Unhappy Avram points the finger ... at referee

Little went the Londoners’ way as Mikel Jon Obi was harshly sent off for a studs-first challenge on Patrice Evra and Louis Saha scored United’s second from a contentiously awarded late penalty. Carlos Tevez had given Sir Alex Ferguson’s side the lead with his first goal for the club on the stroke of half-time.

New Chelsea boss Avram Grant was far from happy with the performance of referee Mike Dean.

Grant said: “The referee tried his best but he made three mistakes; the red card, their first goal and the penalty.”

United’s win took them to second in the table, two points behind impressive early leaders Arsenal.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger felt his table-toppers delivered a strong message to the rest of the competition after Saturday’s 5-0 trouncing of Derby at the Emirates Stadium.

Emmanuel Adebayor cut loose with a hat-trick after Abou Diaby’s powerful strike had opened the scoring while Cesc Fabregas added another fine long-range effort.

“This team means business,” Wenger said. “We are not there to show off. We want to achieve something together.”

Liverpool themselves dropped another two points in their title chase as they were held to a frustrating goalless draw by Birmingham at Anfield.

The Reds, who started with record signing Fernando Torres on the bench, found chances limited as the Blues adopted a successful containing policy.

“The game was very frustrating,” admitted Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez. “We tried to play wide, we tried to get the ball into the box and we did everything we could to break them down. In the end we ran out of ideas.”

Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce has ruled Michael Owen out of Tuesday’s Carling Cup clash with Arsenal after the England striker was substituted for the second successive game with groin trouble in the 3-1 win over West Ham.

There are worries the 27-year-old may need an operation and Allardyce said: “It is still a groin problem which we will have to look into a little deeper because it has become persistent.”

Mark Viduka scored twice for the Magpies with Charles N’Zogbia making it three in the second half and Dean Ashton on target for the Hammers.

Tottenham manager Martin Jol insisted he had the faith of the chairman Daniel Levy despite a disappointing 1-1 draw with Bolton, where Ivan Campo earned Wanderers a point following Robbie Keane’s opener.