London, Aug 25: Title favourites Manchester United and Arsenal share the top spot in the English premier league after two weeks while Bayern Munich moved into a first-place tie in the German Bundesliga yesterday. Striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy scored in his 10th straight league game to equal a record as the defending champions Red Devils rallied to beat Newcastle 2-1 for their second win in a row.

In 1987, Liverpool's John Aldridge scored in 10 straight games in the old division one.
Paul Scholes also scored for United while former England captain Alan Shearer had given the magpies an earlier lead. Manchester United has 17 wins and three draws in the league since last December.
Arsenal, which finished second last season, got a pair of goals from Sylvain Wiltord in a 4-0 romp at Middlesbrough. Thierry Henry and Gilberto Silva also hit the target.



Claudio Pizarro and Giovane Elber scored a goal each as Bayern moved into a three-way tie for the lead in Germany after beating Hamburger SV 2-0. Defending champion Bayern has won a record 17 Bundesliga titles.

Werder Bremen and VFB Stuttgart also have 10 points from four matches. The Spanish and Italian leagues start next weekend.



Free-spending Chelsea, which beat Leicester 2-1, is also perfect after two matches in the premier league. Adrian Mutu scored the winner from 20 yards.



Lilian Nalis' own-goal gave Chelsea the lead in the second minute, though James Scowcroft equalized in the 39th minute.

Bureau Report