Premier League round-up: There was no Grand National glory for Alex Ferguson but Manchester United continue to power their own way towards the Premier League title. First-half strikes from Dimitar Berbatov and Antonio Valencia with his first since August allowed United to surge 10 points clear of nearest challengers Arsenal.
And, if they can keep a steady course over the final six hurdles, United will achieve what Ferguson’s Aintree hopeful What A Friend was unable to and finish ahead of the chasing pack.
In a football sense at least, it must be quite nice being Ferguson at the minute. Robbed of Wayne Rooney’s services for a couple of games thanks, in his eyes, to some unjust treatment from the Football Association, the United boss could just pluck another striker from his impressive roster to open the scoring.
Nani squeezed a pass to Anderson, then flicked the return to his left for Berbatov. TV replays indicated the striker was just offside. It was very tight though and Berbatov was not hanging around as he slotted his shot beyond Mark Schwarzer.
It was exactly what United were looking for so early in the contest and the points were wrapped up just after the half-hour when Schwarzer inexplicably raced to the touchline to try and make a clearance he was never going to manage given Nani had the speed to get there first.
The Portugal winger showed his selfish streak by going for goal himself rather than present Valencia with a tap-in. Aaron Hughes did it instead, turning Nani’s shot away with his head but merely offering Valencia the chance to nod home from two yards as a consequence.
Florent Malouda ensured Chelsea did not lose further ground as they beat Wigan 1-0 at Stamford Bridge to remain 11 points off United. Chelsea, with Fernando Torres on the bench, were sterile against the rock-bottom Latics and needed Malouda’s scrappy 67th-minute strike after Didier Drogba’s corner was not cleared to break the deadlock.
Torres came on in the second half but missed two good chances to break his Blues duck.
Peter Crouch scored twice on his return to action following his controversial red card against Real Madrid on Tuesday as Tottenham overcame Stoke 3-2 White Hart Lane. The England striker scored either side of Luka Modric, though Matthew Etherington’s sublime run and finish and Kenwyne Jones’ strike kept the gap to one goal.
In the relegation tussle at the other end of the table, third-bottom West Ham were destroyed 3-0 at Bolton. Daniel Sturridge’s sublime left-footed curler put the Trotters in front at the Reebok Stadium before Lee Chung-yong headed home the second after 20 minutes.
Sturridge’s fine individual performance continued as he made it 3-0.
Liam Ridgewell’s mistake helped Blackburn take a 1-1 draw in their crunch clash at home to Birmingham as both sides moved three points clear of the bottom three. Junior Hoilett robbed the Blues defender of the ball before converting in first-half added time to cancel out Lee Bowyer’s headed opener.
West Brom continued their resurgence under Roy Hodgson as they twice came from behind to win 3-2 at Sunderland and move into the top half of the table. Baggies defender Nicky Shorey headed into his own net and though Peter Odemwingie slammed home an equaliser, Phil Bardsley’s rifled long-ranger made it 2-1 to the Black Cats.
Youssouf Mulumbu levelled early in the second half after being played in by Odemwingie and the same provider assisted once again for the Baggies’ third, Odemwingie crossing low from the right for Paul Scharner to sweep home and earn the win.
In the early fixture, Wolves suffered a comprehensive 3-0 hammering as Everton wrapped up the win in the first half through Jermaine Beckford, Phil Neville and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.
Arsenal travel to Blackpool tomorrow with Aston Villa home to Newcastle, while Liverpool and Manchester City meet at Anfield on Monday.
