Manchester United moved to the top of the table, while Aston Villa took the spoils in the second city derby.
United go top, Villa's derby glee and Hammers nail sorry Derby
Manchester United moved to the top of the table, while Aston Villa took the spoils in the second city derby.
Manchester United showed they could cope without the injured Wayne Rooney as they moved clear at the top of the table with a
2-0 win over Blackburn at Old Trafford.
Cristiano Ronaldo was the hero for Sir Alex Ferguson's men with a devastating two-goal blast in two first half minutes, to maintain United's fine run of form and move them three points clear at the summit.
Blackburn's miserable day was compounded by the sending off of David Dunn for two bookable offences.
Gabriel Agbonlahor's late goal earned
Aston Villa a thrilling
2-1 win over Birmingham in a frenetic derby contest at St Andrews.
Liam Ridgewell endured a day to forget against his old club, putting through his own net before substitute Mikael Forssell drew Birmingham level.
The game looked set to end all-square until local boy Agbonlahor popped up to head home Ashley Young's cross three minutes from time.
Blues boss Steve Bruce was left fuming at referee Steve Bennett after the game, accusing the official of turning down two penalties for his side.
Tim Cahill's spectacular late goal denied
Chelsea victory over
Everton as the visitors secured a
1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Didier Drogba looked to have given Chelsea another win until Cahill popped up in stoppage time to snare a point for David Moyes' side with an acrobatic overhead kick.
Team of the Weekend
Tottenham climbed out of the bottom three with a
resounding 4-0 win over fellow strugglers
Wigan.
Jermaine Jenas helped himself to a brace in a superb display, while Dimitar Berbatov showed signs he was getting back to his best with a superb showing.
Aaron Lennon and substitute Darren Bent also got on the scoresheet as Spurs collected just their second clean sheet of the season in the league.
Surprise packages
Portsmouth and
Manchester City could not be separated at Fratton Park as they
cancelled each other out.
City were indebted to young keeper Joe Hart for gaining them a point as he produced several top saves to frustrate in-form Pompey.
It was a case of Rams to the slaughter at Pride Park as
West Ham thrashed Billy Davies'
Derby 5-0.
Lee Bowyer signed off before undergoing a hernia op with two goals in an all-action display, while further goals from Matthew Etherington, a comical own goal from Eddie Lewis and Nolberto Solano's free-kick condemned Derby to another chastening defeat.
Fernando Torres came off the bench to help
Liverpool to a
2-0 win over Fulham at Anfield.
The Spanish star finally broke Fulham's stubborn resistance nine minutes from time before Steven Gerrard wrapped up only Liverpool's second home win of the season from the penalty spot on 85 minutes.
Sunderland and
Newcastle shared the spoils after a
1-1 draw in the first Wear-Tyne derby of the season at the Stadium of Light.
Danny Higginbotham gave Sunderland a deserved lead early in the second half, but James Milner's fortuitous goal denied the home side a victory over their arch-rivals.
The biggest talking point from the game was Joey Barton's ugly tackle on Dickson Etuhu, which is sure to land the Newcastle midfielder in hot water with the Football Association.
Gary Megson is still looking for his first win as
Bolton boss after they were held to a
goalless draw at home to
Middlesbrough.
The point does neither side much good as they continue to struggle at the wrong end of the table.
