Newcastle beat Man United 4-3

Alan Shearer was the toast of Tyneside on Saturday after scoring the winner as Newcastle United beat English champions Manchester United 4-3 in a seven-goal thriller.

Shearer's deflected shot in the 82nd minute earned the Magpies victory after their 3-1 lead over Alex Ferguson's side had been wiped out by goals from Ryan Giggs and Juan Veron.

The champions also had skipper Roy Keane sent off at the very end after throwing the ball at Shearer in an off-the-ball incident.

Two late strikes earned Arsenal a 3-1 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage in the London derby, sending the Gunners to the top of the table on goal difference ahead of Bolton Wanderers.

Saturday's matches started with a minute's silence while players wore black armbands as a mark of respect for the victims of Tuesday's terror attacks on the United States.

Three teams ended a dismal run of form.

Middlesbrough got their first win under manager Steve McClaren after four straight defeats, beating West Ham United 2-0, Southampton scored their first goal of the season in a 1-0 win over Bolton while Leicester City scraped a 3-2 win at Derby County, which led to a fracas in the players' tunnel.

Liverpool ended a run of two premier league defeats by beating Everton 3-1 in the early kick-off on Merseyside.

But the place to be for thrills was St James Park, where Manchester United's defensive problems continued to mount, despite the signing of Laurent Blanc to replace Jaap Stam.

EARLY LEAD

"You got a dazzler for sure," said Bobby Robson, celebrating his 100th match as manager of Newcastle. "It got to 3-3 with two very good teams at each others throats."

But he added: "We were worthy winners over 90 minutes."

United manager Alex Ferguson was clearly disappointed at the winner, admitting: "They caught us on the hop, on the back foot.

"We're going through a period where we're getting punished for the mistakes we're making... We've just got see ourselves through it. It'll balance itself out. We'll get plenty of zeroes against us, there's no question about that."

Laurent Robert, already a crowd favourite on Tyneside, opened the scoring with a superb free-kick in the fifth minute.

Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy swivelled round to hit an equaliser, but further strikes from Robert Lee and Nikos Dabizas either side of halftime gave Newcastle what looked like a commanding 3-1 lead.

But Ferguson's men showed their trademark grit and determination, turning up the pressure and pulling back two goals with a volley each from Giggs and Veron.

The honours looked destined to be shared until Shearer's cross-shot was deflected home in the best match of the season so far.

Arsenal's two goals in the last 10 minutes, from Thierry Henry and substitute Dennis Bergkamp, earned them three points at Fulham after Fredrik Ljungberg's 17th minute strike had been cancelled out by Steed Malbranque.

"It's a great victory for us today because we played against a very good Fulham side," said Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger.

"It was an important win," said the Frenchman, who guided Arsenal to the league and FA Cup double in 1998.

"I am strongly convinced we can have a great challenge for the title, like many other teams."