Wayne Rooney's red card for Manchester United will claim the headlines from an eventful Saturday in the Premier League.

The United and England captain must now serve a three-game ban - but the good news for manager Louis van Gaal is that his 10 men held on for a crucial win against West Ham United to ease some of the wounds from the 5-3 collapse to Leicester City.

This was among a number of key talking points from Saturday's games. Here, we look at Rooney's conduct and some of the day's other significant incidents.

Is Rooney struggling with pressure of captaincy?

While Rooney's reckless lash out at Stewart Downing was irresponsible and put Manchester United under pressure as they tried to protect an important lead, it is an offence that should be placed in context.

This was Rooney's first red card for United in five years and comes at the end of a long spell when he has seemingly curbed his more aggressive instincts - even to the point where some suggested it had taken the edge off his game.

So to suggest Rooney, who believes his best years are yet to come, has suddenly reverted to bad old ways is premature and ignores much of the recent evidence that has seen him much cooler than the hot-tempered earlier days of his career.

One factor has been introduced into Rooney's life recently, however - his appointment as permanent captain of both club and country.

And this may be an area of concern for those who want this wonderfully talented player to continue to have a clean record.

As a personality whose default position is to take complete responsibility for all aspects of his team's display, it was clear how furious Rooney was with his United team-mates when they cast aside a 3-1 lead at Leicester City. He was visibly angry at the manner in which they conceded their advantage.

And it may be an area Van Gaal feels he needs to address after he followed this up so swiftly with that wild kick out at Downing that earned him a deserved straight red card.

Rooney's performance and effort levels do not need lifting by the award of the status of captain - his desire and determination will be the same whether he has the armband or not.

But there is no doubt Van Gaal and England manager Roy Hodgson will be watching for vital signs that the cares and responsibilities of captaincy do not lead to Rooney placing increased pressure on himself and leading to the sort of incident witnessed at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Former Manchester United defender Phil Neville on Match of the Day: "When Rooney made the foul I thought United must have been in trouble at the back but United were four against two and all the defenders were in good positions. It was just a reckless tackle. There's no need to make the foul because of the position the United defenders were in."

Ex-Wales striker John Hartson on Final Score: "Rooney kicked out at Downing cynically and caught him in the thigh area for no reason whatsoever. And you just ask yourself 'why?' Only he himself will be able to answer that."

Former Chelsea and Newcastle manager Ruud Gullit on Match of the Day: "He could have just tripped him but he just lashes out. Sometimes he gets these moments in his career."

JB on text: Watching Man Utd is the most thrilling part of my week now. It doesn't matter how many they score as we know they can concede twice as many! Always praying as soon as the ball goes over the halfway line that it doesn't end up in the back of the net!

Bobby in Newcastle on text: Awful conduct from Wayne Rooney. The Man Utd and England captain should know better than that!

Sean:  Just when you thought Wayne Rooney had grown up he does that. A toddler throwing his toys out of the pram. Should not be captain.

Is the title battle a two-horse race?

With each week that passes, the Premier League looks more and more like it will develop into a straight fight between Chelsea and reigning champions Manchester City.

Both showed their potency in front of goal again on Saturday, Chelsea winning 3-0 against Aston Villa while City had the firepower to overcome conceding a two-goal lead to win 4-2 at Hull City.

The key to Chelsea's fortunes may be the fitness of Diego Costa, who scored his eighth goal of the season against Villa but is still having to manage hamstring problems.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho revealed Costa is currently barely training to protect the injury and he will hope this continuing concern does not have an impact on their season as he has already proved so vital.

Mourinho has the very able Loic Remy as back-up, having suffered from a lack of alternatives last season, but Costa is the big gun and he will not want to be without him when it matters.

Sergio Aguero also has a chequered fitness record at Manchester City but one glance at the strength in depth of both their squad and Chelsea's suggests we should look no further for the champions.

One interesting sub-plot for City was manager Manuel Pellegrini's decision to rest England keeper Joe Hart against Hull City and bring in understudy Willy Caballero.

This was surely only to keep Hart back for Tuesday's Champions League game as he has been in excellent form so far this season.

Southampton stand between Chelsea and City but even the most optimistic Saints fan would not expect that state of affairs to continue - and while the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool may have title aspirations, on current evidence it is hard to see how they will come to fruition.

It may be less exciting than having four or five teams jostling for position - but these are two high-class sides who will provide plenty of quality.

Gullit on Match of the Day: "The difference with Chelsea this season is the work they do in getting the ball back. The first goal was a great goal and I love the second goal - they still find spaces. And when the opposition is going forward, they also have the possibility of going for a counter-attack. This is the Chelsea I love to see. It's a Chelsea that's hard to beat."

Ex-Leicester striker Steve Claridge on Final Score: "I just don't know how many teams will come to Stamford Bridge this season believing they can get a result. If you came here before the game and you wrote a script of what you thought would happen, the game played out exactly as you might have imagined. So an archetypal Chelsea performance - they looked very, very good."