A quick-fire three-goal salvo saw Manchester United come from behind to beat Harry Redknapp’s new club Queens Park Rangers 3-1 yesterday, propelling them to the top of the Premier League.
Incoming QPR manager Redknapp was present at Old Trafford, hours after his appointment as the successor to Mark Hughes was confirmed (see also page 90), and he saw his new charges take a shock lead in the 52nd minute.
Kieron Dyer’s cross-shot from the left was palmed out by Anders Lindegaard and Jamie Mackie found the roof of the net from close range.
After losing at Norwich City and Galatasaray in their last two outings, United were staring at the prospect of a third consecutive defeat, but three goals in the space of eight minutes saw them roar into the lead.
Jonny Evans headed in the equaliser from close range in the 64th minute and four minutes later, Darren Fletcher marked his first league appearance in over a year by scoring with a thumping header from Wayne Rooney’s corner.
Substitute Javier Hernandez then beat QPR goalkeeper Julio Cesar from Anderson’s pass in the 72nd minute to kill the game off and lift Alex Ferguson’s men two points above Man. City at the summit.
City are not in action until this afternoon, when they visit fourth-place Chelsea and their new interim coach, Rafael Benitez.
“We only played for 10 minutes and those 10 minutes were brilliant. I thought Anderson changed the game for us,” said Ferguson, who also praised Fletcher for battling to overcome a career-threatening bowel condition.
“The boy has had a long journey back and he has showed he is back to his best.”
Aston Villa clambered out of the relegation zone at the expense of Reading after an uneventful 0-0 draw at home to Arsenal, who finished the day four points below the Champions League places in sixth position.
Villa winger Andreas Weimann had a goal ruled out for offside in the first half, while Arsenal centre-back Laurent Koscielny spurned his side’s best chance by shooting over from eight yards.
Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey both went close for the visitors after the break, but Arsenal were indebted to goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny for producing a superb finger-tip save to touch Brett Holman’s rasping effort onto the bar.
Everton were prevented from closing to within a point of Chelsea as Sebastien Bassong netted a last-minute equaliser to earn Norwich a 1-1 draw at Goodison Park.
Steven Naismith had given the hosts the lead with a 12th-minute tap-in before Bassong struck at the death, meeting Wes Hoolahan’s deep free-kick with a back-post header.
Earlier, West Bromwich Albion continued their superb start to the season with a 4-2 win at Sunderland that took them up to third place.
Zoltan Gera’s curling 25-yarder put the visitors ahead after half an hour’s play at the Stadium of Light, before a fumble from Sunderland goalkeeper Simon Mignolet gifted Shane Long the Baggies’ second.
Romelu Lukaku’s 81st-minute penalty made it 3-1 after Craig Gardner had scored with a deflected free-kick, but Stephane Sessegnon brought Sunderland back into the game again with a late strike from close range.
However, Steve Clarke’s men struck again in injury time through substitute Marc-Antoine Fortune to secure a fourth straight league win.
“To talk about European football at this stage would be folly,” warned West Brom coach Clarke.
“There are a lot of games to go, so we’ll keep our feet on the ground.”
Results and standings
Premier League
Aston Villa 0
Arsenal 0
Att: 34,607.
Everton 1
Naismith 12;
Norwich 1
Bassong 90;
HT: 1-0. Att: 34,502.
Man. United 3
Evans 64; Fletcher 68; Hernandez 72;
QPR 1
Mackie 52;
HT: 0-0. Att: 75,603.
Stoke City 1
Adam 26;
Fulham 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 26,921.
Sunderland 2
Gardner 73; Sessegnon 87;
West Brom 4
Gera 30; Long 44; Lukaku 81 pen; Fortune 90;
HT: 0-2. Att: 36,390.
Wigan 3
Gomez 58, 68, 90;
Reading 2
Morrison 35; Al Habsi 79 og;
HT: 0-1. Att: 15,436.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Man. United | 13 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 32 | 18 | 30 |
| Man. City | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 25 | 10 | 28 |
| West Brom | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 23 | 15 | 26 |
| Chelsea | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 24 | 13 | 24 |
| Everton | 13 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 23 | 17 | 21 |
| Arsenal | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 23 | 13 | 20 |
| West Ham | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 12 | 19 |
| Tottenham | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 20 | 21 | 17 |
| Fulham | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 25 | 23 | 16 |
| Swansea | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 16 | 16 |
| Stoke City | 13 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 11 | 16 |
| Liverpool | 12 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 17 | 16 | 15 |
| Norwich | 13 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 19 | 15 |
| Newcastle | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 14 |
| Wigan | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 23 | 14 |
| Sunderland | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 12 |
| Aston Villa | 13 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 22 | 10 |
| Reading | 12 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 22 | 9 |
| Southampton | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 18 | 30 | 8 |
| QPR | 13 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 26 | 4 |
Playing today
Chelsea vs Man. City - 17.00
Southampton vs Newcastle - 16.00
Swansea vs Liverpool - 14.30
Tottenham vs West Ham - 17.00
Top scorers
10 goals: Suarez (Liverpool).
8 goals: Van Persie (Man. United), Ba (Newcastle).
7 goals: Michu (Swansea).
6 goals: Fellaini (Everton), Dzeko (Man. City), Tevez (Man. City), Fletcher (Sunderland).
Next fixtures
Saturday: 13.45 West Ham vs Chelsea. 16.00 Arsenal vs Swansea; Fulham vs Tottenham; Liverpool vs Southampton; Manchester City vs Everton; QPR vs Aston Villa; West Brom vs Stoke City. 18.30 Reading vs Manchester United.
Sunday: 17.00 Norwich vs Sunderland. Monday, Dec. 3: 21.00 Newcastle vs Wigan.
The Championship
Barnsley 1 - Cardiff 2
Blackburn 0 - Millwall 2
Blackpool 2 - Watford 2
Brighton 1 - Bolton 1
Charlton 1 - Huddersfield 1
Derby 3 - Birmingham 2
Hull 0 - Burnley 1
Ipswich 1 - Peterborough 1
Leeds 2 - Crystal Palace 1
M’boro 1 - Bristol City 3
Sheffield Wed. 0 - Leicester 2
Wolves 1 - N. Forest 2
Standings: Cardiff 37; C. Palace 36; Leicester 33; M’Boro 32; Hull 31; Millwall, N. Forest 29; Brighton, Blackburn, Huddersfield 28; Watford 27; Burnley, Derby 26; Blackpool, Charlton 24; Leeds 23; Wolves, Bolton 22; Birmingham 20; Barnsley 16; Bristol City, Sheffield Wed. 15; Ipswich 14; Peterborough 13.
League One
Brentford 2 - Sheff. Utd 0
Bury 2 - Bournemouth 2
Coventry 1 - Portsmouth 1
Crewe 2 - Crawley 0
Doncaster 4 - Scunthorpe 0
Leyton Orient 2 - Preston 0
MK Dons 5 - Colchester 1
Notts County 1 - Swindon 0
Oldham 1 - Shrewsbury 0
Stevenage 1 - Tranmere 1
Walsall 1 - Hartlepool 1
Yeovil Town 1 - Carlisle 3
Standings: Tranmere 39; MK Dons, Doncaster, Sheffield Utd 36; Brentford 35; Notts County, Stevenage 34; Swindon 32; Crawley 31; Bournemouth 29; Preston, Yeovil, Leyton Orient 28; Crewe 27; Coventry 24; Oldham, Colchester, Carlisle 23; Walsall 22; Portsmouth, Bury 19; Shrewsbury 18; Scunthorpe 17; Hartlepool 9.
League Two
Accrington 1 - Gillingham 1
Aldershot 1 - Port Vale 3
Bristol Rovers 3 - Bradford City 3
Cheltenham 1 - Barnet 0
Dagenham 1 - Fleetwood 0
Exeter 0 - Rotherham 1
Morecambe 3 - Wimbledon 1
Oxford 2 - Northampton 1
Plymouth 0 - Chesterfield 1
Southend 3 - Rochdale 1
Wycombe 3 - Burton 0
York City 0 - Torquay2
Standings: Gillingham 41; Port Vale 39; Cheltenham 35; Southend, Bradford 32; Fleetwood, Rotherham 31; Rochdale, Exeter 30; Northampton, Burton 29; Chesterfield, Torquay 28; Accrington 26; Dagenham, Morecambe 25; York, Oxford 24; Wycombe 19; Plymouth, Bristol Rovers, Wimbledon 18; Aldershot 17; Barnet 15.