Fulham held Manchester United to a 1-1 draw at Loftus Road this afternoon while Blackburn, Chelsea, and West Ham registered wins.
Fulham's record signing Steve Marlet opened the scoring for the London club in the 35th minute and they had the chance to go 2-0 ahead when awarded a penalty but keeper Fabien Barthez saved from Steed Malbranque. It proved a vital save as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer repaid manager Alex Ferguson's faith by smashing home the equaliser midway through the second half.
Newcastle captain Alan Shearer broke the 300 domestic goal barrier at Ewood Park today but his former club Blackburn had the last laugh as enjoyed a comprehensive 5-2 victory over Bobby Robson's men. Newcastle suffered the worst possible start, with Nikos Dabizas being sent off after conceding a penalty - which David Dunn put away - in the fifth minute. Dunn doubled his tally a mere three minutes later but Shearer gave the travelling Newcastle fans hope when he scored from the spot on 36 minutes.
Three minutes into the second half, Shearer scored his second to level matters with a brilliant header but after that it was all Blackburn. Martin Taylor scored twice while an Andy Griffin's own goal just added to the nightmare afternoon for the Magpies.
Howard Wilkinson's first game as Sunderland manager ended badly as Trevor Sinclair's single strike earned West Ham a much-needed victory and three valuable points at the Stadium of Light. Kevin Phillips had a goal disallowed as Sunderland slipped to their sixth defeat of the season.
Two goals from Gianfranco Zola and a late effort from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink at Maine Road gave Chelsea a 3-0 win over struggling Manchester City while West Brom rescued a point at home to Birmingham City after City had taken the lead through a Darren Moore own goal four minutes from time but Jason Roberts equalised late on.
Meanwhile, Arsenal suffered their first Premiership defeat in 31 matches when they went down 2-1 to Everton at Goodison Park and Liverpool jumped to the top of the table thanks to that win for their neighbours as well as their own 1-0 victory over Leeds United earlier this morning.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
