Manchester United gains on Chelsea
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-19 09:11

Manchester United closed in on English Premier League leader Chelsea, beating West Brom 2-1 on Saturday.

Manchester City's Antoine Sibierski, left, challenges Wigan Athletic's Graham Kavanagh for the ball during their English Premier League soccer match at the City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester, England, Saturday March 18, 2006. Wigan won the match 1-0. [AP]

Louis Saha scored both goals for the Red Devils, who trail the leaders by 12 points. Chelsea, with 75 points, can restore its 15-point lead with a win at Fulham on Sunday. Nathan Ellington scored a late goal for West Brom.

U.S. captain Claudio Reyna limped off injured in Manchester City's 1-0 loss to Wigan. Reyna had only recently recovered from a broken ankle, but it was unclear why he left the field Saturday.

Arsenal stayed close to London rival Tottenham in the race for fourth place — the final qualifying spot for the Champions League. The Gunners got goals from Robert Pires, Emmanuel Adebayor and Aleksander Hleb in a 3-0 win over Charlton.

"Overall, the game was never in doubt," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "It's very important in our situation to get the points."

Tottenham, which leads Arsenal by two points, kept pace by beating Birmingham City 2-0, with Aaron Lennon and Robbie Keane scoring.

At the bottom of the standings, Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp had a happy homecoming at West Ham — his former club — with a 4-2 victory. Lomana LuaLua, Sean Davis, Pedro Mendes and Svetoslav Todorov scored for Portsmouth, while Teddy Sheringham and Yossi Benayoun got the goals for the Hammers.

Portsmouth improved to 24 points in its quest to escape relegation to the League Championship.

"Draws are no good at the moment," Redknapp said. "It was a game where we really needed to look to attack."