• Premier League round-up

Torres produces horror miss as United beat Chelsea

ESPN staff
September 18, 2011
Fernando Torres produced an unbelievable miss as Chelsea lost 3-1 to Manchester United © PA Photos
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Manchester United delivered another lesson in the art of clinical finishing to one of their perceived title rivals on Sunday, beating Chelsea 3-1 to move clear at the top of the table. However, the result could have been rather different for the Blues had Fernando Torres not produced one of the Premier League's most inexplicable misses with seven minutes remaining.

Wayne Rooney had spoken of a three-way Premier League title race prior to kick-off, with Chelsea rubbing shoulders alongside the two Manchester clubs. However, Sunday's league table already displays a five-point deficit between the Londoners and the champions, after they were beaten by goals from Chris Smalling, Nani and Wayne Rooney, who also missed a penalty.

Torres, who was easily Chelsea's most threatening player, threatened a revival when scoring early in the second half, but then the former Liverpool man produced a moment that drew instant comparisons with a famous miss by another ex-Red Ronny Rosenthal. Having brilliantly rounded United keeper David De Gea, Torres then clipped the ball wide with his left foot with the entire goal at his mercy.

United were ahead inside eight minutes at Old Trafford, with Smalling ghosting in at the back post to head home Ashley Young's free-kick for his first Premier League goal. The Chelsea defence was almost non-existent when Smalling arrived, although replays showed they had a case for offside.

Torres should have levelled immediately for Chelsea when he drove wide after being inadvertently played in by Anderson, but the Spaniard then stood aghast moments later when his perfect assist was wasted by Ramires. Torres had darted in behind the United back four to reach Juan Mata's pass, squaring for Ramires or Sturridge to find the empty net. The Brazilian took charge but only succeeded in turning the ball directly into the path of De Gea's desperate lunge.

Chelsea, who played well throughout and produced almost double the number of goal attempts managed by their hosts, were quickly made to rue Ramires' miss as United scored twice to lead 3-0 at half-time. First Nani scored a 25-yard cracker, sending a missile past Petr Cech, and then Rooney converted from close range after John Terry and the rest of the Chelsea defence had made a hash of an easy clearance.

Memories of Arsenal's 8-2 humiliation at Old Trafford were suddenly a realistic prospect facing Chelsea, but they gave themselves hope just seconds after half-time as Torres cleverly dinked De Gea following an excellent pass from substitute Nicolas Anelka - on for Frank Lampard.

That hope should have been extinguished before the hour when referee Phil Dowd awarded United a penalty for a perceived foul by Jose Bosingwa on Nani, who had hit the bar moments earlier. However, Rooney's kick flew embarrassingly wide after his planted foot slipped on the Old Trafford surface.

Jermain Defoe scored Tottenham's second goal © Getty Images
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With two goals to chase Chelsea had to score next, and they should have done so when Torres blazed over from 10 yards, having turned the United defence inside-out. At the other end, Rooney hit a post when it seemed easier to score.

The worst miss was still to come though, as Torres drew mass jeers for a quite amazing gaffe, and then substitute Dimitar Berbatov saw his late effort cleared off the line as a hugely entertaining contest came to an end.

Tottenham Hotspur landed an early blow in the battle for a top-four place by thumping nine-man Liverpool 4-0 at White Hart Lane.

The hosts made a storming start to the match, and took a deserved lead on seven minutes when Luka Modric hammered in from 25 yards. After Jermain Defoe failed to gather Gareth Bale's cross, the ball ricocheted into the path of Modric, who sent a strike thundering into the top corner.

Liverpool were beginning to grow into the game when Charlie Adam was shown a second yellow on 28 minutes - catching Scott Parker high on the leg with his studs - just seconds after new signing Sebastian Coates was thrust into the action following an injury to Daniel Agger.

The visitors were reduced to nine men on 61 minutes, with Martin Skrtel cautioned for the second time following a crude challenge on Bale. And on 65 minutes Defoe made the points safe for Spurs, picking up Rafael van der Vaart's pass before rolling Jose Enrique and drilling a low shot past Pepe Reina.

Emmanuel Adebayor netted a goal on his home debut less than two minutes later, tapping in from close range after Reina spilled Defoe's shot. The Togo international, on loan from Manchester City, completed the rout in injury time, finishing calmly after collecting Benoit Assou-Ekotto's cross.

Sergio Aguero's brace wasn't enough for Manchester City © Getty Images
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Manchester City failed to maintain their 100 per cent Premier League record this season after they let a two-goal lead slip to draw 2-2 at Fulham. In their first fixture to follow a Champions League match, City faded badly as goals from Bobby Zamora and Danny Murphy cancelled out Sergio Aguero's brace.

Only the fullbacks were changed from the City side that drew with Napoli, meaning David Silva and Aguero were free to continue their blossoming partnership. It took only 18 minutes for them to combine successfully, Silva instrumental as Aguero slid the ball home in trademark fashion.

Aguero is fast becoming one of the signings of the summer, despite his seismic transfer fee, and his second goal directly after the break was even better than his first as he picked his spot past Mark Schwarzer from 25 yards.

Fulham were not beaten though, and they halved the deficit with 35 minutes still left to play, Zamora converting Moussa Dembele's good work. Zamora was becoming an increasing menace to the City defence and he soon created the space for Murphy to equalise 15 minutes from time - albeit thanks to a wicked deflection off Vincent Kompany.

Also on Sunday, Sunderland recorded their first victory of the campaign, dishing out a first-half battering to Stoke, who were eventually beaten 4-0. The Potters had averaged two points per game from their opening four fixtures, but Sunderland were out of sight at half-time at the Stadium of Light.

Titus Bramble broke the deadlock after five minutes thanks to a poor piece of goalkeeping from Asmir Begovic, who let the ball go through his legs. The lead was then doubled after 11 minutes as Jonathan Woodgate headed softly past his own keeper.

Nicklas Bendtner was enjoying a particularly good performance for the Black Cats, who grabbed a third by half-time when Craig Gardner's shot found the net via a deflection off Ryan Shawcross. And Sebastian Larsson added to Stoke's misery on the hour with a sublime free-kick for the fourth.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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