Dimitar Berbatov clearly started this contest intent on making a point. And by the time he raised both arms skywards, pointing two fingers into the air to celebrate his two goals, he certainly had done.Having departed Manchester United acrimoniously after frequently being forced to sit on the substitutes’ bench despite being the Premier League’s top scorer, it was no surprise that he was celebrating success on his first start for Fulham as they ruined West Bromwich Albion’s unbeaten start to the season.Berbatov is the hero that the club have been pining for in the wake of losing key attackers Mousa Dembele and Clint Dempsey. Here, he showed that he can be a worthy focal point in the final third. His movement, his touch and his nonchalant swagger were all on show and he was rewarded with two goals – both assisted by the outstanding Alexander Kacaniklic as Fulham eased to victory against an Albion side who will rue Peter Odemwingie’s first-half red card for kicking out at Sascha Riether.Fulham had just snatched the lead in a tight contest, so a sense of frustration in their ranks was understandable, but the ferocity of Odemwingie’s reaction was still inexcusable. Shortly afterwards, Berbatov added a second, before Steve Sidwell’s late clincher. Berbatov impressed throughout and, despite his infamous laid-back reputation, his work-rate was high though Fulham manager Martin Jol did not feel the player had a point to prove.“Whenever he played he was one of the top scorers,” said the Dutchman. “That performance was important because we lost our best players. It was a different system.”The initial stalemate was ended in the 18th minutes, when Kacaniklic cut inside from the left, skilfully ran at the defence at pace on the way to the edge of the 18-yard box and squared to his right. Berbatov, in space, trapped the ball then curled it beyond Ben Foster’s grasp and into far corner.The last thing that Albion needed at that stage was a loss of composure and focus – but Odemwingie’s moment of stupidity followed after he kicked Riether once the defender dispossessed him. Yet Steve Clarke, the West Brom manager, was sympathetic. “We’re all human,” he said. “Everybody has emotions. He [Odemwingie] felt he should have had a had a free kick and the red mist came down. We had started slowly.”They had started slowly but that incident meant that a tense contest swung in Fulham’s favour. The home crowd did not have to wait long for that second goal to arrive for their new striker and, again, he had Kacaniklic to thank. The midfielder once more made a piercing run and was fouled by a flustered Billy Jones who looked tired after being given the runaround leading to a penalty. Berbatov, looking typically casual, stroked in from the spot as Foster went the wrong way.Albion showed the right attitude in the second period but the game already looked lost. As the half wore on, there were a procession of Fulham chances with Foster doing well to keep out a series of efforts from the likes of Damien Duff, Hugo Rodallega and the still-menacing Berbatov. He could do little though, in the closing stages, when a Rodallega header hit the bar and Steve Sidwell followed up to complete a comfortable win. Berbatov would have liked a hat-trick but he will still go home a very happy man.
Man Utd 4-0 Wigan Athletic
Paul Scholes marked his 700th Man Utd appearance by sending the Red Devils to a comfortable home win over Wigan.United won an early penalty when Danny Welbeck went down in the box, but Javier Hernandez failed to convert from the spot.Alex Ferguson's team went in at half-time level but Scholes soon broke the deadlock to open the floodgates.Hernandez doubled the lead soon after, before new signings Alex Buttner and Nick Powell both fired home.Although he declared Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa fit yesterday, Ferguson opted to leave both men on the bench as he cast an eye towards the start of his side’s Champions League campaign against Galatasaray on Wednesday.Even with Wayne Rooney missing, the alternative was not too shabby as Hernandez was paired with Welbeck.Praised for his performances at Euro 2012 and again for England against Ukraine in midweek, Welbeck is a player of immense potential.It was sad therefore to see what he did after just three minutes.Charging into the Wigan box, Welbeck was greeted by Ali Al Habsi, who quickly decided to pull out of his challenge, wisely deeming it to be unsafe.Welbeck went down anyway. And referee Michael Oliver bought it.Hopefully, Welbeck will learn from such incidents and avoid them in future.The post-script at least was fitting as Al Habsi turned away Hernandez’s spot-kick with a smart, low save to his left.Initially, United made light of their setback.With veteran duo Ryan Giggs making his 600th Premier League appearance and Scholes flitting in and out of the game and Alexander Buttner looking dangerous on his debut, the hosts carved out a succession of opportunities.Welbeck flashed a volley wide from Nani’s cross before having a shot deflected wide by Gary Caldwell.Scholes, after robbing Shaun Maloney with a thunderous tackle, also had a piledriver blocked as the pressure intensified.After Welbeck had headed over, Hernandez and Giggs combined to send Nani clear but the Portugal wide-man, whose United future is in doubt, sent a delicate chip sailing harmlessly over the bar.Surviving so many scares gave Wigan added belief.A team who until April had never even taken a point off their north-west neighbours, Wigan should have gone in front when Jean Beausejour floated a cross to the far post.When Rio Ferdinand, who was celebrating his own milestone 400 United games missed it, at the very least Arouna Kone should have tested Anders Lindegaard, who had been preferred in goal to David de Gea.The moment was too much for Kone though and as he jabbed at the ball with the underneath of his boot, he could only send it rolling wide.Kone stooped to send a header over immediately after the restart, leading to a sense of agitation amongst the home support.Not for the first time, Scholes settled the nerves.At 37, he may not longer be capable of those old midfield bursts. However, his sense of timing remains impeccable.If anyone doubts Michael Carrick’s abilities, they would have been answered by a brilliant pass through the Wigan defence for Nani, who, in an all-too-infrequent example of striker-friendly crossing, drove the ball straight at the visitors’ goal.Al Habsi had to do something.Unfortunately for the Omani, he could only push the ball out to Scholes, who had sauntered in unnoticed and, from four yards, could not miss.Wigan clung on for a little while longer but when Giggs teed up Buttner, Hernandez was able to turn the Dutchman’s misdirected shot home thanks to Emmerson Boyce’s failure to move up as Wigan tried to play offside.Buttner was not finished either.With Patrice Evra looking down from the stands, the Dutchman forced his way past Boyce and James McCarthy before driving a shot from the tightest of angles, which flew in off Al Habsi.Powell made a remarkable first contribution for United when he latched onto a loose ball and drove home eight minutes from time.
QPR 0-0 Chelsea
QPR defender Anton Ferdinand snubbed Chelsea's John Terry and Ashley Cole at the pre-match handshake, but there were few highlights to follow in a dour 0-0 draw at Loftus Road on Saturday.Ferdinand came face to face with Terry for the first time since the England star was found not guilty of using a racial slur against the QPR defender in the corresponding fixture last October.As had been widely predicted, Ferdinand ignored Terry's outstretched hand during the traditional pre-match greeting and also snubbed Cole to show his feelings about the Blues left-back, who appeared at the trial as a character witness for his Chelsea teammate.No other QPR player appeared to ignore Terry or Cole after suggestions the whole team would snub the duo.Once that awkward confrontation was over, it was QPR who took more from a game that saw Chelsea drop their first points of the Premier League season.Composure had been in short supply during the handshake and the frenetic tempo ensured neither side settled into the game during a charged first half that did nothing to dilute the pre-match antagonism.On another day, referee Andre Marriner might easily have dismissed Ryan Bertrand for a crunching challenge on Shaun Wright-Phillips, while Chelsea considered they had two valid penalty appeals -- first when Shaun Wright-Phillips challenged Eden Hazard and then when Ryan Nelsen appeared to manhandle Terry ignored before the break.Before then, the visitors had offered an early sign they would assume control of the game when Fernando Torres and Ramires combined to set up an opening for Hazard in the fourth minute.Hazard met Ramires's low cross with a first time shot but Julio Cesar showed why Mark Hughes had grasped the opportunity to sign the Brazil keeper despite the summer arrival of Robert Green by producing a superb reaction save to his left.Former Inter Milan star Cesar again showed signs of his quality with a diving save to deny Torres midway through the half.But the best chance of the first period fell to David Luiz, who headed wide 10 minutes before the interval as he moved to connect with Frank Lampard's header.QPR's early efforts were more focused on containment although they did threaten to open up the visitors' defence, particularly when South Korea midfielder Park Ji-Sung made headway down the left hand flank.But on the only occasion Hughes's side managed to get a clear sight of goal, Chelsea keeper Petr Cech dealt with Bobby Zamora's shot comfortably.Chelsea's control of the central midfield areas was weakened and with the home side enjoying long spells of possession, it was no surprise when a clear opening fell to substitute Jamie Mackie, who saw his shot well saved by Cech five minutes after the break.An even better opportunity presented itself to Park six minutes later and the Rangers skipper should have done much better than direct a tame header straight at Cech after being picked out by Esteban Granero.Chelsea managed to create a chance to rival that spurned by Park when Hazard found Branislav Ivanovic at the far post, only for the Serb to send a close range header wide.In the closing stages, Zamora was gifted a chance by John Obi Mikel's miscued back-pass. The striker rounded Cech but was forced too wide to take advantage.
Arsenal 6-1 Southampton
Arsenal taught Southampton a harsh lesson about the realities of life in the Premier League by hammering them 6-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.Ivory Coast international Gervinho led the rout with two goals while Lukas Podolski's effort, a late Theo Walcott strike and two own goals continued an unbeaten start to the season for Arsene Wenger's side.Southampton had to make do with a consolation from Daniel Fox after a terrible blunder from Wojceich Szczesny but manager Nigel Adkins will know he has plenty to do to lift his players after they were comprehensively outclassed.Defeat left the newly promoted Saints rooted to the bottom of the table and the only team in the league without a point after four straight defeats.Arsenal's Olivier Giroud, ahead of his return to face former club Montpellier in the Champions League next week, had to make do with a place on the bench as Wenger opted to start with Gervinho as his lone striker.Southampton had Rickie Lambert leading the line on his own, supported by new England call-up Adam Lallana.Arsenal were quick out of the blocks and Podolski had the first sight of goal by firing an effort straight at Kelvin Davis in the third minute but his superb run in the 11th minute gave the hosts a deserved lead.Podolski rode two strong challenges before playing in Kieran Gibbs and his shot was fumbled by Davis into the path of defender Jos Hooiveld, who could only watch as the ball hit his leg and trickled over the line.They didn't have to wait long to extend their lead as Podolski curled home a superb free kick from 30 yards out that left Davis grasping thin air.Four minutes later, Mikel Arteta's lofted through ball found the totally unmarked Gervinho totally, who had plenty of time to pick his spot and make it 3-0.Southampton looked totally shell-shocked but they were unlucky to find themselves even further behind in the 37th minute when a hopeful cross from Podolski struck Nathaniel Clyne and deflected past the helpless Davis.It was the cruellest of blows but, to their credit, the visitors picked themselves up and were gifted a goal just before half-time.Jason Puncheon's hopeful cross should have been dealt with easily by Szczesny but the Polish keeper inexplicably dropped the ball under no pressure, with Fox the grateful recipient.That goal seemed to give Adkins's side a much-needed lift after the break and the introduction of Urguayan Gaston Ramirez in place of Steven Davis saw them start the second half well.Lambert screwed a shot just wide 10 minutes in, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlaain also went close at the other end.And it was no surprise that Arsenal got a fifth goal, with Gervinho eventually tapping home in the 72nd minute after a shot from Gunners substitute Aaron Ramsey came back off the post.Despite their supremacy, the Londoners continued to press for more goals and went close several times to grabbing a sixth.They eventually managed it on the stroke of full-time as a great run from captain Thomas Vermaelen drew a good save from Davis before substitute Walcott, like Oxlade-Chamberlain playing against his old club, swept the ball home with his left foot.
Stoke City 1-1 Manchester City
So there are some things that money can't buy after all. Manchester City, the world's biggest-spending football club, still cannot win at Stoke.On a day that Roberto Mancini gave debuts to another £27 million worth of talent in Spanish midfielder Javi Garcia, Brazil right-back Maicon and winger Scott Sinclair all recruited on transfer deadline day – City were left still searching for a first victory here since Gerard Wiekens, a £500,000 Dutch journeyman, secured a 1-0 win in a third-tier fixture in December 1998.With a Champions' League trip to Real Madrid looming on Tuesday, it is fair to say life has changed beyond the wildest dreams of any City fan since then but Stoke can be trusted to bring them down to earth.Since returning to the Premier League in 2008, Stoke have earned a win and now four successive 1-1 draws with City on this ground although yesterday's result owed a little to luck with referee Mark Clattenburg failing to spot Peter Crouch handle the ball before he struck the opening goal.Crouch has the height of a basketball player and an unhappy Mancini referred to that sport when asked about the Stoke forward's 15th-minute effort. "If you want to start with the first goal you should talk about NBA or basketball, not football," said the Italian. "I didn't see it from the bench but I saw all my players talk with the referee. The referee was behind Crouch; this is incredible."It was not the only moment when City were out of luck. After Garcia had nodded them level before the break, the Spaniard almost won the game in the last minute with a header that Asmir Begovic palmed against a post; there was still time after that for substitute Edin Dzecko to lob Begovic but see Ryan Shawcross deny him with an outstanding goalline clearance."We know it is difficult here, not only for us but for all the teams," Mancini added. "We had two incredible chances at the end of the game and we were unlucky."Behind closed doors, though, it is likely Mancini will ask questions of his team's defending. Their lack of assurance at the back meant it was not hard to see why the champions have shipped eight goals in five matches this term.Crouch's goal came after Jonathan Walters hooked Charlie Adam's corner back into the six-yard box and Crouch brought the ball down on his chest before turning and shooting past Joe Hart. TV replays showed the striker used his hand at least once but the speed with which Crouch manoeuvred those long gangly legs into a shooting position allowed time for a challenge, and neither Garcia nor Vincent Kompany was up to the task.Stoke now had an important foothold. "It is lovely for us to have a decision, a smaller club having a decision against a bigger club," said Tony Pulis, the Stoke manager.Only Newcastle among last season's top eight clubs won at the Britannia but Stoke had to work for their fourth successive draw in this fledgling campaign. Carlos Tevez whistled a deflected shot narrowly wide at 0-0 and Mario Balotelli, back after laser surgery on an eye problem, threatened an equaliser with a shot over the crossbar.Instead it was Garcia, the £15.8m recruit from Benfica, who got City on the scoresheet after 35 minutes.Garcia had put in one tackle on Glenn Whelan which suggests the rough stuff will not daunt him; now he got his head to Tevez's free-kick from the left flank and flashed the ball past Begovic to ensure a memorable start in City blue.Although a defensive midfielder hardly noted for his goals, Garcia also scored with his head in Benfica's Champions' League quarter-final defeat at Chelsea in April and he will hope to have done enough to warrant inclusion on Tuesday at Madrid, the club where he spent seven years before joining Benfica in 2009.Mancini, who said Sergio Aguero should be available at the Bernabeu, sounded impressed as he praised both Garcia and fellow debutant Maicon. "Garcia scored an important goal and had another chance. He played well, like Maicon. It was the first game for them and both players gave a good performance." Maicon, always eager to get forward, went close himself shortly after the equaliser with a low volley that Begovic saved.Stoke had their own new boy on show in Steven N'Zonzi, a deadline-day signing from Blackburn, who did well alongside the impressive Adam and Glenn Whelan in the centre of their midfield. As for Michael Owen, three sides of the Britannia Stadium rose as one to applaud the former England striker when he stepped off the bench to warm up on the hour. "Michael Owen finally signs for a big club" was the droll headline in the Oatcake fanzine but the home fans had to wait until the 90th minute for his appearance. "He needs a lot more football," said Pulis.Owen famously came off the bench to score an injury-time winner against City three years ago; instead it was so nearly the other way round but Stoke had earned their luck.
Sunderland 1-1 Liverpool
Liverpool have failed to open their winning account for the 2012/13 Premier League season but at least moved out of the relegation zone.The Reds were held to a 1-1 draw by Sunderland at the Stadium of Light despite dominating large portions of the affair, particularly in the second half.The draw marks the first time since 1911 that Liverpool have not won any of their opening four matches, heaping pressure on new manager Brendan Rodgers whose outfit again showed signs of profligacy in attack.The visitors had a great start but found themselves behind in the 29th minute when Craig Gardner made a clever run down the right wing before sending in a pinpoint cross for Steven Fletcher to prod home from close range for his third goal in two starts for Sunderland.Thankfully though, for the sanity of the Reds fans, Liverpool had pressed and pressed all game and finally got their reward with around 20 minutes remaining. Luis Suarez struck from close range after Raheem Sterling’s cross from the right was poorly cleared by the Black Cats defence with the deflection off Titus Bramble falling for the Reds striker to fire home.Liverpool were all over Martin O’Neill’s side early with Fabio Borini causing problems but unable to beat Simon Mignolet when he pounced on Carlos Cuellar’s poor headed backpass in the 18th minute before the Belgian came up with a huge save to deny the Italian’s volley from the edge of the area seven minutes later.Liverpool were then probably unlucky to not win a penalty when Suarez went down near the byline under pressure from John O’Shea but instead, referee Martin Atkinson issued a yellow card for diving to the Uruguayan whose reputation certainly preceded him on this occasion.Five minutes into the second half, Glen Johnson was desperately unlucky to see his curling effort from just inside the area clatter off the crossbar after beating Mignolet.Sunderland were clinging to their lead on the hour-mark when Reds skipper Steven Gerrard skimmed the outside of the upright when he was teed up by Jonjo Shelvey after Mignolet fisted away Sterling’s dangerous rightwing cross. Five minutes later, Mignolet was again up to the task when he denied Martin Skrtel’s header from close range.Mignolet was having a decent game and was able to keep out Shelvey in the 80th minute with his fifth save before Sunderland sub Louis Saha went close in injury-time down the other end in the last real moment of any consequence in the contest.Liverpool were able to move up to 17th with just their second point of the season as Sunderland dropped to 13th with their third draw from three outings.
