Goal spree continues for Manchester United

Bolton Wanderers 0 Manchester United 5. A second hat-trick in consecutive league games from Wayne Rooney helped Manchester United to a 5-0 thrashing away at Bolton.

The England striker took his season's tally to 10 in a display that drew warm praise form manager Alex Ferguson. "Wayne is in great form at the moment, he is absolutely 100 per cent fit and looking very sharp," said Ferguson, adding: "I think he's starting to mature now. He's 25 years of age and he's in the years I always feel where a player gets better timing, better authority and he's in better control of situations now."

It was United's 200th away win in the Premier league and such was its margin that United remain top of the table on points difference from neighbours Manchester City, who made short work of Wigan at Eastlands thanks to a hat-trick of their own from Sergio Aguero.

Javier Hernandez opened United's account after just five minutes and Rooney made it 2-0 on 20 minutes when he fired home Phil Jones's cross. Five minutes later Rooney extended United's lead thanks again to an assist from Jones, and then Hernandez got his second of the afternoon on the hour mark. Jussi Jaaskelainen in the Bolton goal was then beaten for the fifth time as Nani teed up Rooney for a sweet strike from the edge of the area.

As for Sergio Aguero's hat trick, it now takes his tally for the season to six and his fortunes are in stark contrast to those of teammate Carlos Tevez. The unsettled Argentine striker missed a penalty for City in the 3-0 defeat of Wigan and boss Roberto Mancini admitted later: "Carlos is not 100 per cent at the moment... It was important for him to start, to play and to play well and maybe in two or three games he will be 100 per cent."

Aguero scored his first on 13 minutes, blasting home from David Silva's pass, and then scored two in six minutes midway through the second half to complete his first hat-trick in English football.

City and United are now clear of the pack on 12 points with Chelsea two points behind after their 2-1 win away at Sunderland. The victory was more convincing than the scoreline suggests with John Terry giving the Blues the lead after 18 minutes. England Under 21 striker Daniel Sturridge made it 2-0 on 51 minutes with a brilliant backheel that flummoxed Sunderland keeper Simon Mignolet, and Ji Dong-Won's injury time strike was nothing more than a consolation for the Black Cats. "Fortunately, we were able to play the passing game that relates more to how we train, and the team played very, very well. I am very happy with the display," said Chelsea boss Andre-Villas Boas.

Also declaring himself satisfied with his team's performance was Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. The Gunners beat Swansea 1-0 at the Emirates for their first league win of the season, but it was a far from convincing performance and only a blunder from Michel Vorm separated the two sides. The Swansea keeper's clearance throw hit the foot of teammate Angel Rangel just before half time and rebounded into the path of Andrey Arshavin, with the Russian coolly slotting the ball home from a tight angle. Other than that Arsenal created little in the way of chances and they had goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to thank for a magnificent save from Danny Graham in the first half.

But Wenger struck an optimistic note afterwards, relieved that his side move out of the danger zone into 11th place. "It was vital for us to win this game," said the Frenchman. "We started well but slowly the nerves took over and we played with the handbrake on and [were] restricted in the second half... We just wanted to get over the line and not make a mistake. If you make a mistake, you know you then don't win a game it is vital to win."

In other results a penalty from Jonathan Walters ended Liverpool's unbeaten start to the season as the Reds went down 1-0 away to Stoke. The Reds Merseyside neighbours, Everton, fared slightly better, sharing the poi ts in a 2-2 draw at home to Aston Villa.

Finally former Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor did his best to endear himself to Spurs supporters by scoring on his debut for the club. His strike on 67 minutes was followed by a Jermain Defoe effort on 80 minutes. It was Spurs’ first win of the season and boss Harry Redknapp was delighted with both Adebayor's display and that of fellow debutant Scott Parker: "I was delighted with Emmanuel Adebayor and I thought Scott Parker was brilliant today - he really made a massive difference for us. He broke up attacks, got us playing, was a leader and he set us going forward."                                 ·