Manchester United took over second place in the Premier League on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Chelsea in the London club's first match since the departure of manager Jose Mourinho.
Carlos Tevez scored his first goal for United in first-half injury time and Louis Saha hit a late penalty to extend Chelsea's winless streak to four matches in all competitions and hand Avram Grant a defeat in his first game in charge of the Blues.
United's fourth win lifted them to 14 points, two fewer than leader Arsenal, who routed Derby 5-0 on Saturday to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
PHOTO: AFP
Chelsea, who looked like underdogs even before John Obi Mikel was sent off in the 32nd minute for a two-footed tackle, struggled to create chances at Old Trafford even with Andriy Shevchenko back in the starting team.
The Blues were also far less resilient than the team built by Mourinho over the past three years and are now in the midst of their worst start in seven years.
United paired Tevez and Wayne Rooney in attack for the first time and were already dominating possession when Mikel was given a red card for his challenge on Patrice Evra.
Mikel and his teammates protested that his challenge had not been dangerous, but referee Mike Dean ejected the midfielder for leading with his studs.
United captain Ryan Giggs then set up Tevez for the opening goal, curling in a cross from the right with the outside of his left boot. Tevez dived in front of goalkeeper Petr Cech to head the ball into the net.
Saha replaced Tevez 12 minutes before the end and earned a penalty kick in the 90th when he fell just inside the area after a slight tap from Tal Ben Haim. The France striker took the kick himself, driving it into the middle of the goal and just clipping Cech's legs on its way into the net.
Newcastle beat West Ham 3-1 to mark their best start to a Premier League season in six years, but their win was marred by another injury to Michael Owen.
The England striker limped off in the 51st, with his team already leading 2-1 through two goals by Mark Viduka.
It was the second-straight match from which Owen has departed early. He was replaced in the 55th minute of last Monday's 1-0 loss at Derby after he felt the recurrence of a groin injury.
"I'm not so sure of the extent of the injury, whether it's any different or the same one," Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce said.
Charles N'Zogbia completed Newcastle's win in the 76th, rounding off a slick passing move with a close-range finish.
Everton missed the chance to climb to third when they lost 2-0 at Aston Villa, who joined Everton with 10 points.
Portsmouth ended Blackburn's unbeaten start to the season with a 1-0 win at Ewood Park, secured through Nwankwo Kanu's third goal of the season, while Tottenham missed the chance to climb out of the relegation zone when they drew 1-1 at Bolton.
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
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