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5-star United level with City
Source: Agencies |
December 28, 2011, Wednesday
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DIMITAR Berbatov's hat-trick inspired Manchester United to a 5-0 rout of Wigan Athletic and put the defending champion level on points with Premier League leader Manchester City which was held 0-0 at West Bromwich Albion on Monday.
Berbatov scored twice and converted a late penalty, with Park Ji-sung and Antonio Valencia adding United's other goals against the visitors who had Conor Sammon sent off in the first half.
Chelsea's faltering title challenge suffered another blow when it was held 1-1 by neighbor Fulham.
City and United have 45 points from 18 games followed by Tottenham Hotspur (35) which has two matches in hand. Chelsea is fourth with 34 points from 18 followed by Arsenal (32 from 17).
United's second successive 5-0 victory - it also thrashed Fulham by the same score - allowed it to halve its goal difference deficit on City which started the day with a plus-10 tally over its neighbors.
The last four league matches for United have produced 16 goals for and only one against.
"Today's result pleases me considering the injuries we have had. We had 10 players missing and (defender) Jonny Evans was taken off at halftime," manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports.
"In a close game I would have worried about that. We ended up with a back four that has never played together."
At the Hawthorns, West Brom became the first team to prevent City scoring in the league this season.
"Today was difficult," said City manager Roberto Mancini. "When you play a team who have all their players behind the ball at home, if you don't score in the first half it's not easy. It is impossible to score three or four goals in every game. There will be some moments in the year when you won't score."
Liverpool remained sixth with 31 points after being held to a surprising 1-1 home draw by bottom club Blackburn Rovers.
A Charlie Adam own goal - his second in a game against Rovers in successive seasons - put the visitors ahead late in the first half before Maxi Rodriguez equalized eight minutes after the break at Anfield.
Intense pressure
Blackburn manager Steve Kean, under intense pressure from fans to quit all season, enjoyed the moment.
"It was a patched-up team because we have so many players injured and then we lost our goalkeeper (Paul Robinson) but Mark Bunn came in and made some great saves," said Kean. "We have got a very young team at the moment but we are digging in and ... I thought my lads were exceptional."
Blackburn narrowed the gap on its nearest rival after 19th-placed Bolton Wanderers lost at home for the eighth time in nine league matches, going down 0-2 to Newcastle. It was a welcome win for Newcastle which ended a run of six matches without a victory thanks to second-half goals by Hatem Ben Arfa and Demba Ba.
Sunderland and Everton drew 1-1, Jack Colback scoring for the home side after 26 minutes and Leighton Baines equalizing with a 51st-minute penalty.
Stoke City drew 0-0 with Aston Villa, with Stoke staying eighth and Villa remaining 12th in the standings.
Berbatov scored twice and converted a late penalty, with Park Ji-sung and Antonio Valencia adding United's other goals against the visitors who had Conor Sammon sent off in the first half.
Chelsea's faltering title challenge suffered another blow when it was held 1-1 by neighbor Fulham.
City and United have 45 points from 18 games followed by Tottenham Hotspur (35) which has two matches in hand. Chelsea is fourth with 34 points from 18 followed by Arsenal (32 from 17).
United's second successive 5-0 victory - it also thrashed Fulham by the same score - allowed it to halve its goal difference deficit on City which started the day with a plus-10 tally over its neighbors.
The last four league matches for United have produced 16 goals for and only one against.
"Today's result pleases me considering the injuries we have had. We had 10 players missing and (defender) Jonny Evans was taken off at halftime," manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports.
"In a close game I would have worried about that. We ended up with a back four that has never played together."
At the Hawthorns, West Brom became the first team to prevent City scoring in the league this season.
"Today was difficult," said City manager Roberto Mancini. "When you play a team who have all their players behind the ball at home, if you don't score in the first half it's not easy. It is impossible to score three or four goals in every game. There will be some moments in the year when you won't score."
Liverpool remained sixth with 31 points after being held to a surprising 1-1 home draw by bottom club Blackburn Rovers.
A Charlie Adam own goal - his second in a game against Rovers in successive seasons - put the visitors ahead late in the first half before Maxi Rodriguez equalized eight minutes after the break at Anfield.
Intense pressure
Blackburn manager Steve Kean, under intense pressure from fans to quit all season, enjoyed the moment.
"It was a patched-up team because we have so many players injured and then we lost our goalkeeper (Paul Robinson) but Mark Bunn came in and made some great saves," said Kean. "We have got a very young team at the moment but we are digging in and ... I thought my lads were exceptional."
Blackburn narrowed the gap on its nearest rival after 19th-placed Bolton Wanderers lost at home for the eighth time in nine league matches, going down 0-2 to Newcastle. It was a welcome win for Newcastle which ended a run of six matches without a victory thanks to second-half goals by Hatem Ben Arfa and Demba Ba.
Sunderland and Everton drew 1-1, Jack Colback scoring for the home side after 26 minutes and Leighton Baines equalizing with a 51st-minute penalty.
Stoke City drew 0-0 with Aston Villa, with Stoke staying eighth and Villa remaining 12th in the standings.
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