A matter of goals

Two goals against Norwich at Old Trafford was enough for Manchester United to top the table on goal difference ahead of City who after a goalless first-half cruised to a 4-0 win at Blackburn while a hat-trick from Lampard helped Chelsea batter Bolton 5-1 at the Reebok Stadium, but it was Fulham who filled their boots with Andy Johnson claiming a hat-trick in their 6-0 slaughter of Queens Park Rangers at the Cottage. The controversial early dismissal of Everton’s Jack Rodwell helped Liverpool win 2-0 at Goodison despite missing a penalty and there were 2-0 home wins for Aston Villa and Swansea against Wigan and Stoke respectively while Sunderland had to come back from 2 early goals to earn a point at home to West Bromwich Albion. Arsenal lost the North London derby 2-1 at Tottenham and Newcastle won by the same scoreline at Wolves while in Italy the outstanding result was 10 man Inter’s 3-0 home defeat to Napoli who could afford the luxury of missing a penalty and in Spain Barcelona won 1-0 at Sporting Gijon while Real Madrid were 4-0 winners at Espanyol with a hat-trick from Higuain.