Rooneyless United beat Fulham 2-0 to maintain lead at top of Premiership table; Chelsea beat Wigan 1-0
Rooneyless United beat Fulham 2-0 to maintain lead at top of Premiership table; Chelsea beat Wigan 1-0Manchester United shrugged off the absence of Wayne Rooney to defeat Fulham 2-0 at Old Trafford and open up a 10-point lead at the top of the Premier League on Saturday.
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| Man Utd's Berbatov scores the opener against Fulham. pic/afp |
United, still furious at the two-match ban handed out to Rooney for swearing, secured all three points thanks to Dimitar Berbatov's 22nd goal of the season and a close-range header from Antonio Valencia.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson made eight changes from the side which defeated Chelsea 1-0 in the Champions League as he juggled his options ahead of next Tuesday's return leg at Old Trafford.
"It was an important win and at this stage of the season that's the name of the game," Ferguson told Sky Sports.
United's victory keeps the pressure on second-placed Arsenal, who travel to Blackpool on Sunday knowing they can't afford more slip-ups.
Chelsea kept alive their remote hopes of overhauling United with a 1-0 victory over Wigan at Stamford Bridge, Florent Malouda scoring the only goal as the Blues remained third, 11 points adrift of United.
Torres struggles
But it was another disappointing afternoon for Chelsea's 50 million pound striker Fernando Torres, whose goal drought continued after he appeared as a second-half substitute.
Tottenham ufffd thrashed 4-0 by Real Madrid in midweek ufffd maintained their push for a place in next season's Champions League with a 3-2 win over Stoke at White Hart Lane to remain in fifth spot.
Crouch scores brace
Peter Crouch bounced back from the disappointment of his red card in the Bernabeu to score twice, with Luka Modric grabbing Spurs' other goal. Stoke's goals came Matthew Etherington and Kenwyne Jones.
At the other end of the table, Wolves' battle against relegation suffered a setback as Everton romped to a 3-0 victory in the early kick-off at Molineux. First-half goals from Jermaine Beckford, Phil Neville and Diniya Bilyaletdinov secured all three points for Everton, who remain in seventh spot after extending their unbeaten run to six matches.
EPL Results
W'hampton u00a0 0-3u00a0u00a0 Everton
Blackburnu00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a01-1u00a0u00a0 Birmingham
Boltonu00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 3-0u00a0u00a0West Ham
Chelseau00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0 1-0u00a0 Wigan
Man Utdu00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a02-0u00a0 Fulham
Sunderlandu00a0u00a0u00a0 2-3u00a0 West Brom
Tottenhamu00a0u00a0u00a0u00a03-2u00a0 Stoke
