Gunners take charge in first half
Arsenal had to settle for a two-goal lead at the break against rock-bottom Sunderland as Arsene Wenger’s side threatened to run riot at Highbury.
The impressive Robin van Persie scored first, timing his run well to meet Sol Campbell’s raking pass before keeping his composure to beat Ben Alnwick in the Sunderland goal after 12 minutes.
Van Persie was involved in the second too. The youngster flicked the ball wide to Lauren who charged forward and slid an inch-perfect pass across the penaty area for Henry who supplied the far-post finish.
Manchester City weathered an early storm at Craven Cottage but ended the first half 2-1 down due to the brilliance of Steed Malbranque and Luis Boa Morte for Fulham.
Boa Morte broke free down the left edge of the City penalty area and squared the ball to Malbranque who tapped home in the sixth minute.
Fulham continued to dominate as they looked to build on the early opening but City hit back after 20 minutes through Lee Croft. Darius Vassell cut in from the left and found Stephen Ireland in the middle. The Irishman cleverly passed it right to Croft who made it 1-1.
But as half-time approached, Boa Morte once again found Malbranque’s run and the Frenchman danced around David James to restore the lead.
Blackburn were rampant against Charlton but Bryan Hughes kept his side in the match at the break, pegging them back to 2-1.
Australian midfielder Brett Emerton gave Rovers the best possible start and as Charlton tried in vain to muster an immediate response, Paul Dickov doubled the deficit after nipping in to head Lucas Neill’s cross beyond Stephan Andersen.
But after Darren Bent won the ball in the corner and sent the ball goal-bound, Hughes bravely muscled in to poke the ball home.
Newcastle and Birmingham failed to find an opener in the first half at St James’ Park.
Birmingham showed a rare composure on the ball in the earlier stages and could have taken the lead when Stan Lazaridis looked to have been felled in the box by Scott Parker.
However, he was told to get up by referee Mike Dean who waved away penalty appeals and promptly booked the winger.
Matthew Upson’s accidental hand-ball was also met with penalty appears but again, Dean failed to point to the spot.
West Ham and West Brom played out a goalless first half after a delayed kick-off at Upton Park.
Alan Pardew’s side enjoyed the majority of possession but strikers Teddy Sheringham and Marlon Harewood were unable to force a way past Tomasz Kuszczak in the West Brom goal.
Liverpool recorded their first away win of the season as they recovered from a stale first half to win 2-0 at Aston Villa in the Premiership lunch-time fixture.
Djibril Cisse and Peter Crouch missed good chances before Liam Ridgewell fouled the tall England forward. Referee Steve Bennett awarded the penalty which captain Steven Gerrard converted with ease.
Crouch missed an excellent opportunity to put the game beyond Villa but the ball broke to Xabi Alonso, who rifled home from the edge of the box.
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