Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez propelled Manchester United back to the top of the Premier League and closer to retaining their title yesterday at Old Trafford.
United overcame the pressure Liverpool exerted with their win at West Ham on Saturday to take a grip on the match in the first half against local rivals Manchester City.
Ronaldo’s deflected free-kick in the 18th minute that sneaked past a wrong-footed Shay Given was reward for their early dominance.
PHOTO: AP
Carlos Tevez scored a spectacular second just before halftime, and although City had more of the ball in the second half, they failed to find a cutting edge and United edged closer to the title.
On Saturday, two first-half goals from Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard and a late strike by substitute Ryan Babel gave Rafael Benitez’s side a comfortable 3-0 win at West Ham.
At the other end of the table, West Bromwich Albion gave their supporters reason to believe another great escape from relegation could be possible after a 3-1 win over Wigan Athletic.
The victory, combined with Hull’s 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Stoke, lifted West Brom to within three points of safety with two matches — at home to Liverpool and away to Blackburn — left to play, a situation that has echoes of 2005, when Bryan Robson’s side beat the drop from an apparently hopeless position.
On-loan striker Marc-Antoine Fortune was West Brom’s hero, scoring the Baggies’ first and third goals as well as earning a penalty that Chris Brunt converted on the rebound from his own spot-kick.
Colombian striker Hugo Rodallega had claimed his first goal for Wigan to cancel out Fortune’s opener.
Hull’s fall continued as a first-half strike from Ricardo Fuller and a stunning long-range effort from Liam Lawrence secured three points that guarantee Stoke, back in the top flight for the first time since 1985, will stay there next season.
Stoke boss Tony Pulis was delighted to see his players confound the pundits who had almost unanimously predicted an immediate return to the Championship.
“It means everything and to prove a lot of people wrong is nice,” Pulis said. “It’s been a tough season for us but we have kept going and the players have always believed.”
Andy Dawson scored a stoppage-time consolation goal for Hull, who have won just once in 20 matches and could fall into the drop zone depending on the result of today’s meeting between Newcastle and Middlesbrough.
Blackburn are virtually — if not quite mathematically — safe after moving to 40 points with a 2-0 win over Portsmouth that was sealed by a second-half penalty by South Africa striker Benni McCarthy.
Norwegian playmaker Morten Gamst Pedersen had opened the scoring before the interval with what was his first goal since the last day of last season and John Utaka missed a late penalty for Pompey, who cannot completely relax yet but should be safe on 38 points.
Sunderland pulled five points clear of the drop zone after a goalless draw at Bolton, but that margin could be cut to two points if either Middlesbrough or Newcastle win today’s high-stakes encounter at St James’ Park.
Fulham inflicted further pain on Aston Villa, who have now won just once in 11 matches after a 3-1 defeat at Craven Cottage.
Ashley Young canceled out Danny Murphy’s early penalty but Fulham were always on top and took the points thanks to Diomansy Kamara’s second-half double.
Villa’s latest setback meant Everton had a chance to leapfrog them into fifth place but David Moyes’s side were unable to overcome Tottenham at Goodison Park.
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