Wayne Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy rekindled Manchester United's championship hopes in a 3-1 victory at Newcastle on Sunday.
Rooney scored twice and Van Nistelrooy -- back from suspension -- scored from a dubiously awarded penalty as the Reds moved up to seventh, although they are still 11 points behind leader Chelsea.
Rooney fired the Reds ahead after seven minutes at St. James' Park only for Alan Shearer to level in the 71st. Van Nistelrooy scored from the spot three minutes later after referee Mike Dean had harshly ruled that Magpies goalkeeper Shay Given had brought down Paul Scholes.
Rooney added the third in the third minutes of injury time to ensure a victory Alex Ferguson's badly needed to stand any chance of getting back into title contention.
"With Chelsea and Arsenal winning, we had to win to keep ourselves in the race," Rooney said. "I think all the players knew that before we went out and we just had to go out and give a big performance.
"Obviously it's going to be a difficult job to catch them. But you shouldn't write us off. We think we can do it. We all believe in ourselves especially after the win today."
United went ahead when Rooney arrived unmarked in the Newcastle area and scored with a first time shot from Darren Fletcher's right wing cross.
The Reds were forced to send on Wes Brown for the injured Mikael Silvestre and the defender handed Newcastle its equalizer. He lost possession to Shearer out on the right wing and the former England captain dribbled across the field past two more United defenders before shooting past Carroll from 16m.
But the Magpies were only level for three minutes.
Goalkeeper Shay Given left his line to try and reach Rooney's lob and was unable to catch the ball. He was judged to have brought down Scholes as the fought for the loose ball and Van Nistelrooy, who had served a three game suspension for foul play against Arsenal, stroked home the spot kick.
"I think Paul Scholes was brought down OK," said Ferguson who has argued that his team was denied a penalty in last weekend's 0-0 tie with Manchester City. "I think it's our turn to get the breaks now."
Newcastle didn't agree and felt that Rooney had fouled Andy O'Brien in the buildup to the move.
"We're all bitterly disappointed and angry in there that he has given a penalty," Shearer said after Newcastle's third home loss in a week. "I'm 50 yards up the pitch and I can see a push on Andy O'Brien and the ref is 10 or 15 yards away and he can't see it."
United's third came in the third minute of injury time when Van Nistelrooy's shot was cleared off the line by Titus Bramble and Rooney fired home the rebound for his second of the game.
Middlesbrough spoiled Bryan Robson's return to West Bromwich Albion by scoring a 2-1 victory over their former manager to climb three places to fourth.
An own goal by West Brom defender Darren Purse and a second half header by Boudewijn Zenden were enough to beat West Brom, who replied through Rob Earnshaw's equalizer.
It was their first match under Robson, who played for the Baggies for several seasons before becoming a star with Manchester United. The former England captain went on to manage Middlesbrough but took over at West Brom from the fired Gary Megson on Tuesday.
Croatian striker Dado Prso scored one penalty but missed another as Rangers edged Hibernian 1-0 on Sunday to cut Celtic's standings to four points a week before their first meeting in the league title race.
Prso's 65th minute strike after a foul by Hibs' Gary Caldwell earned Rangers their 10th victory of the campaign in 14 games. The former As Monaco striker later hit the post with his second spot kick but the shutout means that Alex McLeish's men have conceded only five league goals.
They now have 33 points to Celtic's 37 with the Scottish title race again looking like a two-horse race. Third place Aberdeen has 25 and is already virtually out of contention.
Two players were sent off in Sunday's game at Easter Road. Caldwell was ejected for hauling down Hamed Namouchi and handing Prso the penalty he scored.
And Rangers' Nacho Novo was expelled in the first half for aiming a kick at Craig Rocastle off the ball and is likely to miss next weekend's game against Celtic at Ibrox.
Brazilian forwards Edu Schmidt and Ricardo Oliveira scored a goal each Sunday to help Real Betis top previously unbeaten FC Barcelona 2-1.
Barcelona (8-2-1) missed a chance to establish a club record for its best start to a season. Frank Rijkaard's team needed a win to improve on the record by Bobby Robson's Barcelona side of 1996-97.
Real Madrid trounced lowly Albacete 6-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium to move to within four points of first-place Barcelona at the top of the standings.
Ronaldo scored twice, with Zinedine Zidane, Raul Gonzalez, Walter Samuel and substitute Michael Owen also netting to extend Madrid's unbeaten run to five.
The victory boosted Madrid's morale before its visit to Barcelona next Saturday, and David Beckham added to Madrid's satisfaction by making his first appearance after a month's absence with broken ribs.
"Today we played a great game. We created lots of chances. Both individually and as a team we did really well," Madrid coach Mariano Garcia Remon said.
Barcelona leads the league with 26 points, while Madrid has 22. Espanyol is in third place with 20 points, one more than Levante and two more than Zaragoza and Sevilla.
In another 11th-round match, last-place Mallorca drew 1-1 with Mallorca.
Bayern Munich coach Felix Magath blasted his team's critics Sunday just minutes after rookie forward Paolo Guerrero scored twice to lift his club to a 3-1 comeback win over Bochum.
Also, Rostock coach Juri Schluenz resigned after his bottom team was thrashed 6-0 by Hamburger SV, the worst home loss in the club's Bundesliga history.
"I'm taking the responsibility," Schluenz said. "That was an eye-opener and something I just can't do to the fans."
Bayern wiped out a goal deficit by erupting for three scores in six minutes. The club jumped to second in the Bundesliga table and within a point of front-runner VfL Wolfsburg.
But Magath didn't want to celebrate, instead lashing out at the ongoing criticism of his team. His club appeared sluggish, only coming alive after Vratislav Lokvenc put Bochum ahead in the 66th minute.
"From my viewpoint, the standards set for Bayern Munich are intolerable. We have to win every match, score a hundred goals and be spectacular," Magath said. "But what Bayern did out there today was what a top team does."
Feyenoord Rotterdam's Dirk Kuyt equalized late in the first half Sunday to salvage a 1-1 tie at Ajax Amsterdam in one of the most important Dutch league games of the season.
Ajax remains in fourth place and Feyenoord in third in the Eredivisie, after AZ Alkmaar moved into second place Saturday with a 1-0 win at NAC Breda. PSV Eindhoven extended its league lead Saturday with a win against Willem II Tilburg.
"Both sides defended well, and attackers on both sides didn't get enough chances," said Feyenoord coach Ruud Gullit of the Ajax match. "It was a fight for the midfield."
Despite recent defeats in both the Dutch league and the Champions League, Ajax looked superior in the first half and its chances were more serious. Greek forward Yannis Anastasiou was a standout and constant danger with his headers.
The payoff came in the 27th minute when Anastasiou sent Argentine Mauro Rosales free around the last Feyenoord defender on the right side and Mauro finished with a beautiful arcing shot over 'keeper Gabor Babos.
Juventus beat Lecce and old nemesis Zdenek Zeman 1-0 on a rain-drenched field Sunday, maintaining its six-point lead atop the Italian league courtesy of Alessandro Del Piero's 14th-minute strike.
The Juventus captain was set up by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who slid a pass across the area after evading three defenders. Del Piero then performed a little dance himself to shake off a couple more stoppers and convert from 7m.
The match was nearly canceled after heavy rains flooded Lecce's Via del Mare stadium, but referee Massimo De Santis decided to play.
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