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February 8, 2010

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United hits Pompey for five, goes top

MANCHESTER United striker Wayne Rooney was on target again to help the hosts crush bottom club Portsmouth 5-0 and return to the top of the English Premier League on Saturday.

The England international pounced just before halftime followed by two own-goals and strikes by Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov to take United to 56 points, one ahead of Chelsea, which was entertaining third-placed Arsenal yesterday.

Liverpool overcame the dismissal of Sotiros Kyrgiakos to beat Everton 1-0 in a fierce Merseyside derby at Anfield to move into the top four for the first time since October. Dirk Kuyt headed the winner 10 minutes after halftime.

Tottenham Hotspur slipped to fifth in the table after a goalless draw at home to resilient Aston Villa. Spurs created most of the chances but could not find a way to break down one of their rivals for a Champions League qualification place.

Tottenham has 43 points from 25 games, leaving it a point behind Liverpool and six adrift of Arsenal. Villa stays seventh with 41 points from 24 games but is now level with Manchester City, which suffered a surprise 1-2 reversal at Hull City.

Elsewhere, it was: Burnley 2, West Ham 1; Stoke 3, Blackburn 0, Bolton Wanderers 0, Fulham 0; and Sunderland 1, Wigan Athletic 1.

Portsmouth weathered the early onslaught from champion United at Old Trafford but came unstuck after 40 minutes when the irrepressible Rooney netted his 21st league goal of the season.

The south-coast side conceded another just before halftime when Anthony Vanden Borre turned a Nani cross between his own posts.

Carrick struck a deflected shot past England goalkeeper David James, Berbatov atoned for a first-half miss with an excellent long-range strike and Marc Wilson helped Patrice Evra's pass into his own net to complete the rout.

"It took us a while to get the first goal but we had a lot of pressure, a lot of possession and we were patient enough," United manager Alex Ferguson told MUTV.

In Italy, Juventus continued its awful run with a 1-1 Serie A draw at modest Livorno on Saturday, leaving the famous Turin club three points adrift of the fourth Champions League qualifying spot.

Sixth-placed Juve has now won just once in eight league matches.

Alberto Zaccheroni, in his second game as Juve coach having replaced Ciro Ferrara, changed tactics by opting for three at the back but the old defensive frailties remained.

Livorno's Antonio Filippini was unmarked when he nodded in Luigi Vitale's cross in the 27th. Nicola Legrottaglie, only playing because of the switch to three center backs, equalized after 42 minutes.

Palermo in fifth moved two points above Juve and one behind fourth-placed Napoli after Simplicio blasted in an 87th-minute winner to seize a 2-1 victory over Parma.




 

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