Fergie unmoved as Torres and Arsenal are humbled

MANCHESTER United are clear at the top of the Premier League after maintaining their 100 per cent record with a win over Chelsea. Their local rivals Manchester City slipped up against Fulham and are now two points behind.

Chelsea held onto third but Liverpool's second straight defeat saw them drop to eighth. But their woes are as nothing compared to those of Arsenal who are down in 17th place and one point above the relegation places and boast the worst goal difference in the league.

• FERNANDO'S CHELSEA NIGHTMARE GETS WORSE
If Fernando Torres thought his Chelsea nightmare was over after finding the net against United, he was very, very wrong. The Spanish striker was lively against the Champions and took his chance at the start of the second half with aplomb. But his astonishing miss after 83 minutes will live long in the memory and could well become the iconic image of his time at Chelsea. After latching on to a through ball from Ramires the Spaniard shimmied his way past United keeper David de Gea but, somehow, with the goal gaping shanked the tap-in wide. The United fans celebrated as if they had scored themselves, and in a way they had. The miss robbed viewers of a grandstand finish to a wonderful game.

• ALEX FERGUSON REMAINS THE HARD TASK MASTER
Most neutrals rated United's triumph over Chelsea as the game of the season so far, even better than United's 8-2 annihilation of Arsenal. However, Alex Ferguson did not agree. The irascible Scot acknowledged that it had been an exciting game, but that was only because of "mistakes" by his players, something he does not take kindly to. He said that although Nani and Ashley Young had done well on the wings his side had created problems for themselves in the middle of the park. "We kept botching it up," he lamented. He also criticised Wayne Rooney for a misplaced pass. But the United players shouldn't feel too down, he also accused Chelsea's Ashley Cole of being reckless and added with a degree of understated relish that Torres was guilty of a "bad miss".

• WENGER SCALES NEW HEIGHTS OF HUMILIATION
After another fruitless trip up the M6 for Arsenal, Arsene Wenger denied that losing to the Premier League's bottom club was even more of a disaster than the 8-2 mauling at the hands of Manchester United. "I do not have the measurement of humiliation," said the Frenchman after the 4-3 shambles, but the way things are going he might find it advisable to get one, he could call it the Wenger Scale. At least against United Wenger could point to an injury crisis and the quality of the opposition as mitigating factors. Against Blackburn, favourites for the drop, he fielded a team featuring the players he bought to shore up his side and still lost. Is Wenger now under more pressure than Blackburn boss Steve Kean, who was widely expected to get the chop ahead of the weekend?

• KENNY SEES THE REDS STUTTER
Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish apparently held a meeting with Mike Riley, the referee chief, last week after the Reds lost to Stoke. If he was hoping for favours this week he would have been disappointed as Liverpool finished with nine men as Mike Jones gave Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel their marching orders. The Reds boss did his best to look aggrieved and refused to comment after the game on the dismissals, but perhaps that was because he knew that really there was nothing he could have done about them, except possibly not playing a centre back like Skrtel at right back when the opposition left winger is Gareth Bale. After an excellent start Liverpool's season is starting to stutter. Arsenal's woes will do their chances of a top four finish a world of good, and it could be that Sunday's opponents, Spurs, will be their biggest challengers.

• HAS MANCINI FORGOTTEN MARIO BALOTELLI?
Manchester City came back to earth with a bump as Fulham clipped their wings at Craven Cottage. Champions tend not to throw away two-goal leads, but that is what happened to City in the second half against Martin Jol's team who are still without a win this season. Perhaps the Citizens are starting to believe their own hype because after Sergio Aguero made it 2-0 at the start of the second half they completely switched off and Bobby Zamora and Danny Murphy took advantage. Certainly the result should act as a wake-up call for Roberto Mancini's side. However, the Italian seemed to blame the result on a lack of personnel. "I don't have players. I can only change the full-backs," he said. That may not go down well with Mario Balotelli, the Italian forward who was once again left sulking on the bench as Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Carlos Tevez all got the nod ahead of him.

• DO SPURS FANS REALLY 'LOVE' ADEBAYOR?
Spurs fans may not yet regard Emmanuel Adebayor with the same amount of affection they reserve for favourites like Ledley King, but the controversial striker is doing his best to win them over, and his two goals against Liverpool on his home debut will do his cause no harm. It must have been a novel experience for the Togo striker to step onto the White Hart Lane pitch without abuse ringing in his ears and afterwards he declared with characteristic humility that the Spurs fans "already love me". Harry Redknapp was more realistic when he said that football fans would have cheered Saddam Hussain if he had helped their club. He then turned to the subject of Adebayor and said: "We kid outselves that he's done nothing wrong. He played for Arsenal and he played for Man City. The Arsenal fans hate him now, so more reason for the tottenham fans to love him."

• NEW BOYS JOIN THE PARTY
Saturday turned out to be a good day for the newly promoted clubs, who all registered wins. Indeed, it was the first time in four-and-a-half years that the three new boys had won on the same day. Norwich and Swansea notched their first triumphs of the campaign, and QPR their second. All three sides are clear of the drop zone and above poor old Arsenal, and the Hoops have even sneaked into the top half of the table. Swansea's win was particularly notable as it featured their first goal in the top flight since Bob Latchford scored against Manchester United in May 1983. ·