Chelsea halts slide; Liverpool’s unbeaten start ends

LONDON (AP) ― Chelsea finally won and Liverpool finally lost on Saturday.

And, after five matches, Everton remains the only side unbeaten in the English Premier League.

Chelsea had been reeling from its worst start during the decade of Roman Abramovich’s ownership, but second-half goals from Oscar and John Obi Mikel secured a 2-0 victory over Fulham.

The win put Chelsea on top ahead of Sunday’s games, dislodging Liverpool, which was beaten 1-0 at Anfield by Southampton.

“I understand at this moment we are not playing very, very well, the results are not especially good,” Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said. “But the beauty of the Premier League is that ... everybody loses matches.”

Not Everton ― yet.

The Merseyside club staged a second-half comeback to beat 10-man West Ham 3-2, with two goals from Leighton Baines before Romelu Lukaku headed in the winner.

The meeting of the league’s two winless sides ended with West Bromwich Albion beating Sunderland 3-0.

Hull came from behind to win 3-2 at Newcastle, and Aston Villa ended a three-game losing streak by overcoming Norwich 1-0.

At Stamford Bridge, the end of the scoreless first half against Fulham was greeted with boos by some Chelsea fans fearful of a third successive loss.

But Oscar stabbed the ball into the net seven minutes into the second half after goalkeeper David Stockdale parried from Andre Schurrle and spilled Samule Eto’o’s shot.

The second goal came from the unlikely source of Mikel, who had never scored in the league since joining Chelsea in 2006.

It came from the corner after goalkeeper David Stockdale pushed striker Fernando Torres’ header over, with John Terry nodding the ball onto Mikel to slice the ball into the net.

Liverpool has been the surprise package this season as it searches not only for a first English title since 1990, but just a return to the top four Champions League places.