– Dan Brown contributed to this report.
It was another weekend of high drama in the Premier League, kicking off at the Emirates Stadium where Arsenal hosted Chelsea, with both sides looking to protect unbeaten league records.
Chelsea made the breakthrough after 20 minutes when Fernando Torres made the most of some shambolic Arsenal defending to poke home Juan Mata’s free kick. Arsenal hit back three minutes before the break when Gervinho turned on a sixpence before hammering home.
The Gunners were again undone by poor defending when they failed to deal with another Mata free-kick, with Laurent Koscielny getting the final touch.
Liverpool and Everton cruise to victories
Luis Suarez inspired Liverpool to a 5-2 win away to Norwich, earning their first win of the season. The Uruguayan took just two minutes to open the scoring, before taking advantage of some poor defending to double the lead on 38 minutes.
Nuri Sahin netted before Suarez completed his hat-trick on 57 minutes. Goals from Steve Morison and Grant Hold came either side of Steven Gerrard’s effort to seal a comprehensive victory.
Everton recovered from Gaston Ramirez’s sixth minute strike to beat Southampton 3-1 at Goodison Park. Leon Osman levelled when he thumped home after 25 minutes, before a Nikica Jelavic brace completed the scoring before half time.
Wins for City and Sunderland
A late Edin Dzeko goal gave Manchester City a hard fought win away to Fulham. The home side took the lead inside ten minutes when Mladen Petric scored from the spot, before Sergio Aguero tapped in a rebound on the stroke of half time.
City pressed hard but were made to wait until the 87th minute for their reward, with Dzeko firing into the top corner to earn all three points.
Steven Fletcher’s impressive start to life at the Stadium of Light continued as he scored the only goal of the game between Sunderland and Wigan. Wigan were reduced to 10 men on 48 minutes when Jordi Gomez was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Danny Rose.
Following the dismissal, Sunderland took just three minutes to capitalise, with Fletcher cleverly slotting home from 12 yards.
Stoke earn first win while Newcastle held
A first half double from Peter Crouch helped Stoke earn their first win of the season as they beat Swansea 2-0 at the Brittania Stadium. Crouch headed home on 12 minutes, before slotting home his and Stoke’s second 10 minutes before the break.
Newcastle twice came from behind to draw 2-2 away to Norwich. After a goalless first half, Jimmy Kebe was on hand to tap home after 58 minutes to give the home side the lead, which they immediately surrendered when Demba Ba struck a magnificent volley to equalise.
Reading were ahead again four minutes later courtesy of Noel Hunt, before Ba scored again on 83 minutes, albeit with the aide of his hand.
Tottenham end 23 years of hurt at Old Trafford
Tottenham ended one of the top flight’s longest standing records as they defeated Manchester United at Old Trafford for the first time in 23 years. Spurs took just 90 seconds to make the breakthrough, as Jan Vertonghen was allowed to drive into the United area, with his shot going in via a Jonny Evans deflection.
Tottenham’s first half dominance was further rewarded after 32 minutes when Gareth Bale surged past Rio Ferdinand to tuck home with his right foot.
Sir Alex Ferguson brought on Wayne Rooney at the break, and his 51st minute cross was flicked in by Nani to start an astonishing three-minute spell. Spurs responded immediately as Jermain Defoe released Bale, whose saved shot was poked home by Clint Dempsey.
However, it was 3-2 less than a minute later when Robin van Persie’s clever pass was finished coolly by Shinji Kagawa. United battered Spurs for the remainder of the half, with Rooney hitting the post, Michael Carrick hitting the bar and van Persie missing a glorious opening, but the home side were unable to find the equaliser.
All level in the Midlands and QPR remain bottom
There was just one game on Sunday as West Brom travelled to Villa Park. Shane Long opened the scoring for the visitors after 51 minutes when he finished from close range, before substitute Darren Bent rescued a point for Aston Villa when he calmly tucked home with 10 minutes left on the clock.
Monday night’s game was a London derby between QPR and West Ham at Loftus Road. QPR, who have collected just two points from their opening five fixtures, fell behind after just three minutes when Matt Jarvis headed home. West Ham doubled their lead 10 minutes before half time courtesy of Ricardo Vaz Te, before Adel Taraabt halved the deficit early in the second half.
However, any hopes of a comeback were dashed with 15 minutes to go when Samba Diakite was shown his marching orders, meaning Rangers remain rooted to the foot of the table.