Manchester United defeat Chelsea to go top

Chris Smalling, Nani and Wayne Rooney did the damage with first-half strikes.

But after Fernando Torres had pulled one back early in the second period, Rooney slipped and missed a penalty.

Then Torres rounded David de Gea but contrived to miss in front of a completely open goal.

The end result was United extending their perfect start to five games.

ManchesterCityhad earlier failed to do the same as Fulhamstunned them with a second-half comeback from 2-0 down to 2-2 at Craven Cottage.

City looked set to equal their best-ever opening to a top-flight campaign when Sergio Aguero's jaw-dropping adaptation to life in England continued with the seventh and eighth goals of his five-game City league career.

He made it 2-0 just seconds after the break but Fulham refused to buckle, with Bobby Zamora and Danny Murphy earning them a deserved draw.

Emmanuel Adebayor scored twice on his home debut as Tottenham hammered four unanswered goals past nine-man Liverpool to earn a morale-boosting first home win of the season.

Luka Modric opened the scoring with a blistering 20-yard strike before Charlie Adam picked up a second yellow card for a late foul on Scott Parker.

Martin Skrtel, who had a torrid afternoon at right-back thanks to Gareth Bale, was then sent off for two bookings in the second half before Jermain Defoe scored and Adebayor struck twice to wrap up an important win for Harry Redknapp's team against their rivals for a top-four finish.

Sunderlanddemolished Stoke4-0 to claim their first victory of the season after roaring into a 3-0 lead inside half-an-hour.

Titus Bramble's first strike for the club gave them a fifth-minute advantage and an own goal from former Newcastle team-mate Jonathan Woodgate six minutes later left Stoke in deep trouble.

Craig Gardner made it 3-0 with a deflected shot and Sebastian Larsson curled home a fine 58th-minute free-kick.

Results:

Tottenham 4-0 Liverpool

Fulham 2-2 Manchester City

Sunderland 4-0 Stoke C.

Manchester U. 3-1 Chelsea

Saturday’s results:

Blackburn r. 4-3 Newcastle

Aston Villa 1-1 Newcastle U.

Bolton W. 1-2 Norwich C.

Everton 3-1 Wigan Athletic

Swansea C. 3-0 West Bromwich A.

Wolverhampton W. 0-3 Queens Park R.