Redknapp looked set to suffer his first defeat as Spurs boss, after taking over from Juande Ramos last weekend, when Dirk Kuyt put the Reds - top of the table at the start of the day - ahead early on.

But an own goal from Jamie Carragher drew them level against the run of play and substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko was in the right place at the right time to end Liverpool's unbeaten start.

The Russian's winner appeared another example of everything Redknapp touches turning to gold, but the man himself played down his input.

"Roman has got an interpreter. I just said to him at half-time 'just run about'. That's the truth," he said.

"I can't claim to be tactically cleverer than that. That's all I said to him. To put himself about a bit. If he could. Please."

Tony Pulis watched long-throw specialist Rory Delap mastermind Stoke's stunning 2-1 win over Arsenal then thanked the media for helping create a stir over the midfielder's lethal delivery.

The Irish midfielder put the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor in the shade with an all-action display, but his ability to cause mayhem in the penalty area with his long, flat throws - which set up Ricardo Fuller and Seyi Olofinjana - again dominated the headlines.

Potters manager Pulis said: "With the publicity that has surrounded the long throw, people are worried to death before he even throws it.

"Although they are aware of it, we have scored a lot of goals from it. We do look dangerous from it and it's very, very difficult to stop it."

Sir Alex Ferguson admitted Manchester United nearly ended up being embarrassed by Hull at Old Trafford.

The Barclays Premier League leaders appeared to be cruising at 4-1 up but were left hanging on after goals from Bernard Mendy and Geovanni.

"I feel a bit low," said the United boss. "We should have won by 10 or 11 and we ended up scrambling for a victory."

Luiz Felipe Scolari claimed Frank Lampard was the best midfielder in the world after Chelsea demolished Sunderland 5-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Lampard scored the 100th league goal of his career with a second-half header, to go with an opening goal from Brazilian defender Alex and a hat-trick from Nicolas Anelka.

"Lampard can score 150 goals in his career," said boss Scolari. "One goal every two or three games is fantastic for a midfielder.

"I think this season we need to think who is the best in the world. It is Frank Lampard."

Tony Adams' calm approach to management was tested to the full as Portsmouth were beaten 2-1 by Wigan at Fratton Park.

The Premier League's newest boss saw his side lose to an injury-time Emile Heskey goal after Niko Kranjcar had cancelled out Amr Zaki's opener.

Adams said: "I was so angry. I went berserk at the players and then realised I shouldn't have done that because they had given me so much - so much passion.

"But I kicked a few bottles in there because it seems too much is happening to me in such an early stage of management."

Blackburn boss Paul Ince slammed referee Mike Jones for sending off striker Benni McCarthy for two "nothing incidents" at West Brom and risked controversy by claiming: "It is not a game for women."

McCarthy put Blackburn ahead from the penalty spot in the 2-2 draw but then picked up two yellow cards.

"The referee couldn't wait to get the card out of his pocket," said Ince. "It was harsh and ruined the game."

Gareth Southgate was relieved to avoid defeat after Middlesbrough scraped a 1-1 draw with West Ham, and admitted he might have got his team selection wrong.

"Perhaps with hindsight I should have changed the starting line-up to give us some more energy, so I am obviously happy with a point," the Boro manager said.

David Moyes hopes scoring the winner against Fulham will give Louis Saha the confidence to rediscover the form that made him such a hot prospect during his time at Craven Cottage.

Following Everton's 1-0 victory, boss Moyes said: "Goals bring confidence and hopefully he is off and running now for us.

"This is a new start for him. It was a terrific header after getting into a good position."