Wayne Rooney scored his 100th goal and Michael Owen his first for Manchester United as they beat Wigan Athletic 5-0 while Manchester City and Arsenal maintained their 100 per cent starts with home victories.
United suffered a shock 1-0 loss at Burnley in midweek but Sir Alex Ferguson’s side were back to their devastating best in the second half at the DW Stadium. Two goals in three minutes from Rooney, his 100th for the Premier League champions, and Dimitar Berbatov opened the floodgates with the England striker making it 3-0. Owen’s first effort for his new club following his summer move from relegated Newcastle United came with five minutes remaining before Nani added a late fifth.
Emmanuel Adebayor made it two in as many games since joining Manchester City from Arsenal as his goal proved sufficient to hand his team a 1-0 success against Wolverhampton Wanderers. His former side continued their free-scoring form, however, with a 4-1 home win against Portsmouth off the back of a 6-1 win at Everton last week. Abou Diaby scored twice in the first half before Younes Kaboul pulled one back, but second-half strikes from William Gallas and Aaron Ramsey completed a routine win ahead of their UEFA Champions League play-off return against Celtic.
Gael Givet’s 21st-minute effort gave Blackburn Rovers hope of breaking their duck at Sunderland but Kenwyne Jones levelled swiftly before heading a second-half winner for the home side. Hull City, who had lost their opening two matches, left Bolton Wanderers still looking for their first point thanks to Kamel Ghilas’s goal at the KC Stadium while Birmingham City drew 0-0 at home to Stoke City.