LONDON: Hull City secured a stunning 2-1 win at Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday thanks to a header by Daniel Cousin that ruined Arsene Wenger's 12th anniversary as manager of the north London side. It was only Arsenal's second defeat in 60 matches at the Emirates Stadium and meant they tumbled from first place at the start of the day into fourth spot. Hull, who are playing in the top division for the first time, are sixth. Arsenal, who dominated the first half, went ahead after a scrambled own goal came off Paul McShane in the 50th minute, but Hull hit back with an awesome strike from Geovanni after 62 minutes and Cousin's header from a corner in the 66th. The shock result meant Chelsea stayed top with 14 points from six matches, the same number of points as Liverpool but with a better goal difference. Aston Villa, who beat Sunderland 2-1, were third with 13 points and Arsenal fourth with 12.
Chelsea and Liverpool maintained their unbeaten starts to the season with 2-0 away wins earlier on Saturday. Goals from Jose Bosingwa and Nicolas Anelka gave Chelsea victory at Stoke City while Liverpool beat Everton by the same score in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park with two goals from Fernando Torres. DEBATABLE PENALTY Champions Manchester United also won 2-0, beating Bolton Wanderers at Old Trafford where a debatable penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo and a second goal from substitute Wayne Rooney gave United victory. The day's most impressive individual performance came at Goodison where Spain striker Torres recovered his scoring form with two goals in three minutes as Liverpool made it 10 matches unbeaten in all competitions since the start of the season. Everton, who have now lost all three of their opening home league games, did not trouble Liverpool keeper Jose Reina with a meaningful shot all match and their miserable afternoon was compounded when Tim Cahill was sent off 10 minutes from time. Manchester United, who started the day in 15th place, climbed up the table with their win over Bolton. United made the breakthrough after 60 minutes when referee Rob Styles awarded them a penalty even though no United player had appealed for it. Ronaldo fell to the floor after what appeared to be a fair tackle by Jlloyd Samuel and looked astonished when the referee pointed to the spot. He made no mistake from the ensuing penalty which put United on their way to only their second league win of the season. NEWCASTLE LOSE At the other end of the table, Newcastle United's troubles continued when they lost for the fifth straight game, beaten 2-1 at St James' Park by Blackburn Rovers. Playing under caretaker manager Chris Hughton and watched by newly-appointed interim manager Joe Kinnear, United trailed to first-half goals scored by Chris Samba and Roque Santa Cruz before Michael Owen pulled one back from the penalty spot early in the second half. Despite a spirited performance Newcastle did not look like scoring again and their defeat left them one place off the bottom. They will go bottom if Tottenham Hotspur win at Portsmouth on Sunday. West Ham United won a lively match against Fulham 2-1 at Craven Cottage where most of the drama came just before halftime. Carlton Cole and Matthew Etherington scored for the Hammers just before the break and Fulham then had Andy Johnson sent off for a second yellow card in first-half stoppage time. Danny Murphy pulled one back for Fulham from a penalty after 59 minutes when Lucas Neill handled but could not stop Fulham going down to a third successive defeat.
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