LONDON (AFP) - High-flying Bolton ended Arsenal's perfect start to their Premiership title defence by twice coming from behind to earn a 2-2 draw at Highbury.
With nearest rivals Chelsea not in action until Sunday, Arsene Wenger's side were denied a sixth straight win by a battling performance which underlined why Bolton had already beaten Liverpool and drawn with Manchester United this season.
It was a deserved point for the visitors, for whom Tunisian Radhi Jaidi scored his first goal in English football with a bullet header to cancel out Thierry Henry's first-half strike for the Gunners.
Robert Pires then restored the lead but Henrik Pedersen latched on to fellow substitute Les Ferdinand's flick to equalise five minutes from the end, to the delight of manager Sam Allardyce.
"It's five years of hard graft and the fruition of that is the squad we have put together now and the way they are playing now is exciting me, I'm glad to say, and I am sleeping a little easier on a Friday night for a change," Allardyce said.
Wenger was left fuming at his side's failure to cope with the set piece moves which gave Bolton their goals.
"We got caught in the air from their set pieces and showed weaknesses," the Frenchman said. "We looked naive and passive but fortunately that is something we can work at on the training pitch."
"You cannot say it was an undeserved result for them but it was frustrating for us because we were twice in the lead."
Arsenal's failure to retain their leads means Chelsea can draw level with them on points if they beat Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
In the day's other action, Manchester City eased the immediate pressure on manager Kevin Keegan with a 2-1 win away at bottom-side Crystal Palace.
The build-up to the match had been dominated by speculation that Keegan would be sacked if City lost to the Premiership newcomers.
Nicolas Anelka ensured that did not happen, following up a 55th-minute strike by blasting a penalty into the top corner nine minutes later.
Andy Johnson pulled a goal back for Palace, also from the spot. But City survived a late onslaught to ensure Keegan also survives to fight another day.
Nigerian striker Nwankwo Kanu cancelled out Andy Cole's strike for Fulham to rescue a point for West Brom in a match that featured three red cards.
Gary Megson's side might have secured their first win of the season if three-million-pound striker Robert Earnshaw had not missed a first half penalty.
Fulham finished the match with nine men after Cole followed Papa Diop into an early bath. West Brom's Neil Clement was also sent off.
Mark Hughes's first match in charge of Blackburn ended with the club's first win of the season, Matt Jansen's stunning second half strike enough to secure a 1-0 win over Portsmouth.
Birmingham and Charlton shared the points at St Andrews, Dwight Yorke (68) cancelling out Luke Young's 49th-minute goal for the visitors.
Norwich made it four draws out of six games since their return to the top flight after a dour goalless encounter with Aston Villa at Carrow Road.