LONDON (AP) ― Robin van Persie scored his first goal for Manchester United in the Premier League as his side came from behind to beat Fulham 3-2 at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Damien Duff had given Fulham a surprise lead in the third minute, before the Netherlands striker met Patrice Evra’s cross with a neat left-footed flick into the far corner of Mark Schwarzer’s goal seven minutes later.

Shinji Kagawa also scored his first for United in the 35th and Rafael Da Silva added a third with a header, giving United a 3-1 lead at half time.

Nemanja Vidic’s own goal in the 64th minute started a spell of pressure by the visitors, but they were unable to find an equalizer.

“I think we saw the two sides of Manchester United,’’ Ferguson said. “After cruise control, we made a terrible mistake for the second goal and it became a match.” 

Wayne Rooney went off on a stretcher in injury time with a deep gash after getting caught on the right leg by Hugo Rodallega, something that will sour the victory for Ferguson.

In Saturday’s late kick off, Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres combined to devastating effect as Chelsea beat Newcastle 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Hazard converted a penalty for his first Chelsea goal after Torres was fouled before assisting on the second with a back heel for Torres to score from 18 yards just before halftime.

Chelsea now has three wins from three games prompting manager Roberto Di Matteo to praise the start his team has made.

“We controlled Newcastle’s threat well,” Di Matteo said. “With two clean sheets in three games, I am very pleased.”

The same could not be said of Di Matteo’s predecessor at Chelsea, Andre Villas-Boas, who came close to his first win as Tottenham manager but settled for a 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto gave Tottenham the lead at White Hart Lane in the 74th minute before James Morrison saved a point for West Brom with a 90th-minute goal.

Everton beat Aston Villa 3-1 at Villa Park, with Steven Pienaar, Marouane Fellaini and Nikica Jelavic all scoring before half time.

Villa had Ciaran Clark sent off in the 58th before Karim El Ahmadi scored a consolation goal for the home side.

Norwich and Queens Park Rangers drew 1-1 at Carrow Road in a fixture featuring two teams that were beaten 5-0 last weekend.

Simeon Jackson put Norwich ahead on 11 minutes but Bobby Zamora pulled his side level, converting the rebound after Djibril Cisse’s penalty was well saved by John Ruddy.