Manchester United celebrated the 25th anniversary of Sir Alex Ferguson’s appointment with a 1-0 win over Sunderland yesterday as Manchester City maintained their five-point lead with a 3-2 win over QPR.
Sunderland’s United old boy Wes Brown gifted victory to his former manager, heading in an own goal on 45 minutes to settle a lacklustre Premier League encounter at a packed Old Trafford.
Ferguson had earlier been given a guard of honour by both teams as he walked out onto the pitch before club officials revealed the north stand had been renamed in his honour.
But the celebratory mood fell flat after kick-off as United struggled to break down Sunderland, managed by former United captain Steve Bruce.
Ferguson later said he believed his players had been affected by the emotion of the occasion.
“It was an anxious day for the players and I think they showed that today. They improved in the second-half, but the last 15 minutes was torture,” he said.
“Possibly the occasion got to the players. The players wanted to do well for me, I think that was obvious, but these occasions can be a bit like that.”
Ferguson said United – who have now registered four consecutive clean sheets since their 6-1 derby thrashing by City last month – were now preparing for a decisive part of the season after next week’s international break.
“This is a pivotal moment for us because we now have three and a half months with no interruptions – we can really kick on and have a go now,” he said.
City later took the gloss of the celebrations at Old Trafford with a battling victory over newly-promoted QPR at Loftus Road.
Goals from Edin Dzeko, David Silva and Yaya Toure secured all three points for Roberto Mancini’s men, who remain unbeaten in the league and have now reeled off eight straight wins in all competitions.
QPR had given City a scare after taking a first-half lead through Jay Bothroyd before Dzeko equalised.
A clever Silva goal gave City a 2-1 lead but Rangers battled back to level their Heidar Helguson before a towering Toure header settled it for City.
Elsewhere yesterday, Newcastle maintained their superb unbeaten start to the season with a 2-1 victory over Everton at St James Park.
The Magpies – who remain unbeaten after 11 games – sealed their third consecutive league victory courtesy of a John Heitinga own goal and a spectacular Ryan Taylor volley.
Everton pulled one back through Jack Rodwell on the stroke of half-time but the Toffees were unable to salvage a positive result after the break.
Chelsea ended their mini-slump with a first victory in three league games against Blackburn, Frank Lampard scoring the game’s only goal to relieve the pressure on manager Andre Villas Boas as the Blues won 1-0.
Lampard struck on 51 minutes, stooping to head home a neat cross from Branislav Ivanovic as Chelsea remained in fourth spot, six points off the lead.
Arsenal’s recent revival continued to gather pace as the Londoners swatted aside West Bromwich Albion 3-0 at the Emirates, Robin van Persie scoring one and helping create goasl for Thomas Vermaelen and Mikel Arteta.
The win saw Arsene Wenger’s team move up one place to sixth, leapfrogging Liverpool who were held to a 0-0 draw by newly promoted Swansea at Anfield.
Results and standings
Premier League
Arsenal 3
Van Persie 22; Vermaelen 39; Arteta 74;
West Brom 0
HT: 2-0. Att: 60,091.
Aston Villa 3
Bent 30, 62; Agbonlahor 48;
Norwich 2
Pilkington 25; Morison 77;
HT: 1-1. Att: 35,290.
Blackburn 0
Chelsea 1
Lampard 51;
HT: 0-0. Att: 21,985.
Liverpool 0
Swansea 0
Att: 45,013.
Man. United 1
Brown 45 og;
Sunderland 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 75,570.
Newcastle 2
Heitinga 12 og; Taylor 29;
Everton 1
Rodwell 45;
HT: 2-1. Att: 50,671.
QPR 2
Bothroyd 28; Helguson 69;
Man. City 3
Dzeko 43; Silva 52; Y. Toure 74;
HT: 1-1. Att: 18,076.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Man. City | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 10 | 31 |
| Man. Utd | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 28 | 12 | 26 |
| Newcastle | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 17 | 8 | 25 |
| Chelsea | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 24 | 15 | 22 |
| Tottenham | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 14 | 19 |
| Liverpool | 11 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 19 |
| Arsenal | 11 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 23 | 21 | 19 |
| Aston Villa | 11 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 16 | 15 | 15 |
| Norwich | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 18 | 13 |
| Swansea City | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 15 | 13 |
| Stoke City | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 12 |
| QPR | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 20 | 12 |
| West Brom | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 16 | 11 |
| Sunderland | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 13 | 10 |
| Fulham | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 12 | 10 |
| Everton | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 10 |
| Wolves | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 17 | 8 |
| Blackburn | 11 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 24 | 6 |
| Bolton | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 13 | 27 | 6 |
| Wigan Athletic | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 5 |
Today
14.30 Wolves vs Wigan; 16.00 Bolton-Stoke; 17.00 Fulham-Tottenham.
Top scorers
11 goals: Van Persie (Arsenal).
10 goals: Dzeko (Man. City).
9 goals: Rooney (Man. United), Aguero (Man. City).
Next fixtures
Saturday, Nov. 19: 13.45 Norwich City vs Arsenal. 16.00 Everton vs Wolves; Manchester City vs Newcastle; Stoke City vs QPR; Sunderland vs Fulham; West Brom vs Bolton; Wigan vs Blackburn. 18.30 Swansea vs Manchester United.
Sunday, Nov. 20: 17.00 Chelsea vs Liverpool.
Monday, Nov. 21: 21.00 Tottenham vs Aston Villa.
Championship
Blackpool 1 - Millwall 0
Bristol City 3 - Burnley 1
Cardiff 2 - Crystal Palace 0
Coventry 2 - Southampton 4
Hull 0 - West Ham 2
Ipswich 2 - Doncaster 3
Middlesbrough 1 - Watford0
Peterborough 3 - Derby 2
Portsmouth 3 - N. Forest 0
Playing today
Brighton-Barnsley - 16.00
Leicester-Leeds - 16.00
Reading-Birmingham - 16.00
Leading standings: Southampton 36; West Ham 31; Middlesbrough 30; Cardiff 27; Blackpool, C. Palace 25; Derby, Hull 24; Peterborough, Leicester, Leeds 22; Birmingham 21; Brighton, Ipswich 20; Portsmouth 19.
League One
Bournemouth 2 - Scunthorpe 0
Charlton 5 - Preston 2
Chesterfield 2 - Yeovil 2
Exeter 0 - Carlisle 0
Huddersfield 1 - Walsall 1
Leyton Orient 1 - Hartlepool 1
MK Dons 3 - Rochdale 1
Notts County 1 - Wycombe 1
Oldham 0 - Bury 2
Sheffield Wed. 0 - Brentford 0
Stevenage 2 - Sheffield United 1
Tranmere 0 - Colchester 0
Leading standings: Charlton 40 Huddersfield 35; Sheff. Wed 33; MK Dons 30; Sheffield United 29.
League Two
Accrington 2 - Bristol Rovers 1
Wimbledon 1 - Barnet 1
Bradford 0 - Cheltenham 1
Burton Albion 1 - Macclesfield 0
Crewe 0 - Torquay 3
Dagenham 0 - Shrewsbury 2
Gillingham 4 - Northampton 3
Hereford 1 - Crawley Town 1
Plymouth 1 - Morecambe 1
Port Vale 0 - Swindon 2
Rotherham 2 - Aldershot 0
Southend 2 - Oxford United 1
Leading standings: Southend 38; Crawley Town 36; Cheltenham 32; Shrewsbury 31; Morecambe 30.