London - John Terry scored the only goal as Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 on Sunday. The win lifts Chelsea five points clear at the top of the Premier League table, and extends their 100 per cent home record this season to six games.
United were unhappy at the award of a free-kick wide on the left with 14 minutes remaining.
Frank Lampard curled it in, and Terry got a touch to divert the ball past Edwin van der Sar.
United were also unhappy about Didier Drogba's role in the goal, as he seemed to foul Wes Brown and then wagged a leg at the ball in front of van der Sar from an offside position.
The early stages had been intriguing rather than thrilling, as Chelsea struggled to come to terms with an unorthodox United formation that saw Luis Valencia played wide right, supporting Wayne Rooney, with four tightly packed central midfielders behind.
Valencia might have had a penalty early on, seeming to be bundled over by Terry.
Referee Martin Atkinson gave nothing, and the incident passed without histrionics, but a more demonstrative player than Valencia might have made the incident more of a talking point.
That aside, Valencia did a fine job in restricting the forward surges of Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole.
The first save of note came just after the half-hour, Nicolas Anelka cutting in from the right and curling a left-footed shot that van der Sar, perhaps briefly unsighted, palmed away with an outstretched right hand.
The second half was similar short on chances. Rooney flashed a low drive just wide midway through the half, and then saw a curler beaten away by Peter Cech.
Gradually, though, Chelsea began to up the tempo and, once they had gone ahead, United created little.
An injury-time Jan Venngoor of Hesselink strike earned Hull City a 2-1 win at home to Stoke City, and perhaps gained a reprieve for his manager Phil Brown, who has been under intense pressure recently.
West Ham United slipped deeper into trouble as they were beaten 2-1 at home by Everton. Louis Saha and Dan Gosling put Everton 2-0 up before a Tony Hibbert own goal gave West Ham hope.
A Clint Dempsey penalty cancelled out Emerson Boyce's early goal as Fulham drew 1-1 at Wigan Athletic.
