Chelsea also begin the new English season at home, against promoted Birmingham City.
Wayne Rooney was involved in every goal as Manchester United beat struggling Hull City 3-1 on Sunday to slash Chelsea's lead to two points in the Premier League. The result lifted champions United back ahead of Arsenal, who defeated fourth-placed Aston Villa 3-0 with Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas coming off the bench to score two second-half goals, into second place.
Wayne Rooney gave away a goal but redeemed himself to inspire Manchester United to a 3-1 win over struggling Hull City which slashed Chelsea's lead to two points at the top of the Premier League on Sunday. The result lifted champions United back ahead of Arsenal, who beat fourth-placed Aston Villa 3-0 with Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas coming off the bench to score two goals, into second place.
Cesc Fabregas scored twice to send Arsenal second in the Premier League, four points behind Chelsea but with a game in hand, after brushing aside Aston Villa 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
Sunderland have appointed Martin O'Neill as manager after sacking Steve Bruce earlier this week, the Premier League club said on Saturday
The Chelsea striker is to have a hernia operation on Tuesday.
Liverpool duo Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard were both unexpectedly passed fit on Friday for Saturday's Premier League game against champions Manchester United at Anfield. Gerrard has recently undergone groin surgery and, though manager Rafa Benitez said he thought his captain would make the game, the player himself said last weekend he would prefer more time to get back to full fitness.
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez will get a close-up of the missing piece of his jigsaw puzzle on Saturday when Gareth Barry runs out for Manchester City at Anfield for a match with huge implications for both clubs.
Chelsea and Liverpool, the only teams to start the English Premier League season with two wins, lost their 100 percent records on Sunday when they drew with Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa respectively. Chelsea had scored five goals and conceded none in their opening wins, while Spurs lost both theirs but they drew 1-1 at Stamford Bridge after Darren Bent cancelled out Juliano Belletti's opener for the home side.
City were due to open their season against Aston Villa and United against Burnley but those games will be moved.
Arsenal romped to a 4-1 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday to move into second place in the English Premier League while Manchester City's hopes of threatening the top four were hit by a fifth consecutive draw. City drew 3-3 with Burnley after having battled back from a two-goal deficit to lead with three minutes remaining.
Marcus Rashford scored twice as Manchester United extended their 100 percent record on the road, coming from behind again to win 3-2 at the English Premier League's bottom club Sheffield United on Thursday.
Chelsea reclaimed top spot in the Premier League with a crushing 5-0 win over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday but Tottenham Hotspur were brought down to earth when Stoke City snatched a late 1-0 victory at White Hart Lane.
Fernando Torres scored twice as Liverpool battled to a 3-2 English Premier League win at West Ham United on Saturday after the Londoners had twice pegged them back. Belgian centre back Thomas Vermaelen was a less likely two-goal hero as his double set up Arsenal for a 4-0 home thrashing of Wigan Athletic - emphatically avoiding a hat-trick of defeats after losses to Manchester United and City.
Liverpool's FA Cup match on Saturday is one of four all-Premier League tussles, with leaders Manchester United also hosting Aston Villa, Everton taking on Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth facing Wigan Athletic.
'The moment we found a goal it changed everything'
A brilliantly-worked goal by Ryan Christie and a Justin Kluivert penalty gave Bournemouth shock 2-0 Premier League win at home to 10-man Arsenal.
Everton went ahead of Liverpool into fourth place in the Premier League on Monday with an impressive 2-0 victory at Manchester City.
Chelsea gave departing coach Guus Hiddink the perfect leaving present when they came from behind to beat Everton 2-1 in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday.
England coach Fabio Capello has bemoaned a lack of goalkeeping talent at his disposal, saying on Monday it forced him to bring back goalkeeper David James.
Newcastle United's euphoria after their win over Middlesbrough on Monday turned to despair on Saturday when a 1-0 loss at home to Fulham left their Premier League status hanging by a thread.
Manchester City produced a blistering first-half performance to win 4-1 at Sunderland in the League Cup third round on Tuesday, inflicting more misery on Dick Advocaat's struggling side.
English Premier League leaders Manchester City and Chelsea slugged out a magnificent 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Aston Villa will be the first league visitors to Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium on the opening day of the Premier League.
Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard will miss the next few weeks after tearing a muscle in his right thigh.
Manchester United beat Sunderland 4-0 while Chelsea were held to a 4-4 draw by Astin Villa in the EPL.
Federico Macheda came off the bench to save Manchester United for the second week running on Saturday when the 17-year-old Italian got the decider in a 2-1 win at Sunderland with his first touch seconds after coming on.
Federico Macheda's debut goal for Manchester United is the result of a cattle market where young players are snapped up by rich foreign clubs, Lazio president Claudio Lotito said on Monday.
Teenager Federico Macheda marked his Manchester United debut with an astonishing stoppage-time winner to give the defending champions a 3-2 victory over Aston Villa and keep them on course for the Premier League title. The 17-year-old substitute, who replaced Nani after 61 minutes, showed tremendous composure to turn Villa defender Luke Young and curl the ball past Villa keeper Brad Friedel.
Yossi Benayoun struck in injury time to give Liverpool a hugely important 1-0 victory at Fulham that took them top of the Premier League on Saturday. The win takes Liverpool to 67 points, two ahead of champions Manchester United, who have two games in hand and host Aston Villa on Sunday.
Unbeaten Arsenal stretched their lead in the Premier league to five points after a 2-1 win at Aston Villa on Saturday while Chelsea beat West Ham United 1-0 to overhaul Manchester United and go second.
The English Premier League title race was thrown wide open with leaders Manchester United losing a second successive match and Liverpool thumping Aston Villa 5-0 to close the gap at the top to one point. Barcelona maintained their six-point lead in Spain, while a double from Zlatan Ibrahimovic ensured Inter Milan stayed seven points clear in Serie A.
England internationals were the target of boos up and down the country on Saturday in a backlash to the national team's failure to qualify for Euro 2008.
Manchester United crushed Derby County 4-1 away while Everton beat Aston Villa 3-1 at Goodison Park on Sunday to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. United were pushed all the way by the Championship (second division) strugglers in the League Cup semi-finals last month but cruised home this time with goals by Nani, Darron Gibson, Cristiano Ronaldo and Danny Welbeck.
New Chelsea coach Guus Hiddink said Thursday he was excited at the prospect of managing a club challenging for three major trophies.
Tottenham Hotspur rallied to hold Aston Villa 4-4 in a Premier League match after two dreadful errors from England goalkeeper Paul Robinson looked to have sunk them.
Liverpool's stay might only last for 24 hours until overnight leaders Chelsea visit Aston Villa on Sunday.
Liverpool stayed top of the Premier League on Sunday after an emphatic 5-1 win at Newcastle United gave them maximum points from their two Christmas fixtures.
Chelsea missed the chance to top the table at Christmas when, after having captain John Terry sent off in the 34th minute, their 11-game away English Premier League winning streak ended with a 0-0 draw at Everton on Monday. Terry was shown a straight red for a wild lunge at Leon Osman, taking the steam out of the Londoners, who had dominated until the dismissal but were then forced to hang on in the second half.
Premier League leaders Liverpool stumbled again at home on Saturday, needing two Steven Gerrard goals to salvage a point in a 2-2 draw with Hull City.
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