Chelsea pull clear at the top

LONDON – Chelsea pulled clear at the top of the English Premier League on Saturday after Manchester United ended Tottenham’s winning start to the season with a 3-1 win at White Hart Lane.

On a day that saw Manchester City’s hopes of breaking into the top four bolstered by a 4-2 win over Arsenal, Chelsea scored a stoppage time winner at Stoke to notch up a fifth straight win under new boss Carlo Ancelotti.But Spurs, who like Chelsea had won their opening four games, were given a reality check by ten-man United, despite taking the lead with the fastest goal of the season so far – an overhead kick by Jermain Defoe after only 47 seconds.The champions hit back with a superb Ryan Giggs free-kick, Brazilian midfielder Anderson’s first goal for the club and a late strike from Wayne Rooney ensured there was to be no comeback from Spurs after Paul Scholes had been ordered off for a second yellow card offence.Arsenal’s visit to the City of Manchester stadium provided the first significant test of the season for Mark Hughes’s expensively assembled squad.They passed it with flying colours but an impressive performance was overshadowed by controversy centred on former Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who appeared to stamp on the face of former team-mate Robin van Persie and then provocatively celebrated scoring City’s third goal in front of the crowd.Yossi Benayoun capped a superb all-round display with a hat-trick as Liverpool overran Burnley in a 4-0 win at Anfield. Dirk Kuyt was also on the mark as Rafael Benitez’s side continued their recovery from a stuttering start to the campaign.Blackburn claimed their first win of the season and climbed out of the relegation zone with an impressive 3-1 win over top-flight newcomers Wolves. Centre-back Gary Cahill scored an 89th-minute winner as Bolton claimed their first points of the season with a 3-2 win at Portsmouth, who are still pointless after five games.Sunderland’s strong start to the season continued with a 4-1 win over Hull.Colombian striker Hugo Radallego claimed the only goal of the game as Wigan took the points against West Ham. – Nampa-AFP