Stoke end United winning streak

Manchester United finally lost points as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Stoke while 2 goals gave Manchester City a home win over Everton and after Torres had scored for Chelsea and then been dismissed in the first half, 2 goals from Santos sent Swansea home 4-1 losers. Blackburn lost 3-1 at Newcastle to a Demba Ba hat-trick and Robin van Persie scored twice for Arsenal at the Emirates to celebrate his 100^th goal for the Gunners in their 3-0 win over Bolton while Liverpool won 2-1 at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham were victorious by the same result at Wigan. Fulham drew 0-0 at West Bromwich while QPR had to rely on a last minute own goal to salvage a 1-1 draw at home to Aston Villa and Sunderland lost 2-1 at Norwich City.

In the Spanish league Ronaldo scored twice from the spot in his hat-trick that helped Real Madrid to a 6-2 home victory over Rayo Vallocano While Atletico Madrid were thumped 5-0 at Barcelona with a hat-trick from Messi.

Ajax lost 3-0 at Real Madrid in the Champions League while Manchester United needed a last minute goal as their Swiss visitors Basel earned a 3-3 draw with Fabian and Alexader Frei doing the damage and Manchester City lost a double from Mario Gomez at Bayern Munich. Barcelona battered Bate Borisov 5-0 in Belarus with a brace from Messi while Arsenal rallied to a 2-1 home win over Olympiakos and a late penalty at Valencia denied Chelsea a win as they returned home with a 1-1 draw.

It was a clean sweep for English teams in the Europa League with Andy Johnson scoring both goals in Fulham’s win at Odense and Tottenham winning 3-1 at home to Shamrock Rovers while Birmingham came from behind in Slovenia to beat Maribor 2-1 and Stoke achieved the same at home to Besiktas.         

Promoted joy

Manchester City lost ground on United as 2 Aguero goals were wiped out by a Fulham comeback to send them home with a point from the Cottage while Manchester United defeated Chelsea 3-1 with Rooney scoring a goal and missing a penalty at Old Trafford. The promoted teams all picked up wins with QPR brushing Wolves aside 3-0 at Molineux and Swansea enjoying the same result at home to WBA while Norwich won 2-1 at Bolton. Arsenal’s defensive problems continued at they lost 4-3 at Blackburn while ex-Gunner Adebayor scored twice for Tottenham who demolished Liverpool 4-0 in London and Sunderland celebrated the same result at home to Stoke. Wigan lost 3-1 at Everton and Newcastle drew 1-1 at Aston Villa.

In the Spanish league Messi grabbed another hat-trick as Barcelona annihilated Osasuna 8-0 while Real Madrid lost 1-0 at Levante and in midweek Madrid lost further points in their goalless draw at Racing Santander while Barcelona came from behind to draw 2-2 at Valencia.

In League Cup matches Michael Owen scored a brace for Manchester United who triumphed 3-0 at Leeds and Arsenal came from behind to get the better of Shrewsbury 3-1 at the Emirates while Tottenham were knocked out on penalties after a goalless draw at Stoke. Millwall were torn apart 5-0 at Wolves and Newcastle won 4-3 with a last minute goal in extra time at Nottingham Forest while Chelsea needed penalties to get past Fulham after a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge.

Manchester hat tricks

Manchester United continued where they left off with Rooney scoring his second hat-trick in succession and Javier Hernandez netting a brace as Bolton received a home battering while Aguero scored all 3 goals for City at home to Wigan. Chelsea came away from Sunderland with a narrow 2-1 win and Liverpool lost 1-0 at Stoke while Adebayor opened his account with a goal for Tottenham in their 2-0 victory at Wolves. Everton and Aston Villa shared 4 goals at Goodison Park and while Arsenal recorded their first win of the season with a single goal at home to Swansea and an early Odemwingie goal for West Brom at Norwich gave the Bagged 3 points for the baggies. Blackburn drew 1-1 at Fulham and on Monday evening Queens Park Rangers were held to a goalless draw at home to Newcastle.

In Spain Barcelona lost a 2 goal lead to draw 2-2 at Real Sociedad while Real Madrid romped to a 4-2 home win against Getafe.

In Germany Mario Gomez scored 4 times in Bayern Munich’s sizzling 7-0 home win over Freiburg.        

In the Champions League Milan earned a 2-2 draw at Barcelona while Bayer Leverkusen fell 2-0 to Chelsea at the Bridge and there were 1-1 draws for the other 3 English representatives as Manchester City entertained Napoli, United played away to Benfica and Arsenal travelled to Dortmund.

In the Europa League there were also 3 draws for English teams as Tottenham played a goalless match at PAOK, Fulham were held 1-1 at home to Twente and a last minute goal denied Stoke a win at Dinamo Kiev while Birmingham lost 3-1 at home to last season’s beaten finalists Braga.  

North London take Manchester mauling

Manchester City ran riot at Tottenham with Edin Dzeko helping himself to 4 goals in their 5-1 demolition of Spurs while Arsenal, who missed a penalty and once again ended the match a man short, were slaughtered 8-2 at Old Trafford with Rooney scoring a hat-trick for the sharp-shooting United who sit at the top of the Premier League table ahead of their flamboyant neighbours. Chelsea needed 2 late goals to overcome Norwich 3-1 at the Bridge and Liverpool enjoyed the same scoreline at home to Bolton while Leon Best scored both goals for Newcastle in their 2-1 home win against Fulham and Wolves held onto their unbeaten record with a goalless draw at Aston Villa. Blackburn who missed 2 penalties were beaten by a last minute penalty at home to Everton while QPR lost to a double from Franco di Santo at Wigan. There were no goals between Swansea and Sunderland and the Match between West Brom and Stoke was also goalless until a last-minute goal settled it for the visitors. The Spanish La Liga got under way with Cristiano Ronaldo grabbing a hat-trick as Real Madrid smashed Zaragoza 6-0 away from home while Barcelona opened with Fabregas getting on the score sheet for his new club and Messi netting a brace in their 5-0 home win over Villareal.