Chelsea's goal-rush was staunched by Stoke City but the Premier League champions maintained their perfect start to the season with a 2-0 home victory.
Having opened the defence of their English Premier League title with a 6-0 thrashing of West Bromwich Albion last week, Chelsea now face the team they beat 8-0 to secure the crown three months ago.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
Romelu Lukaku extended his impressive FA Cup scoring record by netting twice in Manchester United's 2-0 win at Huddersfield Town to earn Jose Mourinho's side a quarter-final tie at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Salomon Rondon dented 10-man Manchester United's top-four challenge with a sharp second-half strike to maintain West Bromwich Albion's Premier League revival on Sunday. The 26-year-old Venezuela striker controlled Sebastien Pocognoli's cross from the left before burying the ball into the left corner on 67 minutes against an increasingly toothless United, who had lost Juan Mata to a second yellow card on 26 minutes. The Spain international was booked for not retreating and blocking a quickly-taken free kick before receiving his marching orders two minutes later for kicking Darren Fletcher's shin in a clumsy tackle. United's first league defeat at The Hawthorns since 1984 kept them sixth in the table, three points behind Manchester City in fourth, while West Brom climbed to 11th with a third win in four league games.
English Premier League club West Bromwich Albion suspended their Czech international striker Roman Bednar on Sunday after newspaper allegations of his involvement in a drugs deal.
West Bromwich Albion, who pulled off a famous escape from relegation in 2005, could be on their way to surviving in the Premier League again after beating Wigan Athletic 3-1 at The Hawthorns on Saturday.
Luiz Felipe Scolari will start life as Chelsea's new manager at home to FA Cup winners Portsmouth after the 2008-09 fixture list was released on Monday. Manchester United, who pipped Chelsea to the title on the final day last season, begin their title defence at home to Newcastle United.
Chelsea narrowed Manchester United's lead in the Premier League to four points on Tuesday with a 1-0 victory at Portsmouth while Liverpool also kept their slender title hopes alive with a 2-0 defeat of Sunderland. United have two games in hand on both, starting with their trip to struggling Newcastle United on Wednesday.
Manchester United thrashed bottom club West Bromwich Albion 5-0 at the Hawthorns to move three points clear at the top of the English Premier League on Tuesday. Cristiano Ronaldo struck two late goals for the rampant Reds after Dimitar Berbatov, Carlos Tevez and Nemanja Vidic had put the champions in control against 10-man West Brom.
Norwich opened the floodgates in one of three earlier kickoffs, with their new U.S. international signing Josh Sargent and Greek winger Christos Tzolis each scoring twice on their full debuts at Carrow Road.
Chelsea and Liverpool continued setting a hot pace at the top of the English Premier League with emphatic away victories on Saturday. Liverpool briefly went top courtesy of a 2-0 victory at Bolton Wanderers with goals from Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard before Chelsea responded by thrashing bottom club West Bromwich Albion 3-0 at the Hawthorns.
Liverpool took full advantage of an early kickoff at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, winning 2-0 to go three points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Chelsea returned to the top of the Premier League on Sunday with a 2-0 victory over Blackburn Rovers at a rain-drenched Ewood Park. Aston Villa could have gone above Manchester United into the top four but lost 2-1 at Middlesbrough for whom Tuncay Sanli scored an 88th-minute winner.
Chelsea romped to a 5-0 victory at Middlesbrough and Manchester United beat West Bromwich Albion 4-0 while Liverpool and Arsenal produced stirring fightbacks to claim home wins over Wigan Athletic and Everton. Liverpool snatched a 3-2 triumph over Wigan, while Arsenal netted three second-half goals to record a 3-1 victory against Everton.
Newcastle United were left deep in relegation trouble after being held to a goalless draw at home to Portsmouth in a tense Premier League match on Monday. With four matches left to play, Newcastle remain in the drop zone with 31 points, although the draw was enough to move them ahead of Middlesbrough on goal difference and up to 18th place.
Brazil striker Robinho's life at Manchester City suddenly appears rosy again after he ended his long wait for a goal in the 4-2 Premier League defeat of West Bromwich Albion last weekend.
Barnsley's reward for knocking holders Chelsea and Liverpool out of the FA Cup is a semi-final against fellow Championship (second division) side Cardiff City.
Aston Villa moved back to fifth in the English Premier League with an astonishing 3-2 win over Everton on Sunday after a goal in the first minute and one from each side in stoppage time. In the day's other match, West Bromwich Albion failed to win for the ninth successive match and stayed bottom after being held to a 1-1 draw by Portsmouth at The Hawthorns.
Liverpool took full advantage of an early kickoff at Bolton Wanderers on Saturday, winning 2-0 to go three points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Manchester United wasted the chance to close on the Premier League leaders when a sloppy second half cost them in a 1-1 draw at Everton on Saturday.
A rare header by Cesc Fabregas three minutes into injury time earned Arsenal a 1-1 draw on Saturday after hosts Sunderland seemed on course for an upset victory in the Premier League. Manchester United edged closer to the leading pack with a 2-0 win at a rain-sodden Blackburn Rovers after goals from Wes Brown and Wayne Rooney.
Injured striker Robin van Persie is expected to miss Manchester United's Capital One Cup tie against Liverpool on Wednesday but could be fit for Saturday's Premier League clash with West Bromwich Albion.
Favourites Chelsea will play Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup quarter-final tie at Stamford Bridge next month.
Arsenal launched their bid for a first Premier League crown in five years with a comfortable 1-0 win over promoted West Bromwich Albion on the opening day of the season on Saturday. Liverpool, who have their eyes on a first title since 1990, also got off to a winning start by beating Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light with a late goal from Fernando Torres.
New signing Samir Nasri scored after four minutes to give Arsenal a 1-0 win over promoted West Bromwich Albion when they kicked off the new English Premier League season at the Emirates Stadium in London on Saturday. The 21-year-old French midfielder scored with a first-time right footed-shot after good approach work by Arsenal and a final cut-back pass from Denilson.
Tottenham Hotspur are favourites to win the Premier League this season according to table-topping Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri, because their title charge has virtually gone under the radar.
Roy Keane has agreed terms to take over as manager of second division Sunderland
Defeat always seemed likely for West Brom, who are bottom of the Premier League and sacked their chairman and chief-executive on Tuesday.
Portsmouth reached the FA Cup final for the first time in 69 years after beating West Bromwich Albion 1-0 in the semi-final.
Portsmouth reached the FA Cup final for the first time in 69 years on Saturday when a 54th minute goal from Nwankwo Kanu gave them a 1-0 semi-final win over West Bromwich Albion at Wembley Stadium. Portsmouth will now play either Cardiff City or Barnsley, who meet in an all-Championship semi-final on Sunday, in the final at Wembley on May 17.
Manchester City moved back into third place and almost guaranteed Champions League qualification thanks to a 3-1 home victory against West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday at the Etihad Stadium.
Liverpool will seek a 10th successive EPL win when they conclude a memorable year at home to West Bromwich Albion
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been named the Premier League manager of the month for February, while in-form Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane picked up his fourth player of the month award.
Newcastle United striker Papiss Cisse has been charged with violent conduct, the FA said in a statement on Monday referring to an incident in the Premier League match against Everton.
West Bromwich Albion inflicted further misery on Manchester United, winning 2-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday to condemn the champions to their worst start to a Premier League season and leave them in the bottom half of the table after six games.
Philippe Coutinho scored twice as Liverpool recovered from an early deficit to beat struggling Premier League champions Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and pile more pressure on Blues manager Jose Mourinho.
