Manchester United moved up to second with a comprehensive 3-0
win at Newcastle in an epic encounter
on Sunday.
The visitors came flying out of the blocks and were 2 up after
15 minutes as they capitalized on some truly awful and dreadful defending.
Jonny Evans escaped his marker to power home a header from a
Robin van Persie corner and, from a Wayne Rooney delivery, Patrice Evra ghosted
into the area to head home the second.
Newcastle
put up more of a fight thereafter and Demba Ba was denied by the bar and then
Papiss Cisse by a fine recovery save from David De Gea, the Spaniard clawing
the ball away just before it could cross the line in a controversial manner.
But Tom Cleverley sealed the points for the visitors with a
cross-shot from the left which curled right into the top corner.
The win took the Red Devils level on points with Manchester City
and four points behind leaders Chelsea.
Tottenham made it four league wins in a row as they
saw off Aston Villa 2-0 at White Hart Lane.
Steven Caulker and Aaron Lennon got the goals for Andre
Villas-Boas' side and they move into fifth spot with 14points.
The main talking point prior to kick-off was the inclusion of
Hugo Lloris in Spurs' starting XI, with his selection bringing Brad Friedel's
remarkable run of 310 successive top-flight appearances to an end.
Both sides wasted a number of good opportunities before the
deadlock was finally broken in the 58th minute.
A corner was allowed to make its way to birthday boy Jermain
Defoe and he saw his shot from close-range ricochet into the net off the heels
of Caulker.
Spurs then doubled their lead on 67 minutes, with Joe Bennett -
who was later forced off on a stretcher - backing off Lennon and allowing the
England winger to drill a low drive through his legs and into the bottom
corner.
Stoke produced a solid defensive display to hold
off Liverpool and take a hard-earned 0-0 draw away
from Anfield.
Liverpool created chances and hit the woodwork on three
occasions in the second period via Raheem Sterling, Suarez and Martin Skrtel.
But Stoke held on as the Reds continue their wait for a first
home league win under new boss Brendan Rodgers.
Jose Fonte's last-gasp header secured Southampton a 2-2 draw and saved defensive partner
Jos Hooiveld's blushes against Fulham.
The Portuguese centre-back nodded home a 90th-minute leveller in
a game in which he had broken the deadlock after just four minutes.
Hooiveld scored an own goal in Southampton's 6-1 humbling at
Arsenal and did so again when he directed home a speculative John Arne Riise
drive in the second half.
Hooiveld, who came on eight minutes into the clash after Frazer
Richardson suffered a thigh injury, then saw Kieran Richardson's close-range
strike brush off him on its way in two minutes from time, although the goal was
credited to the Fulham man.
However, Fonte saved the Dutchman and his side late on to earn
Southampton a fourth point of the campaign.
League
leaders Chelsea, deepened the woes of Norwich City after thrashing them 4-1 at
the Bridge last Saturday. Norwich did threaten a shock when Grant Holt
justified his recall by firing them in front but they looked every inch
relegation fodder defending that lead as Fernando Torres, Frank Lampard, Eden
Hazard and Branislav Ivanovic put them to the sword.
It was the perfect way for Chelsea to go into the international
break, one that should see Cole earn his 99th and 100th caps for England
despite Friday's extraordinary foul-mouthed Twitter rant at the Football
Association.
Champions Manchester City recovered some of their swagger as
Aleksandar Kolarov, Sergio Aguero and James Milner fired them to a convincing
Barclays Premier League win over Sunderland.
The
scoreline barely reflected the hosts' dominance as they comfortably recorded
their first clean sheet of the season in a one-sided contest at the Etihad
Stadium.
There may have been some nerves with only Kolarov's fifth-minute
free-kick to show for their first-half efforts, but the Black Cats were then
overrun as they slipped to their first loss of the season.
Aguero came off the bench to add the second on the hour and
Milner fired a free-kick through Simon Mignolet after 89 minutes.
Leighton Baines lashed home an
88th minute penalty to deny his former club their first home win of the new
Barclays Premier League season after an all-action encounter at the DW Stadium.
Baines
kept his nerve after Kevin Mirallas was pulled down by Maynor Figueroa in the
box to claim a point for David Moyes' men, who had dominated much of the second
half but until then failed to find a leveller.
Arouna Kone's 10th-minute opener for the home side was cancelled
out almost instantly by a Nikica Jelavic header, but Franco Di Santo's 23rd
minute strike put the attack-minded Latics back in control.
Reading are still without a
Barclays Premier League win this season after throwing away a two-goal lead at
Swansea.
The
Royals went 1-0 up against the run of play in the 31st minute when goalkeeper
Michel Vorm allowed Pavel Pogrebnyak's shot to slip beneath him and in.
They then doubled their advantage a minute before the break as
Noel Hunt beat Vorm with a tidy volley, but Swansea continued to dominate play
in the second half and after Michu converted a 71st-minute header, Wayne
Routledge's fierce strike drew the contest level in the 78th minute.
West Brom increased the pressure
on QPR boss Mark Hughes as a fifth defeat in seven games left the west London
team anchored at the bottom of the Barclays Premier League without a win.
Rangers
have taken only two points out of a possible 21 and they were always facing an
uphill task after early goals from James Morrison and Zoltan Gera.
They showed signs of improvement after Adel Taarabt had reduced
the arrears. Youssouf Mulumbu made it 3-1 before an injury-time effort from
Esteban Granero again cut the deficit.
QPR defender Anton Ferdinand was booed during the first half by
some Albion fans in his first appearance since the full report from the
Football Association into the John Terry case was published.
Albion registered their fourth home win, their best start to a
top flight season in front of their own fans since 1919.
Olivier Giroud netted his first
Barclays Premier League goal as Arsenal came from behind to beat West Ham 3-1
at Upton Park.
The
Gunners had seen their unbeaten start to the new season ended by a 2-1 home
defeat against leaders Chelsea last weekend.
However, Arsene Wenger's men, who beat Olympiacos in the
Champions League on Wednesday night, showed great character to recover from
conceding an early goal to Mohamed Diame.
France striker Giroud, a £12m summer signing from
Montpellier, netted from close range just ahead of half-time, with substitute
Theo Walcott slotting home another on the break before industrious Spaniard
Santi Cazorla struck a superb 25-yard effort.
