England round-up: United top as Arsenal falter

Manchester United FC chalked up their seventh successive league victory on Sunday as a 3-1 win at Southampton FC took them to the top of the FA Premiership for the first time this season. Arsenal FC missed the chance to join them after being held to a frustrating 1-1 home draw by Liverpool FC.

Confident start
Southampton, coming off wins over Chelsea FC and Liverpool, started full of confidence at home to United and went ahead after just three minutes when James Beattie rose to head home a Jason Dodd cross. United equalised six minutes later when Ruud van Nistelrooij cut in from the right to slot in his 13th goal in nine games. It was the seventh consecutive FA Premiership game in which he has scored - thus equalling the record currently shared by Mark Stein (Chelsea), Alan Shearer (Newcastle) and Thierry Henry (Arsenal).

Beckham free-kick
Southampton continued to look the more dangerous with Ecuadorean debutant Agustin Delgado thumping a header against a post and Marian Pahars shooting over from close in. However they paid for their misses a minute before half-time when David Beckham curled a free-kick home. The champions were much improved after the break and Ole Gunnar Solskjær made sure of the points with a powerful shot in the 63rd minute.

Arsenal dominate
Arsenal dominated the first half of their clash at Highbury stadium against Liverpool but created only one clear chance, which was squandered in the 20th minute when Fredrik Ljungberg went round Jerzy Dudek but clipped his finish right across the gaping goal.

Riise equaliser
On 61 minutes substitute Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires set up Ljungberg for the opener as the Swede slammed the ball home from close range. Liverpool were level seven minutes later when John Arne Riise won a tackle on the edge of his own box before sprinting 70 metres to get on the end of a Steven Gerrard pass and slot the ball past Stuart Taylor.