United pulls clear as Chelsea held
LONDON: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Manchester United pulled clear at the top of the Premier League with a 2-0 win over in-form Blackburn at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The champion's win came as Chelsea's climb up the table was stalled by Tim Cahill, whose spectacular last-minute equalizer earned Everton a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
United moved three points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table, although the Gunners can level things up again if they win at Reading on Monday night and will still have a game in hand over their rival.
Third-placed Manchester City lost ground on the leaders after settling for a goalless draw at Portsmouth.
Elsewhere, Tottenham hammered Wigan 4-0 to claim its first league win under new manager Juande Ramos, Aston Villa emerged 2-1 winners from its local derby at Birmingham and Bolton shared the points with fellow struggler Middlesbrough after a goalless draw at the Reebok.
Two goals in as many first-half minutes from Ronaldo allowed United to make light of the absence of the injured Wayne Rooney and coast to a 2-0 win over a Blackburn side that had begun to harbour aspirations of joining the title holder in the Champions League next season.
Christopher Samba had hit the post for Blackburn in the 18th minute but it was undone by Ronaldo, who headed in a 34th-minute corner from Ryan Giggs barely a minute before he fastened on to a Tevez pass to double the lead.
Any chance of a Blackburn fightback disappeared when midfielder David Dunn was sent off for a second yellow card offense, eight minutes into the second half.
"I'm really happy with that result because they are a good side," United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said.
"With the front players we've got, one is going to produce something on the day we feel - today it was Ronaldo. But there was good play from Tevez and Louis Saha and I thought Ryan Giggs was absolutely fantastic."
Ferguson's side's advantage over Chelsea is now five points after Cahill canceled out a Didier Drogba header with an overhead kick one minute from the end of a match dominated by the Londoners.
Chelsea's frustration was compounded by an injury to central defender Ricardo Carvalho, who joins Petr Cech, John Terry and Paulo Ferreira in the treatment room.
AFP
(China Daily 11/13/2007 page23)
