Dimitar Berbatov bagged five goals as rampant Manchester United stormed into first place in the Premier League with a 7-1 win over Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s side moved three points clear of Chelsea after Berbatov ended his goal drought.
Berbatov — who was already in an elite club of players who have scored five goals in a Premier League match with Andy Cole, Alan Shearer and Jermain Defoe — opened the scoring after 75 seconds when he pounced on Wayne Rooney’s flick.
It was Berbatov’s first goal in 11 matches since his hat-trick against Liverpool in September and United did not have to wait long to double their lead through South Korea midfielder Park Ji-sung in the 23rd minute.
Berbatov put United further ahead four minutes later. The Bulgarian forward completed his hat-trick in the 47th minute, then Nani added the fifth a minute later.
Berbatov scored again in the 62nd minute and sealed a memorable performance with his fifth in the 70th minute.
Christopher Samba scored a late consolation for Blackburn.
“When you are a striker, people tend to only look at the goals you score,” Berbatov said. “For me, it is more about how I play, the assists I give, how I link with other players, but today I scored, so I am very pleased.”
Arsenal briefly led the table after getting back on track at the end of a traumatic week with a 4-2 victory at Aston Villa.
The Gunners crashed 2-0 at Braga in the Champions League in midweek, just days after blowing a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 at home to north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, but Andrey Arshavin opened the scoring in the 39th minute and Samir Nasri increased Arsenal’s lead six minutes later.
Ciaran Clark’s 52nd-minute strike briefly gave Villa some hope, before Morocco forward Marouane Chamakh poked in the Gunners’ third goal.
Clark scored again from close-range in the 70th minute, but Jack Wilshere sealed the points with a diving header in stoppage-time.
“It was a good mental response. This team is very interesting,” Gunners boss Arsene Wenger said. “They are all on the same wavelength and want to play the same football. They want to fight for each other too.”
Manchester City’s title challenge suffered a blow when Stoke City’s Matthew Etherington earned a 1-1 draw with a late equalizer.
Manchester City had taken the lead in the 81st minute through Micah Richards, but Etherington leveled in stoppage-time.
West Ham United eased the pressure on boss Avram Grant and boosted their survival hopes with a 3-1 win over Wigan Athletic at Upton Park.
Reports claimed Grant was in danger of losing his job if the Hammers failed to win, but Valon Behrami broke the deadlock with a cool finish in the 34th minute, before Victor Obinna added the second in the 56th minute.
Rob Green saved a penalty from Wigan’s Mauro Boselli and West Ham’s Scott Parker struck the third in the 75th minute. Tom Cleverly’s goal was no consolation for Wigan.
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake scored a last-minute winner as struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Sunderland 3-2 at Molineux.
Kevin Foley smashed in a fine strike for Wolves in the 50th minute, but Darren Bent leveled in the 67th minute.
On-loan Manchester United striker Welbeck put Sunderland ahead in the 77th minute, but Stephen Hunt leveled four minutes later and Ebanks-Blake bagged the decisive strike in the 89th minute.
West Bromwich Albion climbed away from the relegation zone with an impressive 4-1 win at Everton.
Paul Scharner put Albion ahead in the 16th minute, before Chris Brunt curled home a stunning free-kick. Tim Cahill reduced the deficit when he headed in his eighth goal of the season just before halftime.
Everton’s comeback bid was ended when Mikel Arteta was sent off in the second half for a stamp on Gonzalo Jara and Somen Tchoyi sealed the points for Albion, who added a fourth through Sylvain Distin’s own-goal and also had Youssouf Mulumbu sent off.
Bolton Wanderers fought back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw against Blackpool at the Reebok Stadium.
Ian Evatt and Luke Varney put Blackpool in control, but Martin Petrov’s goal sparked a recovery capped by a Mark Davies equalizer in the 89th minute.
Clint Dempsey earned Fulham a 1-1 draw with Birmingham City, who took the lead through Sebastian Larsson.
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