Wenger joy as Arsenal beat Chelsea
LONDON (AP): Y REELING off a sixth successive English Premier League victory on Saturday, Manchester City underlined just how formidable they are under Pep Guardiola.
But José Mourinho might finally have found the way to stop Manchester United being eclipsed by City this season — drop Wayne Rooney.
Having fended off mounting criticism of his captain, Mourinho left Rooney on the bench, and the reward was a 4-1 victory over champions Leicester.
BIt ensured City, with a 3-1 victory at Swansea, couldn’t pull further away from United, who are six points behind their neighbours.
The most impressive performance of the day came from Arsenal, who marked the 20th anniversary of Arsene Wenger’s appointment by ruthlessly beating Chelsea 3-0.
The day’s biggest scorers were Liverpool, who routed Hull 5-1, while Tottenham are second after winning 2-1 at Middlesbrough.
Man United's goals all came in a sparkling first-half display. Juan Mata – Rooney's replacement Arsenal’s Theo Walcott celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal during the English Premier League against Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium in London yesterday. Arsenal won 3-0.
in the No. 10 role – Marcus Rashford, and Paul Pogba scored in a rampant five-minute spell. United took the lead through Chris Smalling, the captain in place of Rooney.
United ended a run of two straight league defeats, but Leicester have lost three of its opening six games, as many as in their 38-game title-winning campaign last season.
Back from suspension and immediately back in the goals,
Sergio Aguero scored twice to take his tally to 11 in six games. Raheem Sterling grabbed the other goal for City and the only blot was the sight of playmaker Kevin De Bruyne limping off late on with an apparent hamstring injury.
DEFENSIVE FRAILTIES
Chelsea's defensive frailties were exposed as Antonio Conte's team was left with one point from three league games in September. Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil match
provided the goals in the first half that gave the Gunners their first win over Chelsea in five years. Chelsea hadn't even conceded a league goal to Arsenal since January 2013 before this capitulation.
Results: Manchester United 4 Leicester 1; Swansea 1 Manchester City 3; Arsenal 3 Chelsea 0; Liverpool 5 Hull 1; Middlesbrough 1 Tottenham 2;
Bournemouth 1 Everton 0; Sunderland 2 Crystal Palace 3; Stoke 1 West Brom 1.