By DPA
London : Liverpool stormed to the top of the English Premier League as they crushed newly promoted Derby County 6-0 to lead the standings for the first time since 2002.
Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso scored twice while Ryan Babel and substitute Andriy Voronin grabbed the others Saturday as Liverpool leapfrogged Chelsea on goal difference.
Having suffered faltering starts to the season in recent years and fallen behind the early leaders, Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was delighted to be top, but urged caution.
“I am really pleased with my team and we are playing well, scoring goals and keeping clean sheets,” he said.
“It’s good for our supporters to see us top of the league but we now have to keep it going and keep working hard in every game we play. It’s too early to talk about being top of the league.
“We scored six good goals and it’s good to see Torres and Voronin scoring goals. Kuyt worked so hard and was unlucky not to score and I really liked Babel’s goal.”
Liverpool’s neighbours and archrivals Everton moved up to second, on a superior goal difference to Chelsea, after a 2-1 win at Bolton, thanks to a late Joleon Lescott header.
Everton manager David Moyes hailed the influence of substitute Thomas Gravesen, back at the club on loan from Celtic.
“For the first time I knew there were people behind me I could bring on and change the game from the bench,” Moyes said after Gravesen’s corner produced Lescott’s winning header.
“We haven’t had that in Everton an awful lot, but today I was able to look around and see if we could alter the game slightly.”
Defending Premiership champions Manchester United continued their recovery after a slow start with a 1-0 win over Sunderland at Old Trafford to go joint fifth.
Sunderland manager Roy Keane saw his side match his former club for three-quarters of the match before Louis Saha scored the only goal of the game 17 minutes from time.
Michael Owen scored a late winner as Newcastle beat Wigan 1-0 to be alongside Manchester United in fifth place, while Tottenham Hotspur let slip a 3-1 lead as they ended up drawing 3-3 at Fulham.
West Ham got their second win with a 3-0 victory at Reading, who slip into the bottom three, while Middlesbrough beat Birmingham 2-0.
Chelsea can regain top spot Sunday when they travel to Aston Villa, but the London outfit haven’t won at Villa Park since 1999.