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Man Utd claim top spot after easy win

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney reacts after missing a chance during their English Premier League match against Sunderland at the Stadium Of Light in Sunderland on Wednesday. PHOTO AFP

Manchester United beat Sunderland for the second time this season to take top spot in the Premier League as Arsenal were held to a drab 0-0 draw at Portsmouth.

A double from Louis Saha and one apiece for Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo allowed United to stroll to a 4-0 win at the Stadium of Light that sent Sir Alex Ferguson's men above Arsenal with a one-point lead.

The champions also have a seven-point advantage over Chelsea, who were held to a 4-4 draw at home by Aston Villa in a thriller that had three red cards, two penalties and an injury-time equalizer.

Liverpool needed a last-minute winner from captain Steven Gerrard to claim a 2-1 win over bottom side Derby that lifts them back into fourth place, a point behind Chelsea but having played a game less.

Derby had looked set to claim at least a point after Jay McEveley cancelled out Fernando Torres's first-half goal.

The match of the day came at Stamford Bridge, where Shaun Maloney's double gave Villa a two-goal lead after barely 15 minutes.

The visitors had defender Zat Knight sent off in first-half stoppage time and two goals from Andriy Shevchenko, the first from the spot, had Chelsea level within five minutes of the restart.

Alex then put Chelsa ahead only for Martin Laursen to volley in an equalizer.

Chelsea's Ricardo Carvalho was sent off for a two-footed tackle before a Michael Ballack free-kick in the 88th-minute appeared to have secured the three points.

But there was still time for another twist.

In stoppage time, Ashley Cole was sent off for a handball on the line and Villa captain Gareth Barry equalized from the resulting penalty.

Arsenal failed to score for the first time in the league this season when they could only draw 0-0 with Portsmouth.

Elsewhere, Tottenham thrashed Fulham 5-1 at White Hart Lane. Robbie Keane and Tom Huddlestone scored twice with Jermain Defoe completing the rout.

Clint Dempsey notched the only goal for Fulham, who finished with ten men after the late dismissal of Moritz Volz.

Wigan escaped from the relegation zone by beating Newcastle 1-0 at the JJB Stadium, Ryan Taylor scoring the only goal.

Birmingham claimed a precious 3-0 win over fellow strugglers Middlesbrough. A Stewart Downing own goal and a Mikael Forssell strike put Alex McLeish's side in control by the break and Gary McSheffrey completed the win with a stoppage-time penalty.

Everton won 2-0 at home to Bolton, Phil Neville and Tim Cahill getting the goals.

Reading secured a battling 1-1 draw at West Ham courtesy of Dave Kitson's well-taken second-half equalizer after Nolberto Solano gave the Hammers the lead.
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