LONDON Arsenal's miserable start to the season hit a new low as a freak own goal from Aaron Ramsey put Liverpool on course for a 2-0 win over the 10-man Gunners at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Ramsey put through his own net in the 78th minute when an attempted clearance from young defender Ignasi Miquel struck the Wales midfielder on the head and flashed past stunned goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
That bad break came soon after the dismissal of teenage midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong for an ugly foul on Liverpool's Lucas Leiva.
Luis Suarez added Liverpool's second goal in stoppage time to give the Reds their first win at Arsenal for 11 years.
It was a miserable conclusion to a depressing week for Arsene Wenger, whose Arsenal team have taken just one point from their first two Premier League matches and are yet to score their first goal of the domestic season.
Wenger saw Cesc Fabregas complete his transfer to Barcelona on Monday and the Frenchman's week hardly improved when he found himself in hot water with UEFA for flouting their rules over communication with the bench while he served a touchline ban in a lacklustre Champions League win over Udinese.
"We live under circumstances where every defeat is an absolutely disgrace and an earthquake," Wenger said.
"We had eight players out and still had a good performance, so it is not all doom and gloom."
Samir Nasri started for the Gunners amid rumours that his mooted transfer to Manchester City has broken down and Wenger -- who lost Laurent Koscielny with a back problem in the first half -- added: "I always said that I would try to keep Nasri and I have never changed my mind on it."
In the day's other early match, Newcastle earned the bragging rights in the Tyne-Wear derby as Ryan Taylor's free-kick clinched a 1-0 win over bitter rivals Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.
Taylor struck with a curling effort in the 62nd minute to give the Magpies their first Premier League win of the season and leave Sunderland still with only one home victory over their hated neighbours in the last 30 years.
To cap a bad day for the Black Cats, defender Phil Bardsley was sent off in the last minute for a foul on Fabricio Coloccini.
Elsewhere on Saturday, QPR celebrated the start of a new era under Malaysian owner Tony Fernandes with a 1-0 win over Everton.
Fernandes bought a 66 percent stake in the west London club earlier this week and Neil Warnock's men, who lost 4-0 at home to Bolton last week, took the points at Goodison Park when Tommy Smith curled his shot into the bottom corner in the 31st minute.
Aston Villa secured their first victory under new manager Alex McLeish as Blackburn were beaten 3-1 at Villa Park.
McLeish's team, who drew at Fulham last weekend, took the lead in the 12th minute through Gabriel Agbonlahor's 50th Premier League goal.
Emile Heskey increased Villa's advantage in the 25th minute and, although Morten Gamst Pedersen reduced the deficit with a 52nd minute header, Rovers were condemned to their second successive defeat when Darren Bent struck midway through the second half.
Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm saved a penalty from Wigan midfielder Ben Watson as the first Premier League game to be played in Wales finished in a 0-0 draw at the Liberty Stadium.
Vorm pushed away Watson's second half spot-kick, awarded for an Ashley Williams foul on Jordi Gomez, to give Swansea their first point back in the top flight.
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