Louis Saha scored on his debut and set up another for Paul Scholes on Saturday to fire Manchester United back to the top of the English Premier League in a 3-2 beating of Southampton.
Signed from Fulham a week ago, the French striker netted in the 18th minute with a deflected free kick and, when his 37th minute shot had been blocked by Saints 'keeper Antti Niemi, Scholes rolled in the second.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Kevin Phillips hit back with two for the visitor before Ruud van Nistelrooy netted United's third in the 60th to lift the Reds above Arsenal by a point.
United's deciding goal brought a furious response from Saints manager Gordon Strachan who said the Dutch striker was offside when the free kick was initially taken.
"[Van Nistelrooy] was interfering with play. As soon as the ball was touched he's going to towards our goal to score. You might as well forget offside now. You might as well scrap offside if that's how it's going to be.
"You can actually get four people standing round their goalkeeper now so that, when the ball comes in, they can cause havoc. It's a farce."
United needed three late saves from American goalkeeper Tim Howard to preserve the three points which take the Reds to 53 and above Arsenal by one point.
United manager Alex Ferguson was delighted with Saha's partnership with Van Nistelrooy.
The 170th Merseyside derby turned out to be a goalless thriller at Anfield with Liverpool going close several times but denied by the brilliant of Everton 'keeper Nigel Martyn.
The loss of the two points meant that Gerard Houllier's team was unable to make up much ground on fourth place Charlton which surprisingly lost at home to League Cup finalist Bolton a day after transferring talented midfielder Scott Parker to Chelsea.
Danish forward Henrik Pedersen gave Wanderers the lead after just 23 seconds at The Valley and, although Jonaton Johansson leveled, Kevin Nolan hit the winner 12 minutes from the end. The victory lifts Bolton to eighth.
Liverpool remains three points behind the Addicks and so does Newcastle, which was denied victory at Birmingham by a late strike by Stern John. Gary Speed had given the Magpies the lead at St. Andrews.
New signing Brian McBride hit the winner as Fulham hit back from going behind to a Robbie Keane penalty at Loftus Road.
After Steed Malbranque had leveled from the spot, the American striker, signed from Columbus Crew, scored the winner from close range in the 67th minute past countryman Kasey Keller in the Spurs goal.
Down at the bottom, it gets worse for Leeds which flopped badly in the second half against Middlesbrough. Boudewijn Zenden and Joseph-Desire Job put Boro in control and Michael Ricketts hit a late penalty.
With the club also in a financial crisis, Leeds now is three points adrift of the other 19 teams after its sixth loss in a row.
Wolves ground out a point in a 0-0 tie at third from last Portsmouth to continue its revival but next to last Leicester crumbled in the second half against Aston Villa and lost 5-0.
England striker Darius Vassell and lanky forward Peter Crouch each scored twice at the Walkers Stadium and Dion Dublin netted the other as Villa won on the road for just the second time this season.
There was even trouble on the field with a Leicester fan running onto the field to remonstrate with Foxes goalkeeper Ian Walker who pushed him and had to be hauled away by the referee and teammates.
In division one, leader Norwich edged third place Sheffield United 1-0 and West Bromwich Albion scored a 3-1 victory over lowly Watford. The results mean that the Canaries remain two points ahead of the Baggies but the Blades are now five points away from the top two automatic promotion places.
Although the Premier League wasn't affected, heavy rain played havoc with the Football League program with 11 games called off because pitches were waterlogged.
The Crystal Palace-Wimbledon division one game kicked off 45 minutes late because high winds had damaged the roof of the main stand at Selhurst Park.
Scottish Premier League
John Hartson scored twice as Celtic romped to a 5-1 victory over Kilmarnock to open up a 14 point lead the Scottish Premier League.
Killie kept the league leader at bay until the 55th minute until French defender Didier Agathe struck for the Hoops.
Welsh international striker Hartson netted his first in the 65th and then came two goals in two minutes from Henrik Larsson in the 76th and Stephen Pearson.
Erik Skora, on loan from Preston, replied six minutes from the end before Hartson added the fifth with a minute to go.
Defending champion Rangers, which now has Frank de Boer lining up alongside twin brother Ronald, can reduce the lead to 11 points by winning at last place Partick on Sunday although the title race looks virtually all over with 17 matches still to go.
Fourth place Dunfermline tumbled 1-0 at Dundee United whose Jim McIntyre scored the only goal in the 57th minute at Tannadice.
Hibernian hit back from a goal down to earn a 1-1 tie with Dundee at Easter Road. Mark Fotheringham fired the visitor ahead a minute before half time but a Derek Riordan penalty in the 69th minute salvaged a point for the sixth place Hibs.
The Livingston-Hearts, Motherwell-Aberdeen games were postponed because the pitches were waterlogged. Eleven games, more than half Saturday's schedule, were called off in the Scottish leagues.
Spanish league
Brazilian striker Ricardo Oliveira scored a hat-trick Valencia trounced 10-man Malaga 6-1 and regained the Spanish league's top spot from Real Madrid.
Striker Miguel Angel "Mista" Ferrer, midfielders Carlos Marchena and David Albelda also scored in a victory which ended Valencia's run of three straight defeats.
Valencia moves up to 47 points, one more than Madrid. The defending champions can reclaim first place on Sunday if they beat Valladolid. Deportivo de La Coruna, which hosts Sevilla, is next with 40, followed by Atletico de Madrid with 36 and Osasuna with 34.
Valencia's match was overshadowed by a sudden collapse just before the interval by Valencia's Argentine defender Mauricio Pellegrino, providing a grim reminder of Benfica's Hungarian forward Miklos Feher, who died in similar circumstances last Sunday.
However, worries about Pellegrino were eased when he was sitting up while being carried on a stretcher to an ambulance waiting at the touchline. A Valencia spokesman said at halftime that the defender's collapse had been due to a sudden drop in blood pressure.
Pellegrino was later released from the hospital and joined up with his teammates for the trip back to Valencia, news agency Efe reported.
Valencia, which lost both legs of its Copa del Rey quarterfinal with Madrid and was beaten by Osasuna in the league last weekend, devastated a Malaga team which suffered its fifth straight league loss.
Oliveira's hat-trick were the first goals the Brazilian had scored since he also netted three times on Nov. 2 against Mallorca.
Oliveira was the provider of Valencia's first goal, Mista heading home the Brazilian's cross from the right after four minutes to score his 11th of the season.
The Brazilian opened his account with a shot 10 minutes later from a cross, again from the right, by midfielder Javier Garrido.
Malaga's woes were compounded in the 26th minute when goalkeeper Francesc Arnau was ejected for a deliberate handball. Substitute 'keeper Juan Calatayud came on, with Argentine forward Federico Insua forced to leave the field.
With fears subsiding after Pellegrino's collapse, Spanish international Marchena beat Calatayud just after halftime after yet another pass from the right wing, this time by midfielder Francisco Perez Rufete.
Valencia's fourth goal came from the left with Oliveira capitalizing on more sorry Malaga defending to double his tally in the 59th minute.
Oliveira completed his hat-trick eight minutes later and Albelda added to Malaga's embarrassment with Valencia's sixth goal in the 73rd.
Malaga striker Salva Ballesta, a former Valencia player, scored a minute later with his 12th goal of the season to provide his team with scant consolation.
Osasuna looked on the way to a second win on the road, following its surprise win against Valencia. But Greek striker Demis Nikolaidis' injury-time header earned Atletico a draw.
Forward Valdo Lopes scored Osasuna's goal in the 25th minute after a surging run by Cameroon forward Pierre Webo. The goal was doubly disappointing for Atletico supporters as Valdo used to play for Atletico's archrival, Real Madrid.
Worse followed for Atletico three minutes later when its leading scorer and Spanish international, Fernando Torres, was carried off with a knee injury after a collision with Osasuna goalkeeper Ricardo Sanzol. Citing the club's medical staff, Radio Marca said the injury was not especially serious.
The injury was bad luck for 12-goal Torres as he was due to miss the game through suspension until the Spanish federation decided to postpone his punishment on Friday.
Atletico's Carlos Aguilera received his marching orders in the 78th minute after a second yellow card.
Antic, who replaced the fired Miguel Angel Lotina on Wednesday, made a bad start as Celta gave another poor display. Celta has won only four of its 22 league games.
Betis' Uruguayan international Alejandro Lembo shot the game's only goal after a corner by Brazilian winger Denilson in the 36th minute. It was the defender's first league goal since arriving from Nacional of Montevideo last summer.
Italian league
Title favorite AS Roma slumped to a 1-0 loss at Brescia on Saturday, missing a chance to regain the top spot in the Italian league from AC Milan.
A penalty kick converted with some luck by Brescia forward Jonathan Bachini in the 42nd minute sank the Roman team, which suffered its second loss of the season -- the first on the road -- at Mario Rigamonti stadium.
Reggina capitalized on two second-half penalty kicks to beat visiting Empoli 2-0 in the only other match of the day. The win lifted the winning side away from the relegation zone.
At Brescia, Argentine defender Walter Samuel caused the decisive penalty by fouling Simone Del Nero, who was substituting for Brescia's injured star Roberto Baggio, as he was rushing toward the net.
Goalkeeper Ivan Pelizzoli dived on the right side as Bachini kicked from the 11-meter spot and almost grabbed the ball, which still slipped into the net.
AS Roma was left with 43 points, two behind Serie A leader Milan ahead of Sunday's matches of the 19th round, which features the Milan powerhouse at Bologna, defending champion Juventus playing host to Chievo and fourth-place Inter taking on Siena at San Siro.
Brescia moved to 22 points in 10th place.
After crossing the halfway season tape with a record of 42 points, Roma began the second half of the soccer campaign with a disappointing 1-1 home draw with Udinese last Sunday.
The unimpressive performances of key stars Francesco Totti, Antonio Cassano and John Carew, combined with a slow midfield play, were behind Roma's defeat Saturday.
Roma had a few scoring chances in the first half when goalkeeper Federico Agliardi made decisive saves on a header by Samuel and a diagonal shot by Brazilian Alessandro Mancini.
Roma had suffered its only previous loss against European champion AC Milan at Stadio Olimpico on Jan. 6.
At Granillo stadium in Reggio Calabria, captain-midfielder Francesco Cozza converted the first penalty for Reggina in the 50th minute after Empoli goalkeeper Luca Bucci fouled striker Emiliano Bonazzoli close to the net.
Quick forward David Di Michele earned another penalty and made it 2-0 in the 89th.
Reggina, coming off three consecutive losses, moved to 20 points in 13th place.
Portuguese league
Sporting held defending champion FC Porto to a 1-1 draw Saturday in the Portuguese league as Jorge Costa and Pedro Barbosa scored a goal each.
Costa put Porto ahead in the 10 minute, but Barbosa equalized for Sporting from the penalty spot in the 70th.
The match started after a minute of silence for Hungary international Miklos Feher, who died last Sunday after collapsing on the field during Benfica's match at Guimaraes.
Porto still leads the league by five points with 52, followed by Sporting with 47. Third-place Benfica, which has 40 points, is scheduled to host Academica on Tuesday.
Bundesliga
Bremen romped and Bayern Munich was stunned 1-1 by Frankfurt on Saturday, kicking off the Bundesliga's four-team title race after the winter break.
Brazilian forward Ailton scored his 17th and 18th goals in as many matches in frontrunner Bremen's 4-0 rout of hapless Berlin, which replaced Frankfurt as bottom team.
With Stuttgart's youngsters rolling 2-0 against Rostock behind goals by Alexander Hleb and Kevin Kuranyi, Bayern is promising to be the weekend's big loser. The fourth contender, Bayer Leverkusen, plays today.
dutch league
Left-winger Arjen Robben scored one goal and set up two more Saturday as PSV Eindhoven beat Vitesse Arnhem 3-0 in the Dutch premiership.
PSV leads the league with 46 points, but second-place Ajax is only three adrift with two games in hand.
AZ Alkmaar lost ground in fourth with a 3-1 defeat at Roda JC Kerkrade. Ivory Coast striker Aruna Kone scored twice and Greek forward Yannis Anastasiou once as Roda built an unassailable 3-0 halftime lead.
AZ got one back through Arjan Wisse but has scavenged only one point from three games since the winter break.
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