Champions Manchester United restored their one-point lead at the top of the English Premier League with a 4-0 win at Bolton on Saturday, responding perfectly to Chelsea’s 7-1 mauling of Aston Villa.
It took United, without injured star striker Wayne Rooney, 38 minutes to go ahead through a Jlloyd Samuel own goal at the Reebok Stadium.
And it wasn’t until 21 minutes from time that United added a second when Dimitar Berbatov, leading the line in Rooney’s absence, scored the first of his two goals before substitute Darron Gibson added a fourth in the 82nd minute.
PHOTO: REUTERS
However, either side of Samuel’s own-goal, United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar made important saves from Johan Elmander and Fabrice Muamba.
“They were absolutely magnificent saves,” United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said. “The second one, in particular, I think was a match-winning save.”
Earlier, Frank Lampard took his goal tally for the season to 21 as Chelsea briefly deposed United at the top with a 7-1 thrashing of Villa at Stamford Bridge.
“It [the team’s performance] was absolutely outstanding,” Chelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins said. “Frank has had a remarkable season, a remarkable career. The guy works so hard in training.”
Dejected Villa manager Martin O’Neill said: “We were well beaten by a fine side. We stopped competing at 3-1 and that’s unforgivable.”
Arsenal stayed third after dropping points in a 1-1 draw away to Birmingham.
Samir Nasri’s goal nine minutes from time appeared to have sealed victory for Arsenal only for Kevin Phillips to equalize in the closing moments.
“It was a bad one for Arsenal to drop points so late in the game today,” Ferguson said. “They’re now four points behind us.”
Frustrated Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger criticized the St Andrew’s playing surface. “It’s very difficult to play football on this pitch, but we will fight until the end,” Wenger said.
Fourth-placed Tottenham maintained their bid for Champions League soccer with a 2-0 win at home to Portsmouth that pushed the visitors to the brink of relegation.
Elsewhere, Stoke piled the pressure on West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola with a 1-0 win at Upton Park thanks to striker Ricardo Fuller’s 69th-minute goal.
A second home defeat in a week, their sixth straight loss, left the Hammers above the relegation zone solely on goal difference after fellow strugglers Hull won 2-0 at home to Fulham.
“It think it was better than the way we played the other day, but it wasn’t good enough to win the game. I’m so disappointed,” said Zola who later admitted he was considering his position as manager of the troubled club.
Meanwhile Wolves and Everton shared the points in a goalless draw.
Yesterday, Blackburn pushed bitter rivals Burnley closer to relegation, beating them 1-0
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