Hull City's Marlon King (centre) celebrates with teammates after scoring during the team's Premier League match against Newcastle United at St. James' Park yesterday. Jamaican King scored both goals in the side's 2-1 victory.- APLONDON (AP):
EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR scored three goals to lead Arsenal to a 4-0 win over Blackburn yesterday, while Chelsea and Liverpool stayed atop the Premier League by beating the Manchester teams.
It was the second emphatic win in a row for Arsenal, following a 3-0 dismantling of Newcastle, and gave them nine points in the standings, one behind leaders Chelsea and Liverpool.
Newcastle, meanwhile, com-pounded their woes with a shock 2-1 defeat at home against new-comers Hull in the first game since Kevin Keegan resigned as manager.
Arsenal took the lead in the eighth minute when Theo Walcott ran down the right flank and squared the ball to Robin Van Persie, who finished with his right foot from 12 metres out. Adebayor then scored his first in first-half stoppage time, turning in Denilson's cross following a string of delicate passes.
The striker got his second on a penalty in the 78th minute after Emmanuel Eboue was tackled in the area by Stephen Warnock, and completed his hat-trick in injury time after an assist from Aaron Ramsey.
Liverpool got a late goal from Ryan Babel to secure their first Premier League victory over United in more than four years. The Netherlands winger came on as a substitute to score in the 77th minute at Anfield after an error by Man United substitute Ryan Giggs.
early lead
United had taken an early lead through Carlos Tevez in the third minute before conceding a calamitous own-goal by defender Wes Brown after a mix-up with goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar in the 27th.
At the City of Light Stadium, Chelsea overcame Robinho's debut goal to beat Manchester City 3-1 and head the table.
Ricardo Carvalho took just three minutes to level after Robinho netted a sublime free kick in the 13th minute in his first game since the surprising move from Real Madrid.
Chelsea then took charge and gave City a lesson in finesse, with Frank Lampard slotting home the winner in the 53rd and former City striker Nicolas Anelka putting the result beyond doubt in the 69th.
"It was good considering the start," Lampard said. "After we went a goal down, we showed good reaction. I think we're growing, we started the season very well, we will get better."
Chelsea's two-goal cushion didn't look in danger even after captain John Terry's red card for fiercely halting Jo's advance, which rules him out of next Sunday's match against Manchester United.
At Newcastle, talks between owner Mike Ashley on Friday night failed to produce a reconciliation and hundreds of supporters protested against Ashley and director of football Dennis Wise outside St. James Park before kick-off.
A reported boycott did not materialise, with more than 50,000 fans attending the game.
mood darkened
The fans' mood darkened further when Nicky Butt brought down Peter Halmosi in the penalty area in the 33rd and Jamaica's Marlon King converted the spot kick to give Hull a 1-0 lead.
King then made it 2-0 in the 55th before Xisco pulled one back for Newcastle with an 81st-minute strike.
But Newcastle could not salvage a point and Danny Guthrie was shown a straight red card in injury time for kicking at Craig Fagan.
Thousands stayed in the stadium to protest after the game, chanting, "sack the board" and "Ashley out".
Newcastle have just four points from as many games.
West Ham failed to impress new manager Gianfranco Zola, who was watching from the stands as the team lost 3-2 to newcomers West Bromwich Albion.
West Brom took the lead after just three minutes when James Morrison headed in Borja Balero's cross.
Mark Noble quickly equalised, tapping in the rebound after Scott Carson saved David Di Michele's initial shot.
The Hammers took a short-lived lead through Lucas Neill's 35th-minute effort, but goalkeeper Robert Green then brought down Leon Barnett in the box and Roman Bednar made it 2-2 from the penalty spot.
