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Red Devils sizzle anew, clip Blues

Comment: 0 September 19th, 2011 by: admin

HOLDERS Manchester United are showing everyone in the Premier League why they should go hard after them this season.

The Red Devils kept their sizzling form by swamping Chelsea 3-1 on Sunday for their fifth consecutive triumph that saw them vaulting atop the standings after neighbours Manchester City were held to a draw at Fulham.

It was United’s best start to the season since 1985.

Goals from Chris Smalling, Nani and Wayne Rooney sent United three goals up by halftime during the fixture wherein Chelsea had 21 attempts at goal.

Although Fernando Torres netted the lone goal for the Blues, his awful miss in the 83^rd where he shot wide at an open goal was another cause for Old Trafford fans to celebrate with more impact. Rooney himself missed a penalty shot in the 55th but he was easily forgiven.

United now lead City by 2 points after their local rivals squandered a two-goal advantage as Fulham salvaged a 2-2 standoff.

In other league fixtures, Emmanuel Adebayor found the back of the net twice to lead Tottenham to a 4-0 blasting of nine-man Liverpool, while Sunderland dumped Stoke by the same score.

Describing the misses, losing Chelsea boss Andres Villas-Boas said: “The worst things happen to the best strikers in the world and today it happened to both of them.’’

Porous Blues defence enabled Smalling to head in an Ashley Young free kick in the 8^th minute. Nani had his share with an spectacular goal in the 37^th when he shook off three defenders before firing a rasping shot from outside the penalty area into the top of the net.

Rooney contributed at the stroke of halftime when John Terry’s clearance bounced off Nani and into his path, giving him his 9^th goal of the season.

Torres struck 30 seconds into the start of the second half for only his second goal since arriving from Liverpool in January. Nicolas Anelka, who replaced Frank Lampard earlier, assisted Torres who deftly put the ball over United goalkeeper David de Gea.

The Spanish striker had a golden chance to make it 3-2 but  he flubbed an easy shot after rounding De Gea with the goal at his mercy.

“The scoreline went crazy in the first half, but we had good opportunities to do something in this game,” Villas-Boas said. “Coming back from 3-0 down is always difficult and we had to take risks without exposing ourselves too much.”

In Spain, Levante shocked 10-man Real Madrid 1-0, with Arouna Kone’s second-half goal giving the highly-touted Los Blancos their first La Liga loss of the season.

Defending champions Barcelona treaded the opposite rout on Saturday by hammering Osasuna 8-0.

In France, Michel Bastos connced a goal and set up another as Lyon moved to the top of the French league after taming Marseille 2-0.

In Germany, Bayern Munich clipped Schalke 2-0 for their 8^th consecutive win in all competitions as they shot atop the Bundesliga standings.

In Italy, Edinson Cavani had a hat-trick to spark Napoli to a 3-1 triumph at home over holders AC Milan.

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