Reuters
Liverpool's (left to right) Mark Gonzalez, Xabi Alonso and Dirk Kuyt celebrate after Alonso scored against Charlton Athletic during their English Premier League soccer match at The Valley in London yesterday.

LONDON (Reuters):

Liverpool moved up to third in the Premier League after they won 3-0 at Charlton Athletic and rivals Arsenal could only draw 2-2 with Portsmouth after being two goals down yesterday.

An early penalty from Xabi Alonso and late goals by Craig Bellamy and captain Steven Gerrard gave Liverpool an easy victory over a Charlton side rooted in the relegation zone.

Liverpool now have 31 points, just ahead of Arsenal (30) and Bolton Wanderers (30), who beat Aston Villa 1-0 away with a Gary Speed penalty in his 100th game for the club.

Nigeria striker Obafemi Martins scored Newcastle United's goals in a 2-1 home win over bottom club Watford, striker David Bentley got a late winner as Blackburn Rovers won 2-1 at Reading and Sheffield United beat Wigan Athletic 1-0 away.

Despite another big victory, after 4-0 routs of Wigan and Fulham, Liverpool are still adrift of champions Chelsea (39) and leaders Manchester United (44), who both play on Sunday.

Early trouble

Charlton were in trouble after just two minutes when their former Liverpool defender Djimi Traore swung his boot into the face of Jermaine Pennant as he tried to intercept Mark Gonzalez's lofted cross from the left wing.

Referee Howard Webb pointed to the spot and Spanish midfielder Alonso converted to put Liverpool in front.

Bellamy volleyed past keeper Thomas Myhre after running on to a neat through-ball in the 82nd minute and Gerrard added a third in the 88th when he picked his spot after a knockdown by substitute Peter Crouch.

"We created a lot of chances, we scored three goals, but we could have scored two or three more," Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez told Sky Sports.

Charlton's Les Reed said: "We had a couple of chances, we didn't take them and then got punished for some bad defending.

Lacked confidence

"That made it 2-0 and put it out of our grasp ... We did lack confidence today."

Portsmouth, fielding two former Arsenal stalwarts in striker Nwankwo Kanu and defender Sol Campbell, scored either side of the break through French defender Noe Pamarot and Matthew Taylor.

After four 3-0 wins and four 1-1 draws, Arsenal looked set for a first home league defeat at their new Emirates Stadium, before everything changed in five minutes.

Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor scored in the 58th minute, just three minutes after replacing Jeremy Aliadiere, when he sidefooted in a good ball from teenager Theo Walcott.

Arsenal levelled two minutes later when a deflected Adebayor cross found its way to Walcott and his ball into the area was steered home by Brazilian midfielder Gilberto.