Premier League Review: Manchester United cruised past bottom club Derby 4-1 at a sodden Old Trafford to maintain the pressure on Arsenal at the summit of the Barclays Premier League.
United are now just a point behind Arsene Wenger's side, who visit struggling Middlesbrough tomorrow, and are in rampant form.
Alex Ferguson was indebted to goals from Ryan Giggs and Carlos Tevez at the end of the first half to break stubborn Derby's resistance.
Cristiano Ronaldo's fierce drive was parried by Stephen Bywater, and the evergreen Giggs was first to react to stroke the ball past the floored Rams goalkeeper.
Wayne Rooney saw a delicate chip over Bywater crash back off the post after 43 minutes, but they did net a second a minute later as Tevez clipped home after a scramble in the penalty area.
Giggs struck the post with a crisp volley after 58 minutes before Tevez netted his second a minute later with a powerful drive into the bottom corner.
Steve Howard netted a consolation for Paul Jewell's side after 76 minutes to ensure the Rams did not become the first English top-flight side to fail to score in their first nine away matches of the season.
Ronaldo added a fourth from the penalty spot for the Reds in stoppage time after he had been hauled down in the area.
Andriy Shevchenko took full advantage of Didier Drogba's absence to set Chelsea to their way to a 2-0 win over Sunderland at Stamford Bridge.
Drogba underwent surgery on his knee today meaning the Ukrainian striker was given the task of leading the line against Roy Keane's side, and he gave the Blues the lead after 23 minutes with his second goal of the season.
Salomon Kalou stood up a cross from the left-hand side and the former AC Milan forward was unmarked at the far post to steer a diving header into the bottom corner.
Any hopes Sunderland had of clawing their way back into the game were dashed when Frank Lampard netted from the penalty spot with 15 minutes remaining after Danny Higginbotham had been adjudged to have fouled Alex.
Sunderland's miserable day was compounded when Liam Miller was dismissed two minutes from time for pushing Claudio Pizarro in the face.
Habib Beye's stoppage-time goal eased the pressure on Sam Allardyce as Newcastle secured a slender 2-1 win over Birmingham.
Alex McLeish's side got off to a dream start as Cameron Jerome gave Blues the lead with his fifth goal of the campaign.
Jerome outpaced David Rozenhal in the chase for Rafael Schmitz's long ball and after rounding Shay Given he had the easy task of rolling the ball into an empty net.
Obafemi Martins was thwarted by Maik Taylor from just three yards out as the Magpies went in search on an equaliser, while James Milner dragged a shot wide after some scintillating approach play.
Allardyce's side did pull level nine minutes before the break, though, as Martins scored from the penalty spot after the Nigerian had been brought down by Mat Sadler.
As the game looked to the petering out for a draw, Beye met Emre's corner from close range to send the home support into raptures.
Ayegbeni Yakubu's hat-trick inspired Everton to a 3-0 win over Fulham at Goodison Park.
His first came after Tim Cahill's volley was parried by Antti Niemi and the Nigerian striker was on hand to poke the rebound home to record his seventh goal for the club since his summer move from Middlesbrough.
He netted his second just after the hour with a simple header from Mikel Arteta's inswinging corner, and his treble was completed with a cool finish into the bottom corner after 78 minutes.
In the early kick-off, Sulley Muntari's superb double strike helped secure a sixth successive away win for Portsmouth as Harry Redknapp's side beat Aston Villa 3-1.
The £7million summer signing from Udinese gave Villa goalkeeper Scott Carson no chance with two stunning left-footed drives to double his goal tally for the campaign.
A Craig Gardner own goal had set Pompey on their way to victory and all the home side could muster in reply was a late Gareth Barry penalty.
Liverpool take on Reading in the evening game (5.15pm).
Today's Premier League Results
Aston Villa 1-3 Portsmouth
Chelsea 2-0 Sunderland
Everton 3-0 Fulham
Man Utd 4-1 Derby
Newcastle 2-1 Birmingham
Reading v Liverpool 5.15pm
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