SPORTS

Man City stun Arsenal

August 27, 2006 16:17 IST

Manchester United made it three wins out of three in the new Premier League season with a battling 2-1 victory at promoted Watford on Saturday.

Defender Mikael Silvestre and winger Ryan Giggs scored the goals that ensured United are the only side with a 100 percent record and kept them two points clear of second-placed Everton.

Everton, down to 10 men for an hour following a red card for Kevin Kilbane, fully deserved a 2-0 win over a pale Tottenham Hotspur side at White Hart Lane with an own-goal by Calum Davenport and an Andy Johnson strike.

"When we went to 10 [men], if anything we got even better, it made us pass better, pass more accurately and some of our players had really stunning games," said Everton manager David Moyes after his side's first league win at Spurs for 21 years.

Speaking of Johnson, the club's record signing and recalled to the England squad this week, Moyes said: "He's playing well, he's getting his goals but more important is what he does for the team, the players here love him."

Champions Chelsea, six points adrift of United after one win and a defeat, play at Blackburn Rovers on Sunday, when Newcastle United also visit Aston Villa.

United were lucky to take all three points at Watford, their winning goal coming in a counter-attack following a near miss at the other end.

"We had to battle to get a result today...the younger players had to show their mettle," United manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports News.

"They're a very, very difficult side to play, Watford, they make you work hard all day...it was a great win born out of sheer determination."

ARSENAL LOSE

Arsenal went down 1-0 at Manchester City to Joey Barton's 41st-minute penalty and are still looking for their first win after two matches.

Arsene Wenger said the penalty was justified after defender Justin Hoyte brought down Trevor Sinclair. But the Arsenal manager was unhappy his Dutch striker Robin van Persie was not awarded a spot kick.

"For me it was a penalty, yes, because he...lost his man. He stopped him from playing the ball," Wenger said, adding that a foul on Van Persie "looked like a penalty from the touchline".

There were two red cards and two penalties at the Valley where home side Charlton Athletic spent more than an hour a man short after Hermann Hreidarsson was sent off for violent conduct but still beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0 for their first win.

Striker Darren Bent scored both goals, the first from a penalty in the 65th minute, nine minutes after El-Hadji Diouf had his saved by Scott Carson and six before Davies became the second player dismissed for another elbowing incident.

In the day's early match Liverpool scored twice in four minutes to come from behind and beat West Ham United 2-1 in a re-match of May's FA Cup final.

Striker Bobby Zamora scored his fourth goal in three matches to give Hammers an early lead, Danish defender Daniel Agger equalised in the 42nd minute with a fine shot from 30 metres and Peter Crouch struck the winner four minutes later.

The result gave Liverpool four points from two matches.

The two other promoted sides also lost on their travels. Wigan Athletic beat Reading 1-0 while Fulham defeated Sheffield United by the same score.

 

Source: REUTERS
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