In Spain, John Toshack's 36-match unbeaten run as Real Madrid coach came to an end as he watched his side lose 3-2 to Valencia while Italian champions AC Milan shared a 4-4 draw with last season's runners-up Lazio.

This was United's heaviest defeat since they were humbled by the same scoreline at Newcastle three years ago. Uruguayan Gustavo Poyet struck twice for Chelsea, the first exposing United's frailties in defence after just 28 seconds. He scored another after the break to go with goals from Chris Sutton and Jody Morris, with Henning Berg conceding an own goal.

Leeds went to the top after beating Watford 2-1. Arsenal also suffered a surprise defeat, losing 2-1 at West Ham with their French midfielder Patrick Vieira sent off.

Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko scored a hat-trick as champions AC Milan andlast season's runners-up Lazio shared a 4-4 thriller at the Olympic Stadium. The result left Lazio third in the table with 11 points from five matches, two points behind leaders Inter Milan who beat Piacenza 2-1 on Saturday.

Valencia staved off a second half comeback from Real Madrid to win 3-2 at The Bernabeu. Real had been reduced to 10 men in the ninth minute after Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos was sent off for handling the ball on the goal line.

RESULTS

ENGLAND: Leeds 2 (Michael Bridges, Harry Kewell) bt Wadford 1 (Mark Williams); Newcastle 2 (Alan Shearer 2) bt Middlesborough 1 (Brian Deane)

West Ham 2 (Paolo Di Canio 2) bt Arsenal 1 (Davor Suker 1) Leicester City 3 (Muzzy Izzet 2, Taggart) bt Tottenham 2 (Steffen Iversen 2) Chelsea 5 (Gustavo Poyet 2, Chris Sutton, Henning Berg (self goal), Jody Morris) bt Manchester United 0. League leaders: Leeds

GERMANY: Bayern Munich 1 drew Schalke 04 1; Borussia Dortmund 3 bt Hansa Rostock 0; VFL Wolfsburg 3 bt Bayer Leverkusen 1.League leaders: Borussia Dortmund

SPAIN: Barcelona 2 (Patrick Kluivert, Rivaldo) bt Valladolid; Valencia bt Real Madrid 2. League leaders: Barcelona

FRANCE: Monaco 1 (Marcelo Gallardo) bt Olympique Lyon 0; Paris St Germain 4 bt Nantes 0.