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Prolific Rooney leads United to the top of the table

Wayne Rooney proves himself to be the most dangerous striker in the country with yet another goal against Portsmouth © Getty Images

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Saturday's Football in Pictures

Newly-appointed England captain Rio Ferdinand watched from the stands as Manchester United thumped Portsmouth 5-0 to storm to the top of the Premier League on Saturday.

Ferdinand was starting his suspension for an off-the-ball incident involving Hull's Craig Fagan, but he was barely needed as Wayne Rooney hit his ninth goal in his last seven home appearances to send United on their way. Dimitar Berbatov missed a glorious chance to add to that lead, but Anthony Vanden Borre's own goal effectively killed the contest.

Further strikes from Michael Carrick and Berbatov compounded Pompey's woes before a second own goal, this time from Marc Wilson, capped off a miserable afternoon for Avram Grant.

The day's early kick-off saw Liverpool battle for nearly an hour with 10 men before beating Everton 1-0 at Anfield. Sotorios Kyrgiakos was sent off in the first half for a dangerous challenge, but Rafael Benitez's team responded brilliantly to triumph thanks to Dirk Kuyt's close-range header. Steven Pienaar also saw red as Liverpool improved their chances of a top four finish.

Benitez was probably an interested spectator of the late game between two of his rivals for a top-four place and he will have seen Tottenham and Aston Villa play out a 0-0 draw at White Hart Lane.

The Reds will also have been delighted to see Hull stun Manchester City 2-1 at the KC Stadium to leave Roberto Mancini's men three points adrift of fourth place. Jozy Altidore bagged his first goal of the season to break the deadlock, before an absolute screamer from George Boateng doubled the Tigers' lead. Emmanuel Adebayor halved the deficit, but the introduction of Patrick Vieira could not inspire a City turnaround.

At the bottom end of the table, Stoke did themselves a giant favour by beating Blackburn 3-0 at the Britannia Stadium. Danny Higginbotham gave Tony Pulis' men the perfect start after eight minutes, before Mamady Sidibe doubled that lead on the stroke of half time. Christopher Samba then saw red for a second bookable offence for Blackburn, creating extra room for Matthew Etherington to slot home from 10 yards for Stoke's third.

Brian Laws will be a relieved man after Burnley sealed their first victory under his guidance, beating West Ham 2-1 to lift themselves out of the relegation zone. David Nugent opened the scoring at Turf Moor, before debutant Danny Fox added a second with a slightly fortuitous effort as his cross turned into a very useful shot. Gianfranco Zola introduced new signings Benni McCarthy, Mido and Ilan, and the latter did get on the scoresheet but his efforts proved in vain.

There was a significant fresh face at the Stadium of Light too as Victor Moses made his debut for Wigan in their 1-1 draw away to Sunderland. Mohamed Diame had Wigan ahead in the first half against Steve Bruce's struggling side, but Kenwyne Jones found an equaliser in an entertaining end-to-end affair.

Unfortunately, 'entertaining' was the last word one would use to describe Bolton's clash with Fulham, which ended 0-0 after Kevin Davies had a late strike controversially ruled out for a foul.

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