EPL Saturday: United Slide Past Derby, Chelsea Win Against Black Cats

In what proved to be lackluster performance,Manchester United crawled past Derby County.Sir Alex Ferguson was forced to include Ben Foster into his starting line up which was also missing the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Carlos Tevez.

United chose to go with five across midfield, with Anderson and Scholes in the middle and the likes of Park,Ronaldo and Giggs to assist Rooney,who was the lone man upfront.The early chances fell United's way with Rooney and Ronaldo coming very close to scoring.However, Derby picked up the momentum,mid-way through the first half with both Sterjovski and Miller forcing sensational saves from Foster.

Derby came surprisingly close to taking the lead with the clock hitting 42 minutes when Earnshaw came agonizingly close to heading in a cross from Sterjovski.

United must have been relieved by the half time whistle as counter attacks from the hosts had given them a very nervy period.

Louis Saha and Micheal Carrick came on in the second half and United constantly toiled hard looking for a break through.It eventually came when Ronaldo,yes that man again.Cristiano Ronaldo sidefooted a Wayne Rooney cross from the left past Carroll and the United fans breathed a sigh of relief.

Manchester United take the top of the table now,after Arsenal drew Middlesborough 1-1.

Chelsea also picked up all three points from their game against Sunderland.Roy Keane's men did well to hold the Blues after going 1-0 down courtesy of a John Terry header from a Lampard corner in the 10th minute of play.

Liverpool continued their 'revival',Spanish sensation Fernando Torres scored the winner after a great strike from Matejovsky that gave the Royals(Reading) the lead.The Reds hit back with an equally brilliant effort by Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano.

Elsewhere,West Ham defeated Blackburn at Upton Park and atleast some pressure was released of Alan Curbishely.Meanwhile,Jermain Defoe scored as Portsmouth came out on top against Aston Villa.

Jeremie Alliadiare scored against his ex-club for Boro in the first half but a late second half equalizer from Kolo Toure was enough to get Gunners away with a point.Arsene Wenger would be relieved by the result certainly not 'happy'.