MANCHESTER, United Kingdom, Nov 27, (AFP): Manchester United moved top of the Premier League as an incredible five goals from Dimitar Berbatov helped Sir Alex Ferguson’s side humiliate Blackburn Rovers 7-1 on Saturday.
Wayne Rooney made his first Old Trafford start since he almost left Manchester United last month, but it was Berbatov who stole the show on a memorable afternoon for the Bulgarian striker.
He became just the fourth player since the inception of the Premier League to score five goals in one game following in the footsteps of Andy Cole, Alan Shearer and Jermain Defoe as United played beautifully from start to finish.
In a sign of what was to come, Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson failed to clear properly, as did Michel Salgado when he attempted a rescue act and their ineptitude allowed Nani to get the ball to Rooney who played in Berbatov and he swept past Robinson after 72 seconds.

It was his first goal since netting a hat-trick against Liverpool on Sept 19 and set United up to totally dominate the encounter.
Nani had a fine start to the game as he ran repeatedly at the Rovers’ defence and Chris Samba almost turned the ball past his own goalkeeper after 15 minutes.
Blackburn were missing the influential Morten Gamst Pedersen who pulled his hamstring against Aston Villa last weekend and without him Blackburn just could not get on the ball.
United’s midfield totally dominated proceedings and it was with little surprise when Park Ji-Sung superbly doubled United’s lead midway through the first half.
The South Korean brilliantly carved Blackburn open with an intelligent run to the edge of Blackburn’s box and after clever interplay with Rooney he slotted past Robinson to double the advantage.

Villa 2, Arsenal 4
In Birmingham, United Kingdom, Arsenal got back on track after a traumatic week as the Gunners romped to a 4-2 win at Aston Villa on Saturday.
Arsene Wenger’s side avoided a third straight defeat and extended their incredible unbeaten record at Villa to 12 games to take over at the top of the Premier League ahead of Saturday’s later matches.
After the misery of letting a two-goal lead slip in the north London derby against Tottenham and the subsequent embarrassment of losing to Braga in the Champions League, Arsenal were delighted to find sanctuary at Villa Park.
Their record of seven wins and five draws in their previous visits made it an ideal venue after losing four of their previous six games in all competitions.

The Gunners answered their critics, who believe they do not possess the mental strength to match their obvious talents, by overwhelming Villa in one of the most one-sided 45 minutes of Premier League action you could witness.
“It’s a good weekend because we can relax now a bit and look at the other results,” Wenger said. “You can only do your job and that’s what we did.
“It was a strong performance against a Villa side that’s dangerous.
“With 2-0 at half-time, it was quickly back to 2-1, but this time we managed to find the resources to keep scoring goals.”
Thomas Rosicky, Andrey Arshavin and Marouane Chamakh were all guilty of missing a succession of chances, but Arshavin soothed the frustration of Wenger when he netted in the 39th minute after a dreadful mix-up between Luke Young and James Collins from Lukasz Fabianski’s long clearance.

Stoke 1, Man City 1
In Stoke, Matthew Etherington was Stoke’s last-gasp hero as Manchester City were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.
City boss Roberto Mancini was about to celebrate his side’s second away win inside six days and confirmation that his big-money stars were finally beginning to gel together as genuine Premier League title contenders.
But Etherington changed all that in the blink of an eye two minutes into injury time with his dramatic equaliser.
Now, the questions which will be asked again is whether City really do have the steel to win the title.
Micah Richards was poised to be the unlikely hero after he scored his first league goal since last January nine minutes from time.

It looked like it would be enough to earn City a barely deserved three points - until Etherington intervened.
A trip to the Britannia Stadium on a freezing cold afternoon was always going to be a stiff test of City’s true championship mettle, but for most of the first-half they were found wanting and looked a pale shadow of the side which had triumped so impressively against Fulham six days earlier.
They took 36 minutes to produce their first shot on target - a long-distance effort from Aleksander Kolarov comfortably saved by Asmir Begovic - and spent most of the opening half trying to play keep-ball and being hustled out of their stride by Stoke.
The only other real glimpse of goal fell to Carlos Tevez, who showed he was as alert as ever when he almost seized on a weak back pass by Danny Collins.

Wolves 3, Sunderland 2
In Wolverhampton, England, lte substitute Sylvan Ebanks-Blake handed Wolverhampton a deserved and much sought-after 3-2 win over Sunderland with the winning goal in the dying moments of a thrilling match at Molineux.
Wolves’ fans have endured tough times of late with only one win in their last 13 matches leaving them deep in the relegation zone, five points from safety.
However, Mick McCarthy’s pre-match pep talk, which must have mentioned the fact Sunderland have a poor record away to Wolves, seemed to work wonders.
Wolves started the match energetically and harried the visitors throughout an opening half in which the goalscoring chances came thick and fast for both sides.

In the sixth minute Irish striker Kevin Doyle took the ball wide and ran past Anton Ferdinand to force Sunderland ‘keeper Craig Gordon into action.
The Black Cats hit back through Bolo Zenden minutes later, the Dutchman’s 20-yard shot flying past Hennessey’s left post.
Wolves then missed a great chance to open the scoring when defender Richard Stearman saw his close range header from Matt Jarvis’s corner go wide.
Doyle spurned another chance on 17 minutes when he latched on to Stephen Ward’s cross only to blast it narrowly over Gordon’s crossbar.
Darren Bent then won a freekick for Sunderland after a handball by George Elokobi, which earned the Nigerian a yellow card.
Bent’s call almost paid off, with Kieran Richardson blasting the resulting freekick off Hennessey’s post.

West Ham 3, Wigan 1
In London, West Ham reacted to their board’s statement that Saturday’s Premier League match with Wigan was ‘their save the season match’ in style with a 3-1 victory.
Thier first victory since beating Spurs on Sept 15 and only second in the league this term failed to lift them out of the bottom spot but took them to three points of safety while Wigan’s woeful away record worsened still with just one win in their last 15 away matches.
The Hammers took the lead to huge scenes of jubilation as Swiss international Valon Behrami slotted past Ali Al Habsi from the impressive Frederic Piquionne’s knockdown - Grant nonchalantly gave the Swiss scorer, who had only been passed fit late on after a hip injury, the thumbs-up.
The hosts took huge heart from that fillip and surged forward in search of doubling their lead before half-time as Wigan’s confidence ebbed away with even their best performer Frenchman Charles N’Zogbia fading away.
It was only two brilliant saves by Al Habsi that thwarted West Ham, first turning away for a corner Junior Stanislas’s long range effort and from the subsequent corner he pulled off an even better one from Piquionne’s header.

Fulham 1, Birmingham 1
In London, Fulham forward Clint Dempsey denied Birmingham their first away win of the season as the American’s equaliser earned a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage.
Alex McLeish’s side led through a 19th-minute strike from Sebastian Larsson but Fulham salvaged a point through Dempsey’s 53rd-minute header.
Fulham are still one place above the relegation zone and they are now without a win in their last five league games.
The Cottagers should have taken the lead in the fourth minute but a goalbound shot by Aaron Hughes was cleared off the line by Keith Fahey.
In the 11th minute, Dempsey tried his luck from the edge of the penalty area but his shot flashed past the upright.
Birmingham took the lead against the run of play with their first threatening attack of the game.
A surge by Alexander Hleb took him into the penalty and he crossed for Larsson to control and fire into the far corner.

Bolton 2, Blackpool 2
In Bolton, United Kingdom, i-form Bolton battled back from two goals down to rescue a 2-2 draw against Premier League surprise package Blackpool at the Reebok stadium Saturday.
Two goals from corners from defender Ian Evatt and striker Luke Varney looked to be enough for the Tangerines, but late goals from winger Martin Petrov and midfielder Mark Davies ensured the points were shared.
Bolton now sit three points off fourth spot, and Champions League qualification, while Blackpool have accumulated 19 points, almost half the 40 total considered necessary for survival.
Both teams were on a high after big wins last Saturday, and the confidence showed as the match started at a lively pace.

Everton 1, West Brom 4
In Liverpool, Everton’s stuttering Premier League campaign was dealt another hammer blow as West Bromwich Albion ran out 4-1 winners in a stormy encounter at Goodison Park on Saturday.
Defender Paul Scharner and midfielder Chris Brunt put the visitors into a two-goal lead which was halved before half-time by Tim Cahill’s header.
The Toffees played the final 30 minutes with 10 men after Mikel Arteta was dismissed, and were further punished through substitute Somen Tchoyi and an own goal from Sylvain Distin.
Youssouf Mulumbu was dismissed late on for the Baggies, but it was far too late for the home team to capitalise.
The two teams came into the game on poor runs of form with Everton winless in their previous four games and West Brom winless in five.

The home team made the brighter start and nearly opened the scoring after eight minutes but Scott Carson in the Baggies’ goal pulled off a fine save from winger Victor Anichebe’s curling shot.
Albion struggled to get a foothold in the game but from nowhere shocked their hosts to take the lead.
A rare foray into the Toffees’ half forced a corner, which Brunt whipped in for Scharner to head powerfully past Tim Howard in the home goal.
Everton pushed for an immediate response, but despite some territorial pressure they were stunned again by a second Albion goal.
Australia midfielder Cahill dragged down Mulumbu on the edge of the area presenting set-piece specialist Brunt with a glimmer of a chance which he took with aplomb, curling the free-kick into the top corner.
The contest sparked back into life shortly before the break when prolific midfielder Cahill struck to half the deficit.

Full-back Leighton Baines curled in an inviting corner which the ex-Millwall player rose to head past Carson.
Toffees’ striker Jermaine Beckford was denied by Carson’s smart save, but the home team’s chances of pulling level were severely dented when Arteta was sent off.
The Spaniard was incensed after Gonzalo Jara caught Baines with his arm, and executed his own revenge with a stamp which referee Lee Mason spotted and punished.
Despite a spell of pressure for the home team, the game was effectively sealed 15 minutes from time when Tchoyi finished superbly into the corner of the goal after weaving his way in from the left wing.
The scoreline took on an embarrassing appearance two minutes from time when Mulumbu’s shot was deflected into his own net by Distin.
Mulumbu managed to get himself booked twice before the end of the game, but the dismissal could not detract from a stunning win for Albion.