Reigning champions Manchester City had a slight blip on the radar today as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Stoke City in the fourth weekend of 2012/13 Premier League action.
The Potters opened the scoring in somewhat controversial circumstances when Peter Crouch clearly handled the ball twice as he attempted to control it before poking home past Joe Hart in the 15th minute. Luckily for City, debutant Javi Garcia was able to nod home Carlos Tevez's free-kick 20 minutes later to give Roberto Mancini's men a share of the points which saw them remain fourth.
Last season's runners-up Manchester United celebrated a day of milestones at Old Trafford with a 4-0 win over Wigan Athletic. The Red Devils overcame a sixth-minute penalty miss from Chicharito to score all four goals in the second half in Paul Scholes' 700th club appearance and Rio Ferdinand's 400th.
Veteran Scholes opened the scoring with a close range finish in the 51st minute before Chicharito atoned for his penalty blunder and then new signings Alexander Buttner and Nick Powell finished off the Latics.
In London, Arsenal proved that they are perhaps a title contender with a commanding 6-1 victory over a hapless Southampton.
Gervinho netted twice for the Gunners whilst Lukas Podolski scored with a sublime free-kick and Theo Walcott struck late. Left-back Kieran Gibbs saw two of his attempts knocked into the back of the Saints net by Jos Hooiveld and Nathaniel Clyne respectively whilst Danny Fox gave the visitors a glimmer of hope right on half-time before Arsene Wenger's men ran out comfortable winners.
League leaders Chelsea failed to score at QPR who held their West London rivals to a 0-0 draw at Loftus Road whilst Fulham moved up to eighth with a 3-0 home win over West Bromwich Albion thanks to a first-half double from Dimitar Berbatov and a late Steve Sidwell strike. The Baggies were reduced to ten men just before half-time when Peter Odemwingie was sent off for a reckless challenge on Sascha Riether.
Aston Villa burst Swansea City's bubble with a 2-0 victory at Villa Park courtesy of maiden goals from Matthew Lowton and Christian Benteke and Sunderland held Liverpool to a 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light with an unlucky Reds outfit scoring an equaliser through Luis Suarez to cancel out Steven Fletcher's 29th minute opener.
Earlier in the day, Norwich City were denied a first win under Chris Hughton with West Ham United forcing a 0-0 draw at Carrow Road.
Tomorrow sees Reading host Tottenham at the Madejski Stadium as Newcastle United prepare for their Monday night trip to Goodison Park to take on Everton to wrap up proceedings.
2012/13 Premier League scores
Norwich City: 0 West Ham United: 0 Carrow Road, Norwich - 26,806
Arsenal: 6 (Jos Hooiveld (og) 11', Lukas Podolski 31', Gervinho 35'/71', Nathaniel Clyne 37', Theo Walcott 88') Southampton: 1 (Danny Fox 45+1') Emirates Stadium, London - 60,097
Manchester United: 4 (Paul Scholes 51', Javier Hernandez 63', Alexander Buttner 66', Nick Powell 82') Wigan Athletic: 0 Old Trafford, Manchester - 75,142
Stoke City: 1 (Peter Crouch 15') Manchester City: 1 (Javi Garcia 35') Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent - 27,101
Queens Park Rangers: 0 Chelsea: 0 Loftus Road, London - 18,271
Fulham: 3 (Dimitar Berbatov 32'/(p) 45+1', Steve Sidwell 89') West Bromwich Albion: 0 (red card: Peter Odemwingie 38') Craven Cottage, London - 25,691
Aston Villa: 2 (Matthew Lowton 16', Christian Benteke 88') Swansea City: 0 Villa Park, Birmingham - 34,005
Sunderland: 1 (Steven Fletcher 29') Liverpool: 1 (Luis Suarez 71') Stadium of Light, Sunderland - 41,997
