Manchester United went top
of the Premier League table as
Robin van Persie haunted old
club Arsenal on Saturday, and
they will remain there after
Chelsea were pegged back late
on at Swansea. Tottenham
failed to boost their top-four
credentials as they were
shocked by Wigan, while there
were wins for Norwich and
Aston Villa.
- Jolly: RVP haunts Arsenal
- Delaney: City still struggling
- Brewin: Berbatov finds a
home
- Premier League Gallery
Van Persie struck an early
blow as Manchester United
sank ten-man Arsenal 2-1 at
Old Trafford. The former
Gunners captain, who joined
United in the summer, scored
inside the opening three
minutes in the lunchtime kick-
off before Patrice Evra
doubled the lead midway
through the second half.
Wayne Rooney missed a
penalty on the stroke of half-
time, but Arsenal were forced
to play the last 20 minutes
with ten men after Jack
Wilshere was sent off for a
second bookable offence. Santi
Cazorla netted a late strike
for Arsenal, but it will be of
little consolation as the
Gunners fall nine points behind
United.
Much of the build-up to the
match surrounded Van Persie,
and he made an early impact,
lashing a low strike past Vito
Mannone after Thomas
Vermaelen - the man who
replaced him as Arsenal
skipper - failed to clear
Rafael's tame cross.
With Arsenal already on the
back foot, Rooney had the
chance to give his side some
breathing room from the
penalty spot after Cazorla
handled Ashley Young's cross,
but the England striker blazed
his spot-kick wide of
Mannone's right post.
Having been largely outplayed
in all areas of the park,
Arsenal were still in the match
in the second half and Olivier
Giroud hit a post after some
neat work by Cazorla. But
they conceded the killer goal
in the 67th minute when Evra
found himself unmarked in the
six-yard box to nod home
Rooney's cross from the left.
The visitors' hopes of salvaging
anything from the match were
further dented two minutes
later, when Wilshere was given
his marching orders for a rash
challenge on Evra, having been
cautioned early in the first
half for a late tackle on Tom
Cleverley. Nevertheless Cazorla
pulled one back for Arsenal in
the dying minutes, curling a
sweet strike past De Gea
after a neat one-two with
Andrei Arshavin, but in truth
United should have won by a
greater margin.
Roberto Mancini's tinkering
backfired again as Manchester
City blew the chance to join
Manchester United at the top
of the Premier League at West
Ham.
Ten days after his three-at-
the-back experiment in City's
shattering Champions League
defeat at Ajax, manager
Mancini was at it again at the
other end of the pitch at
Upton Park.
But the decision to start with
Mario Balotelli, Carlos Tevez
and Edin Dzeko in the same XI
for the first time failed just as
spectacularly as the champions
failed to score for the first
time in almost seven months.
It could have been even worse
for Mancini's men had Kevin
Nolan not seen an early goal
controversially ruled out for
offside as West Ham more than
held their own and were
marshalled brilliantly by
Winston Reid and James Collins.
After a testing week off the
field, Chelsea were able to
focus their minds on footballing
matters, but an 88th-minute
equaliser for Swansea denied
the Blues in a 1-1 draw at the
Liberty Stadium. Victor Moses
struck for Roberto Di Matteo's
side, who remain unbeaten
away from home this season,
but Pablo Hernandez's strike
kept United top by a point.
Chelsea were without the
injured David Luiz and Juan
Mata - as well as the
suspended John Terry - and
they produced a disjointed
first-half display. It took until
the hour-mark for Moses to
find an opener, diverting Gary
Cahill's goalbound header past
Gerhard Tremmel.
That appeared to be enough,
but as wretched weather
swept across the ground,
Swansea found a leveller two
minutes from time through a
lovely Hernandez strike.
Tottenham are no longer
fourth after Andre Villas-Boas'
side were beaten 1-0 by Wigan
at White Hart Lane.
Wednesday's disappointing
Capital One Cup exit at
Norwich filtered into the north
Londoners' weekend display,
and they were booed off after
Ben Watson's winner.
The first half was surprisingly
dominated by the visitors, who
should have taken the lead
through Shaun Maloney when
the former Celtic man broke
the offside trap. That pattern
continued into the second half
and Wigan grabbed a deserved
opener when Brad Friedel
buckled under pressure at a
set-piece, allowing Watson to
poke home.
Villas-Boas drew the wrath of
the home crowd by
withdrawing Jermain Defoe for
Emmanuel Adebayor, but it was
Wigan who nearly scored again
through a Maynor Figueroa
free-kick as they held on for
victory.
Two sides who began the day
within striking distance of
Spurs were Fulham and
Everton, and the Merseysiders
are now up to fourth on goal
difference after they drew
2-2 at Craven Cottage. A Tim
Howard own goal handed
Fulham the early lead, but
Marouane Fellaini scored twice
for Everton before Steven
Sidwell snatched the home side
a point.
It took less than 10 minutes
for Martin Jol's men to break
the deadlock, and once more it
was Bryan Ruiz providing the
touch of class, bending a 30-
yard free-kick past Howard -
who will likely get credited
with an own goal after the ball
ricocheted off a post and onto
his back before entering the
net.
Everton responded well and
deservedly equalised in the
second period, Fellaini
converting Kevin Mirallas'
cutback. The Toffees were
clearly the better side as the
match progressed, and Fellaini
controlled Phil Jagielka's long
ball before sliding past Mark
Schwarzer for 2-1. However,
Sidwell consigned them to a
fourth straight draw in the
90th minute.
Everton's twin club Stoke - at
least in the eyes of Steven
Gerrard - travelled to Norwich
in pursuit of their first away
win of the league campaign.
But they failed in their mission
as the Canaries won 1-0 at
Carrow Road.
Norwich made the
breakthrough moments before
half-time, Bradley Johnson
adjusting his body brilliantly to
convert an unorthodox header
from Robert Snodgrass' cross.
And in the day's other 3pm
kick-off, Paul Lambert relieved
some of the pressure on his
Aston Villa side and turned it in
the direction of Martin O'Neill
at Sunderland, winning 1-0 at
the Stadium of Light.
Villa were never in danger of
slipping into the bottom three
- courtesy of the fact none of
the bottom clubs were playing,
but they are now five points
above the relegation zone
thanks to Gabriel Agbonlahor.
Christian Benteke was
inevitably involved for the
visitors as he headed a cross
towards the six-yard area,
where Agbonlahor rifled into
the roof of the net from close
range.