It was an unhappy return for Steve Bruce to his former club as Manchester United overcame Birmingham 2-0 while there were also wins for Manchester City, Southampton, Aston Villa and Charlton.
United were eager to get back to winning ways after losing their previous two matches and they did so with ease at Old Trafford with Uruguayan forward Diego Forlan scoring their first eight minutes before the interval for his eighth strike of the season while David Beckham made sure of the points on his return to the starting line-up with a chip on 73 minutes.
West Ham fought back twice to earn themselves a 2-2 draw with Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. Republic of Ireland international Damien Duff gave them the lead on just four minutes after goalkeeper David James made a terrible blunder. However, Steve Lomas' deflected shot off deceived Brad Friedel and made it 1-1. Andy Cole put Rovers back in front with his 150th Premiership goal in the second half but Jermain Defoe equalised with four minutes to go.
Charlton continued their unbeaten run with a 1-0 win at home to struggling West Brom. The Addicks took the lead on six minutes through a Kevin Lisbie header, leaving the Baggies locked on 16 points with the Hammers but a place above them in the table because of goal difference.
Southampton's James Beattie continued his magnficent scoring run when his 12th goal in as many games gave the Saints the lead over Sunderland at St Mary's on 73 minutes but the Black Cats fought back and Tore Andre Flo nodded home from a Kevin Kilbane corner four minutes later. However, the Saints had the final say on the matter when Jo Tessem popped up in the fourth minute of added time to condemn Sunderland to yet another defeat.
Wayne Rooney failed to steal the headlines at Goodison Park as Everton and Bolton played out a scoreless draw. Dion Dublin's 200th career goal after just 10 minutes earned his club Aston Villa a home victory against Middlesbrough who were reduced to ten men when Mark Wilson was sent-off for a second bookable offence and Fulham's poor run continued with a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Manchester City with Nicolas Anelka sealing the win for the visitors.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
