Man United in shock loss, Chelsea fightback winners

EPL Saturday Night Review

Manchester United's hopes of keeping pace with Chelsea took a significant blow last night as they lost 2-1 at home to Blackburn.

Morten Gamst Pedersen opened the scoring for Rovers on 33 minutes with a well taken free kick after Richardson fouled Bellamy just outside the area. United responded in the second half and it was Wayne Rooney's blistering drive which caused keeper Brad Friedel to palm the ball back to Ruud Van Nistelrooy who tucked the ball into the back of the net.

Blackburn we determined to get the best of an end-to-end encounter and did so with just under 10 minutes remaining. A mistake from Paul Scholes let Michael Gray gain possession outside the box, where he promptly fed the ball to Gamst-Pedersen who smashed home his and Blackburn's second goal to seal the victory.

At Stamford Bridge Frank Lampard was the familiar hero as he led Chelsea to a 2-1 fightback win over a gutsy Aston Villa.

David O'Leary named an attacking line up agains the champions and the decision proved a shrewd one as the Villans became the first club to score against Chelsea to this season. When John Terry collided with Paulo Ferreira just before half time, the ball bounced of Angel and ran onto Luke Moore who cooly slotted past goalkeeper Petr Cech.

But the Midlanders' lead was shortlived. Just a minute later, Frank Lampard drilled a brilliant free kick home from the edge of the area after Michael Essien was brought down.

Villa battled hard in the second half, but a clumsy foul by Olof Mellberg on Didier Drogba in the box had Lampard lining up from the penalty spot. Lampard netted the penalty and carried Chelsea's run to seven wins out of seven.

Birmingham and Liverpool played out a pulsating 2-2 draw at St Andrews in the early kick off.

The first half was a dour affair and neither side managed to fashion a good opportunity. But the second half sprang to life on 67 minutes when Steven Gerrard's pass fed Luis Garcia whose low drive whistled into the Birmingham net. The Blues, however, were no slouches in responding and scored twice in four minutes.

Julian Gray's good work down the wing was rewarded accidently by Stephen Warnock who headed Gray's cross past his own keeper. Steve Bruce brought Walter Pandiani on for Forssell and it proved a masterstroke. Pandiani scored with virtually his first touch when he netted from the rebound of Emile Heskey's glancing header.

Birmingham appeared set for victory but midfielder Neil Kilkenny spoiled the plans. Carragher's header came back off the bar and Kilkenny palmed it away and was sent off as referee Steve Bennett pointed to the spot. French striker Djibril Cisse tucked away the penalty with minutes remaining and the points where shared.

Everton's wretched start to the season continued as they lost 1-0 at home to newcomers Wigan Athletic. Wigan snatched the lead through Damien Francis' second half goal and it proved enough as the Latics maintain their place in the top half of the table.

At the Hawthorns, Charlton's excellent form continued with a 2-1 away victory over West Brom. The Addicks were ahead on nine minutes through Danny Murphy's spot kick after Jerome Thomas was fouled by Steve Watson. Murphy grabbed his second on the half hour mark, slotting home from close range after excellent work from Dennis Rommedahl. West Brom new signing Curtis Davies grabbed a goal but it proved to be mere consolation as Charlton held firm.

Newcastle United beat Manchester City 1-0 to record their first home win since March with Michael Owen the hero again.

The former Real Madrid front-man collected a fine pass from Lee Bowyer on 18 minutes and drove it home past David James. City pressed in the second half but could not covert a number of chances.

At Highbury, a Thierry Henry-less Arsenal stumbled again as they fought out a goaless draw with promoted West Ham United.

In the late kick off, Bolton climbed to third in the table courtesy of a 1-0 win over Portsmouth. The Trotters were clearly the better team and it was Kevin Nolan's stunning bicycle kick after just 20 minutes which proved to be the difference.

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