Chelsea extended their lead with a 2-1 win over Aston Villa as Manchester United were upset by Blackburn Rovers 2-0 on Saturday.

Chelsea struggled before a well-organized defence of Aston Villa in the first half and Luke Moore became the first player this season to score past Petr Cech in the Chelsea goal, but one minute later, in the 45th minute, Frank Lampard to curl home a lowfree-kick to level.

In the 75th minute, a clumsy Olof Mellberg challenge on Didier Drogba brought about a penalty and Lampard made no mistake in continuing Chelsea's perfect start to the season.

Manchester United's hope of gaining ground suffered a major set-back as they lost to Blackburn courtesy of Morten Gamst Pedersen's double.

Pedersen had opened the scoring direct from a free-kick, beforeWayne Rooney's shot was spilled by Brad Friedel and Ruud van Nistelrooy was on hand to level.

However, a terrible mistake from Paul Scholes allowed Pedersen to be put through by Michael Gray and he lashed home to cause a major shock.

Arsenal also failed to win, as they were held to a goal-less draw by West Ham United at Upton Park.

Michael Owen was on target again for Newcastle as he scored a trademark goal in Newcastle United's tight 1-0 win against Manchester City.

Danny Murphy scored a brace of goals for Charlton as they beat West Brom 2-1 at The Hawthorns, with Curtis Davies' header provingjust a consolation for The Baggies.

Wigan picked up a fine win on their trip to Goodison Park to face Everton, with Damien Francis pouncing to score from close range to open his account for his new club and hand them a 1-0 win.

Liverpool and Birmingham played out an entertaining 2-2 draw atSt Andrews in Saturday's early kick-off.

Luis Garcia put The Reds ahead on 68 minutes, but Stephen Warnock headed into his own net just four minutes after going in front, and then Pepe Reina's bad mistake in spilling Emile Heskey's header allowed Walter Pandiani to prod home from close range.

However, the final period of the game saw Neil Kilkenny sent off for handball on the line allowing Djibril Cisse to level from the penalty spot.

Source: Xinhua