City take Manchester spoils, Liverpool lose

Manchester City earned a stunning 3-1 derby win over Manchester United while Middlesbrough handed leaders Liverpool their first defeat of the season in the English premier league on Saturday.

Two-goal Shaun Goater gave underdogs City their first derby success since 1989 in the last ever league clash between the two Manchester sides at Maine Road.

Gareth Southgate's late winner gave Middlesbrough a 1-0 victory over Liverpool at the Riverside. Champions Arsenal are only a point behind Liverpool at the top after Sylvain Wiltord scored the winner in a 1-0 home success over Newcastle United.

Elsewhere, Chelsea crushed Birmingham City 3-0 and there were victories too for Everton and Aston Villa. Bolton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion drew 1-1, as did Southampton and Blackburn Rovers.

Suspended midfielder David Beckham and Roy Keane were probably glad to be absent as Alex Ferguson dished out a rollicking to his United players after they suffered their first derby defeat in 17 clashes with City.

Goater's double after Nicolas Anelka's opener clinched City a famous win but United's defending was shambolic throughout.

The worst error was made by captain for the day Gary Neville, who dithered fatally to allow Goater to score his first, and he was eventually hauled off in the second half.

City manager Kevin Keegan simply revelled in the perfect end to league derby action at Maine Road before next season's move to a new stadium and relished a rare victory over Ferguson, describing the win as "my greatest derby".

A furious Ferguson blamed "stupid errors" and "a lack of concentration" for the goals and said the result was a "kick in the teeth".

DUDEK ERROR

A bad error by Liverpool's Polish goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, who failed to make a catch, allowed Southgate to end their 12-game unbeaten league run since the start of the season in a poor match at the Riverside.

It also ended Liverpool's run of seven straight league wins and left then with only a slender lead over Arsenal. Liverpool have 30 points from 13 games with Arsenal on 29, followed by Chelsea and Everton on 23, a point more than Manchester United.

After five defeats in their last six games Arsenal needed a home victory and it came against Newcastle thanks to Wiltord's simple tap-in from an Oleg Luzhny cross after 24 minutes.

Teenage Portuguese midfielder Hugo Vaiana hit the goal frame for Newcastle but Bobby Robson's side were unable to repeat their 3-1 victory at Highbury of last season.

Chelsea went third after recalled Icelandic striker Eidur Gudjohnsen struck twice in their easy home victory over Birmingham.

COLE LEVELLER

In-form Everton are up to the heady heights of fourth as teenage sensation Wayne Rooney took a back seat for once, allowing Canadian striker Tomasz Radzinski to steal the winner in a 1-0 home victory over Charlton Athletic.

Ten-man Blackburn sneaked a point at Southampton with late Andy Cole equaliser in a 1-1 draw. Bottom club Bolton did the same, Per Frandsen earning them a 1-1 draw at home to West Brom with a late header after Bruno Ngotty was sent off.

Sweden striker Marcus Allback scored his first league goal for Aston Villa in a 3-1 success over Fulham at Villa Park.