 minutes for what appeared to be a punch into the ribs of Fredi Bobic.
However, the numbers were evened up after half an hour when Kostas Konstantinidis was dismissed for a second bookable offence after fouling Tomasz Radzinski.
The first goal came four minutes before the break thanks to a wonderful long-range strike from Italian defender Alessandro Pistone - his first goal for the Toffees before Radzinski added a second in the 57th minute.
Bolton's giant French centre-back Bruno N'Gotty pulled one back, but Nick Chadwick added his first senior goal for Everton after a penetrating run from Radzinski with three minutes left.
Ipswich, lying in 18th at kick-off, missed a great chance to go ahead at home to Chelsea when Marcus Bent's penalty kick was saved by Carlo Cudicini.
The goalless draw moved George Burley's side temporarily out of the bottom three above Blackburn, who were playing in an evening match at home to Southampton, but the two extra points spurned could prove crucial in the long run.
Frederic Kanoute's goal three minutes before the break for West Ham at Fulham left the Cottagers staring at another defeat, as their slide down the table continued.
Jean Tigana's side still need points to confirm their Premiership status this season.
PA