Paul Scholes strikes in his 700th Manchester United match

Old and new combined for Manchester United as Paul Scholes marked his 700th appearance for the club with a goal and debutants Alex Buttner and Nick Powell also scored in a 4-0 win over Wigan at Old Trafford yesterday.

But the victory threatened to be overshadowed by United and England forward Danny Welbeck's blatant dive.

Elsewhere, Arsenal thrashed bottom of the table Southampton 6-1 to leave the newly promoted Saints still searching for their first points of the season.

Welbeck's controversial move won United an early penalty, missed by Javier Hernandez, although that only delayed the inevitable as the home side scored three times in 15 minutes early in the second half.

Scholes opened their account after 51 minutes when Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi could only parry a dangerous, low cross from Nani into the path of the veteran United midfielder who converted into an open net.

After 63 minutes, Dutch left-back Buttner continued what had already been a promising debut after the Wigan defender Ivan Ramis was caught in possession in his own area by Welbeck.

The ball was played to Ryan Giggs who, in turn, fed Buttner whose low shot was turned in by Hernandez from close range.

Buttner appeared ready to claim that goal but, in any case, only had to wait two more minutes to claim one that was undoubtedly his.

Gathering the ball outside the area, Buttner surged into the Wigan penalty box, casting aside three challenges before somehow forcing the ball into the goal from an impossible-looking angle via Al-Habsi.

The final goal, after 82 minutes, came from Powell, a substitute 11 minutes earlier. After James McCarthy gifted the ball to Rafael, the fullback's lay-off was met by Powell who beat Al-Habsi convincingly from 18 yards.

It was an occasion for anniversaries at Old Trafford - Giggs became the first player to appear in 600 Premier League games, Scholes made his 700th United appearance in all competitions, while Rio Ferdinand was playing his 400th game for the club.

Manager Alex Ferguson was taking charge of United in an Old Trafford league game for the 500th time.

At the Britannia Stadium, England striker Peter Crouch gave Stoke a 15th-minute lead when he bundled the ball in from close range.

But City, who've already had to come from behind to preserve their unbeaten start to the season, were level 10 minutes before half-time when new signing Javi Garcia scored on his debut after heading in Carlos Tevez's free kick.

Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross's goal-line clearance late on ensured a point for the Potters.

Arsenal struck in the 11th minute at the Emirates when Keiran Gibbs' cross was turned in to his own net by Southampton defender Jos Hooiveld.

Lukas Podolski then made it 2-0, just after the half hour mark, when he swung in a 25-yard free-kick over the wall.

Gervinho added Arsenal's third 10 minutes before half-time before another Gibbs-inspired own-goal, this time by Nathaniel Clyne, made it 4-0.

There was still time in the half for Saints to get on the scoresheet when Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny dropped a cross and Danny Fox smashed in the loose ball.

But Gervinho restored Arsenal's four-goal lead in the 71st minute when he tapped in from close range after substitute Aaron Ramsey's cross hit the post.

And, two minutes from time, Theo Walcott scored against his old club to make it 6-1.

At Loftus Road, there was no pre-match handshake from Anton Ferdinand for Chelsea captain John Terry and no goals either.

The match was the first between the clubs since since Chelsea and England defender Terry was found not guilty of using a racial slur against the Hoops' Ferdinand in the corresponding fixture last October.

Terry is still the subject of a Football Association investigation over charges he has always denied.

The match ended goalless, with QPR duo Park Ji-sung and Bobby Zamora both failing to make the most of good chances.