Premier League review: An astonishing afternoon's action saw the two Manchester clubs rack up 13 goals between them as they put the two north London clubs to the sword.
Wayne Rooney scored a hat-trick as Manchester United fired an astonishing 8-2 victory over Arsenal at Old Trafford, while Edin Dzeko bagged four as City ran riot in Tottenham.
The Gunners are now just above the relegation zone at the end of a thoroughly miserable day for north London.
Danny Welbeck and Ashley Young scored either side of a missed Robin van Persie penalty before Rooney cut loose, Nani and Park Ji-sung also finding the net for the rampant hosts before Young finished them off in stoppage time.
Dzeko scored four as he and debutant Samir Nasri helped Manchester City thrash Spurs 5-1 with a ruthless display of attacking football at White Hart Lane.
Nasri supplied the crosses for Dzeko to score his first two goals and he also played his part in the run up to Sergio Aguero's strike, which made it 4-0 with half an hour to go.
Younes Kaboul headed a consolation for Tottenham, who included Luka Modric in their line-up, but the afternoon belonged to Dzeko who clinched his hat-trick by firing in from six yards on the hour before scoring his fourth - a beautiful curling effort - with the last kick of the game.
The win took City top of the league before United went above them on goal difference.
I think the last time I scored four was for Wolfsburg in Germany," the Bosnia-Herzegovina international said on ESPN. "Today was something special for me, to score four goals in the Premier League is fantastic. I think we're getting better and better. I hope we can improve in the next game and try to win every game."
Nasri added: “This is a tough place to win. I had a good game but the most important thing is we won 5-1 and sent out a signal to other clubs. This is just start of the season, it’s important to keep our confidence, but I’m convinced we have a great team here and can win things.”
City manager Roberto Mancini admits the rout will raise expectations amongst fans but was quick to remind them the season has only just begun.
“We played a really good game against what is a fantastic team,” he said. “I was always sure Dzeko would score a lot of goals for us, he always scored in Wolfsburg.
“The only thing I’m disappointed with is that we conceded. I think we need to pay more attention in this situation. This is a very long season and it’s important that we started well. The next games will be very hard because now everyone thinks we will score three or four goals, but that is impossible.”
Leon Best emerged from the Tyneside shadows to prove there is life after Joey Barton as Newcastlemaintained their unbeaten start to the Premier League season with a 2-1 win over Fulham.
The Republic of Ireland international was asked to stand in for the injured Shola Ameobi and responded with a second-half double to reward manager Alan Pardew for his faith with the club's quest to land a another frontman ongoing.
However, the Magpies were indebted to keeper Tim Krul for three superb second-half saves from Steve Sidwell, Chris Baird and Danny Murphy before he was finally beaten for the first time in the campaign by Clint Dempsey's 88th-minute header.
West Bromand Stokeappeared set to share the spoils in a goalless draw until Potters substitute Ryan Shotton scored a dramatic late winner after a defensive mix-up between Ben Foster and Gabriel Tamas.
There appeared little danger when Jonathan Walters pumped a harmless ball into the box but Foster and Tamas allowed Shotton to nip in and score with only a minute remaining.
It earned unbeaten Stoke their first league win of the campaign and means Albion have lost their opening three matches.
