United, City lose as Arsenal marches on

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney (L) reacts following their English Premier League soccer match against West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford in Manchester Sept 28, 2013.[Photo/Agencies]

MANCHESTER -- The two Manchester clubs lost and Arsenal opened a two-point lead with a win at Swansea on Saturday, extending the unpredictable start to the English Premier League.

Five months after capturing a 20th English league title, Manchester United (2-3-1) languished in 12th place in the 20-team standings after losing 2-1 at home to West Bromwich Albion in the latest setback to hit David Moyes' troubled first season as manager.

Morgan Amalfitano scored in the 54th minute for the visitors, and Wayne Rooney tied the score on a free kick three minutes later. Saido Berahino put West Brom ahead for good in the 67th.

"I'm concerned after today's result, but only because we didn't play well," said Moyes, whose team lost to City in last weekend's Manchester derby. "But there are a lot of games to go and I'll try to put it right."

Amid its worst six-game start since 1989, United slipped eight points behind Arsenal (5-1), which won 2-1 at Swansea on goals by Serge Gnabry in the 58th minutre and Aaron Ramsey in the 62nd.

The only solace for United on an action-packed day was neighbor Manchester City (3-2-1) lost 3-2 at Aston Villa. City built a 2-1 lead when American goalkeeper Brad Guzan was beaten by Yaya Toure in the 45th and Edin Dzeko in the 56th around Karim El Ahmadi's goal for Villa. The hosts then got goals from Leandro Bacuna in the 73rd and Andreas Weimann in the 75th.

Tottenham (4-1-1) is two points behind in second after drawing 1-1 at home against third-place Chelsea (3-1-2).

Gylfi Sigurdsson put Spurs ahead in the 19th, John Terry tied it in the 65th and the Blues' Fernando Torres was ejected by referee Mike Dean in the 81st for his second yellow, given for an aerial collision with Jan Vertonghen.

Even promoted teams Cardiff and Hull are above United after six games. Cardiff won its first away match of the season, 2-1 at Fulham, and Hull edged West Ham 1-0. Another newcomer, Crystal Palace, lost 2-0 at fourth-place Southampton.