United overcome Reading as Chelsea, Arsenal lose

LONDON: Manchester United moved three points clear at the top of the Premier League after an extraordinary 4-3 victory at Reading on Saturday in which all seven goals arrived in the opening half.

Defensive manuals were ripped up as United trailed 1-0 and 3-2 but once again they showed their trademark resilience as two goals from Wayne Rooney, one from Anderson, and Robin van Persie’s 10th league strike of the season sealed the points.

Champions Manchester City needed a Carlos Tevez penalty to draw 1-1 at home to Everton — their 37th home league match without defeat — but they lost ground to their rivals in what is already looking like a two-horse title race.

Third-placed Chelsea surrendered a halftime lead to lose 3-1 at West Ham United to leave under-fire interim manager Rafael Benitez still without a win while Arsene Wenger was the target of jeers as his Arsenal side were humbled 2-0 by Swansea City.

Juan Mata gave Chelsea a well-deserved lead but West Ham roared back to pile pressure on Benitez with former Chelsea striker Carlton Cole levelling just past the hour before substitutes Mohamed Diame and Modibo Maiga struck late on.

Benitez, whose appointment in the wake of Roberto Di Matteo’s sacking has proved unpopular among fans, is the first Chelsea manager not to win any of his first three matches in charge since Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich bought the club.

“In the second half we didn’t start well, they got on top of us and we couldn’t manage,” former Liverpool manager Benitez, whose first two matches in charge ended in 0-0 draws against Manchester City and Fulham, told Sky Sports.

The European champions, now without a win in seven league matches having topped the table, are joined on 26 points by Tottenham Hostpur, who won 3-0 at Fulham with England striker Jermain Defoe scoring twice.

West Bromwich Albion slipped to fifth, also on 26 points, after a 1-0 defeat at home by Stoke City.

DEFENSIVE FRAGILITY

Manchester United have now conceded 21 league goals this season, managing just three clean sheets.

Their defensive fragility was exposed again by Reading, who took the lead after eight minutes through Hal Robson-Kanu.

Anderson equalised five minutes later after combining with Ashley Young before Jay Tabb bundled over Jonny Evans in the box and Wayne Rooney fired United ahead from the spot.

Two goals in four minutes from Adam Le Fondre and Sean Morrison put Reading 3-2 ahead after 23 minutes but Rooney turned in Patrice Evra’s cross to make it 3-3 before Van Persie kept his head to slot home what turned out to be the winner.

“It was agony. The worst defending of this season and we needed to do something about it,” United manager Alex Ferguson, who hauled off defender Rafael in the first half, said.

“We’re needing to rescue the situation all the time. Fortunately we have players who can do that.”

Looking ahead to next week’s derby with Manchester City, Ferguson quipped: “If we defend like that against Manchester City, I might need to play myself.”

Arsenal were booed off at the Emirates as they slipped to10th following Michu’s late double for Michael Laudr up’s impressive Swansea side.

“Of course you can understand the fans when we lose a match the way we did today,” Wenger told Sky Sports.

“We were maybe lacking a bit of maturity to keep it 0-0.It’s a big blow because the games are coming very quickly. Today was not the way we want to play football.”

Liverpool were 1-0 winners at home to Southampton and bottom club Queens Park Rangers drew 1-1 at home to Aston Villa as their search for a first league win of the season continues under new manager Harry Redknapp.

IN CONTROL

Banners protesting about Benitez’s shock appointment were still in evidence at Upton Park, yet for 45 minutes Chelsea looked in total control and heading for victory.

When Fernando Torres cut the ball back from the by line for Mata to shoot Chelsea in front after 13 minutes, it seemed that Benitez could silence his critics, at least for a day.

West Ham were far more adventurous after the break and deservedly drew level when Cole nodded past Cech from close range after appearing to climb over Branislav Ivanovic.

Mata nearly restored Chelsea’s lead with a superb free kick that thudded against the woodwork and Chelsea looked the more likely winners as the game entered its closing stages.

However, West Ham roused themselves to beat Chelsea for the first time in nine years.

With four minutes of normal time remaining Diame smashed a low shot past Cech and with is grunted Chelsea fans already heading for the exits Maiga converted a rebound for the third after Cech had saved Matt Taylor’s shot.

Manchester City extended their unbeaten league run at home to 37 matches but they were given a scare when Marouane Fellaini scored for Everton after 37 minutes.

Argentine Tevez levelled just before halftime when Fellaini was adjudged to have dragged down Edin Dzeko.

“If teams come here and get soft penalties awarded against them it’s going to be hard to get a result,” Everton manager David Moyes told Sky Sports after his sixth-placed side’s eighth draw in 15 league games.

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This Is Manchester United's ‘Thierry Henry Moment’ - Arsene Wenger

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes that Manchester United will miss the services of Cristiano Ronaldo, stating the loss of the Portuguese player has brought about a crucial time in the development of the club.

"I believe that they will miss Ronaldo," Wenger is quoted as saying in The Mirror.

"They will find a new balance in the team and [Wayne] Rooney will pop up with 20 goals, or [Dimitar] Berbatov with 20 goals, that could happen as well you know.

"You could say that this is their Thierry Henry moment."

The Frenchman looked back on the time when Henry plied his trade in north London, and compared the exit of the current Barcelona forward to that of Ronaldo.

"When a player becomes too strong in a team, the way of the game goes too strong for him," he said.

"Others are a little bit isolated or forgotten, and when he disappears so many of the players turn up because the way of the game goes through different players."

When asked if the side could bounce back from the loss of such a talent, the manager signed off by saying, "Nobody knows really."

Fabregas hopeful he will face United :Arsenal optimistic captain will be play at Old Trafford as Uefa turn up heat on Eduardo

Cesc Fabregas will undergo tests today on his hamstring to decide whether he is fit to face Manchester United tomorrow. The Arsenal midfielder's leg is still sore but the club are hopeful that he might yet come through as they face a series of injury worries in their midfield.

The club are still concerned about whether Aaron Ramsey and Abou Diaby will be fit to face the champions, the former picked up an injury against Celtic on Wednesday night. Fabregas' hamstring is understood to be less serious than first thought, and the club will leave it to the last minute to decide whether or not he is fit to play.

Wenger said yesterday: "He had a training session today that was quite positive. He will have a definite test [today] where we will decide if we include him in the squad or not. I would say it is a real 50:50. [On Wednesday] I would say it was 60:40 against but he looked positive."

That the Arsenal captain was named in the Spain squad yesterday for the World Cup qualifiers against Belgium and Estonia over the next two weeks demonstrates that he is not too far from match fitness. He picked up the injury on Saturday against Portsmouth.

The fall-out from Eduardo da Silva's blatant dive to win a penalty against Celtic continued yesterday with Uefa admitting that the player could yet face sanctions. The European governing body said that they were looking at video evidence of the incident. The Uefa president Michel Platini added that they were determined to root out cheats.

"There are disciplinary procedures at Uefa and the procedure could be taken to suspend the player. Scotland often start such procedures – last time it was a Lithuania player [Saulius Mikoliunas] who was sanctioned [on the basis of video evidence in a game at Hampden Park]."

Platini said that Uefa wanted to introduce more referees to stamp out diving, a project that will be tested in the Europa League with two officials three metres behind the goal. "One day players will give up simulating because referees will see them," he said. "For years players have cheated because the referees were not of a good enough quality. I am convinced if you have referees close by that will prevent players from simulating. I have always said better to have more referees than a multiplication of disciplinary procedures."

Having been on the brink of a move away from Arsenal all summer, Emmanuel Eboué said that he would not be leaving the club and would like to sign a new contract. Booed by his own fans at the Emirates during a win over Wigan Athletic in December, and subsequently reduced to tears, Eboué said he had now resolved his differences with the club's support.

He looked likely to leave for Italy's third Champions League side, Fiorentina, but Eboué said he would be staying at Arsenal yesterday after scoring the second goal against Celtic in Arsenal's 3-1 win. "I'll wait [for a new contract] but if they want me to sign I will sign because I love this club and have to do my best for this team," Eboué said. Eboué, who has two years left on his current deal, denied that throwing his shirt to the fans in the last pre-season game was a sign he was off. "It [the booing] just happens sometimes in football," he said. "I'm very happy with the fans because they sing my name and make me happy when I play. I say thank you to the fans."

Great stuff, Arsenal - but Manchester United will give you a special answer!

So Arsenal are not a threat to Manchester United's Premier League crown? Everton 1 Arsenal 6. Think again, people!

Manchester City showed they definitely have to be taken seriously and money is going to talk again, like it has done with Chelsea.

But just wait until Manchester United underline that they are the team everyone else has to beat. A thrashing of Birmingham City at Old Trafford in their opening game of the 2009-10 campaign will show what they have got in the tank this season.

Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Ryan Giggs, Antonio Valencia and the rest are all capable of ripping teams apart, and last Sunday's poor performance against Chelsea will be put firmly in the bin as they set about retaining the title.

Everton and David Moyes have nowhere to go now after his embarrassing tirade aimed at Mark Hughes and City.

If he thinks he controls things at Goodison, he is sadly deluded. The bankers and accountants are in control along with the biggest shareholders.

UEFA to Fine Arsenal and Manchester United £5,000

UEFA will fine both Arsenal and Manchester United £5,000 respectively for fan incidents during last years Champions League semifinals. An Arsenal fan hit Nemanja Vidic with a plastic bottle. A Manchester United supporter hurled a smoke bomb onto the pitch. The actions were potentially serious. The fines are not.

UEFA functions like all bureaucracies. It continues actions without a hint of rational analysis, solely because it was policy beforehand. Has no one questioned the purpose of these penalties?

The sums under discussion are trivial. Both Manchester United and Arsenal measure turnover in the hundreds of millions. Five thousand pounds neither attracts attention nor deters future behavior. It is doubtful Arsenal will now institute a plastic bottle task force.

It does not stop supporters. If you throw a projectile into the pitch, it is assumed you will be banned. The thought of the club paying a paltry fine in addition does not factor into the decision.

The fines are also not cost effective. There must be a meeting to determine whether a meeting to discuss these incidents is required. Someone has to schedule, to organize and to provide amenities for that meeting, which, with UEFA, is probably a lavish lunch. They may even fly people in for it. Someone has to contact the clubs to make statements. Once the issue is deemed punishment-worthy, another meeting must take place. The process takes months. The sum cost exceeds the amount returned in fines.

UEFA penalizing Arsenal and Manchester United accomplishes only one thing. It re-publicizes unsavory events long-forgotten and ultimately insignificant.

Rationales are non-existent. The fines are useless. UEFA should give meaningful punishments, or none at all.