Wayne Rooney hat trick keys United rout

LONDON -- Manchester outclassed north London in a Premier League goal frenzy Sunday as United thrashed Arsenal 8-2 and City thumped Tottenham 5-1 in a pair of rampant attacking displays.

Edin Dzeko scored four for City at White Hart Lane and Wayne Rooney responded with a hat trick as Arsenal allowed eight goals in the league for the first time in 115 years.

"You feel humiliated when you concede eight goals," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "It was a terrible day for us, it was a combination of an under-strength team and weakness."

Arsenal has just one point after three games and has had a player sent off in each match, with defender Carl Jenkinson dismissed against the league leaders.

"The performance today was incredible and we deserved the result," Rooney said. "Whether or not Arsenal have a full-strength squad, every time we play them we have a go and try to score. They had some players out but that should take nothing away from us."

United tops the standings on goal difference ahead of City as the only teams to have opened the season with three successive wins.

Tottenham, though, is stranded at the bottom after being ripped apart by big-spending City.

"Today was something special for me, to score four goals in the Premier League is fantastic," Dzeko said. "I think we're getting better and better."

Also Sunday, Leon Best's second-half double clinched a 2-1 victory for Newcastle over Fulham and Ryan Shotton's late goal gave Stoke a 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.

At Old Trafford, United scored eight goals for the first time since 1999.

Rooney netted his first just before halftime with a perfect free kick landing in the top corner, but Theo Walcott pulled one back in stoppage time to reduce the deficit to 3-1 at the break.

There was no recovery, however. Rooney restored the three-goal cushion in the 64th by curling another free kick past Szczesny.

Nani chipped in another three minutes later before Ji Sung-Park found the bottom right corner to make it 6-1.

Even after van Persie pulled one back, Arsenal's misery continued. Jenkinson sent off with 14 minutes to go for hauling down Javier Hernandez, having already been booked.

Rooney was able to complete his hat trick in the 82nd from the penalty spot after Walcott fouled Evra, taking his United tally to 152.

Danny Welbeck and Ashley Young also scored for United.

"When you play Arsenal you expect a difficult game," United manager Alex Ferguson said. "We got careless at times and they made chances because they still have quality up front, but overall we are very satisfied that we kept the performance levels up."

The performance overshadowed City's ruthless display at Tottenham earlier in the day, inspired by a lively Samir Nasri on his first appearance since moving from Arsenal.

The France midfielder provided the 34th-minute cross that Dzeko tapped home for City's first goal.

Tottenham could have quickly leveled when Bale delivered a crisp cross to Crouch, whose downward header crept wide.

City's second took American goalkeeper Brad Friedel completely by surprise, remaining static as Dzeko buried another cross from Nasri into the net with a header.

Yaya Toure supplied Dzeko's third 10 minutes into the second half, while Sergio Aguero netted after bursting into the box past Michael Dawson.

Younes Kaboul pulled one back for Tottenham, but Dzeko put the gloss on City's win in stoppage time by curling the ball into the top corner.

"This is a very long season and it's important that we started well," City manager Roberto Mancini said. "The next games will be very hard because now everyone thinks we will score three or four goals, but that is impossible."

Spain

BARCELONA, Spain -- Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick to lead Real Madrid to a 6-0 rout at Zaragoza to open the Spanish league season.

Jose Mourinho's team displayed the attacking power that led it to a second-place finish last season behind Barcelona.

Ronaldo opened the scoring and Marcelo doubled Madrid's lead at La Romareda stadium before halftime.

Xabi Alonso then extended the lead midway into the second half before Ronaldo scored again, and Kaka came off the bench for a goal of his own and an assist for Ronaldo.

Madrid squandered numerous chances to add to the rout, while Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas was never troubled.

"The team is playing well and creating chances," Ronaldo said. "I have to thank my teammates. We all win and lose together."

Atletico Madrid was held to a 0-0 draw by Osasuna and Athletic Bilbao drew 1-1 with promoted Rayo Vallecano.

Germany

BERLIN -- Raul Gonzalez scored for Schalke in a 1-0 win over previously undefeated Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Bundesliga.

Raul found the net at the third attempt in the 64th minute, when he used his knee to send the ball over Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The 19-year-old goalkeeper had already blocked two shots from Raul.

Schalke moves into second place behind Bayern Munich on goal difference and even on points with Werder Bremen after four games.

Hannover, the league's only unbeaten team, needed a goal by Mohammed Abdellaoue to rally to a 1-1 draw with Mainz.

France

PARIS -- Big-spending Paris Saint-Germain came from behind to beat Toulouse 3-1 and gain ground in the French league. PSG trails first-place Montpellier by two points after four rounds.

Toulouse took the lead when Etienne Capoue headed home a corner kick before halftime. PSG tied it in the 56th minute when Kevin Gameiro outpaced the Toulouse defense to take a pass from Javier Pastore and chip past goalkeeper Ali Ahamada.

Pastore then fed substitute Mevlut Erding, who slipped the ball by Ahamada to give PSG the lead in the 90th. Jeremy Menez sealed the win with a goal in the third minute of injury time.

Rennes beat Caen 3-2 while Sochaux edged Saint-Etienne 2-1.

Scotland

GLASGOW, Scotland -- Glasgow rivals Rangers and Celtic earned 2-0 victories in the Scottish Premier League, bouncing back from elimination in European play.

Goals by Steven Davis and Steven Naismith sent Rangers past Aberdeen. Gary Hooper scored both Celtic goals against St. Mirren.

In Thursday's Europa League playoffs, Celtic was ousted by Sion, and Maribor eliminated Rangers.

Greece

ATHENS, Greece -- Sebastian Leto and Sotiris Ninis scored in the second half, leading Panathinaikos past host Kerkyra 2-0 in the opening round of the Greek league.

PAOK beat visiting Xanthi 1-0 and Panionios and Ergotelis drew 2-2.

Two other scheduled games, AEK vs. Volos and Panaitolikos vs. Asteras, did not take place. Volos was relegated to the fourth division last Tuesday over its ex-president's participation in a match-fixing scandal. Asteras was to replace Iraklis, which was relegated to the second division two over financial irregularities. It was not allowed to compete because Iraklis' case is still pending.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press