Premier League - Match round ups.
Manchester United put the pressure back on Chelsea in this season's thrilling title race by beating West Ham 4-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon. Buoyed by their European success in mid-week, the hosts started brightly and took the lead after only three minutes when Cristiano Ronaldo took advantage of a defensive error from Lucas Neill to fire into the back of the net. The Hammers settled after that, but were beaten by Ronaldo again on 23 minutes, before former hero Carlos Tevez lashed in a long-range stunner to make it three two minutes later.
Dean Ashton then scored a barnstormer of his own with a cracking overhead kick which made it 3-1, and Nani was sent-off for headbutting Neill shortly after, unsettling a previously confident United. However, any fears Sir Alex Ferguson's men were going to choke were put to rest midway through the second half when Michael Carrick drilled home from long range to make it four. The match petered out into a rather dour affair after that, but it will matter little to the hosts. All they need to do now is beat Wigan on the final day and they will seal their second successive Premier League title.
At the bottom, Fulham beat Birmingham 2-0 at Craven Cottage to lift themselves out of the relegation zone and leave City knowing that even victory on the final day may not be enough to safe themselves. Following last weekend's astonishing 3-2 comeback at Manchester City, Roy Hodgson's side were in confident mood and played much the better football against a Birmingham side who were downbeat and uninspired after squandering what looked like three sure-fire points against Liverpool.
Despite this the teams went into half-time level, but the Cottagers' superiority told soon after the restart. Jimmy Bullard whipped a cracking free-kick in from the left and Brian McBride headed home at the far post to give the hosts the advantage, despite visiting claims of offside. Alex McLeish's men were galvanised by that goal and came close to finding the equaliser in the closing stages when Radhi Jaidi headed inches wide. But just seconds later a defensive error from Franck Queredrue let Erik Nevland slip through and the former Manchester United man made no mistake to continue his side's remarkable recent recovery.
Reading have now replaced the Cottagers in the bottom three following a limp 1-0 defeat at home to Tottenham, which came courtesy of an early goal from Robbie Keane at the Madejski Stadium, but Bolton are now on the brink of safety thanks to a 2-0 win at home to Sunderland. The deadlock in this tight and tense match was broken on the stroke of half-time when El-Hadji Diouf controlled Kevin Nolan's cross and curled wonderfully into the back of Craig Gordon's net. Sunderland fought back in the second period, but never really looked likely to score and the hosts sealed victory in the dying moments through Daryl Murphy's own goal. It will now take a huge reversal in goal difference for Bolton to be relegated.
Middlesbrough's Premier League survival is now secure as well thanks to a 2-0 victory of their own at home to Portsmouth. The breakthrough came at the end of a first half that the hosts had dominated. Fabio Rochemback swung a well-flighted corner into the Pompey box and Chris Riggott, who has only just been recalled from a loan spell at Stoke City, rose highest to head home. The second strike was scored in similar circumstances, with Stewart Downing this time hitting the corner for Tuncay Sanli to nod in. Now seemingly concentrating solely on the FA Cup final, Pompey never posed a threat meaning Boro will still be playing top-flight football next year.
Wigan Athletic are also safe as they too picked up a comfortable 2-0 win, this time at Aston Villa. Perhaps put off by rumours surrounding the future of Gareth Barry, the home side looked nervy and unsure of themselves and fell behind early in the second half when Antonio Valencia's 20-yard effort flew into the back of Scott Carson's net via a cruel deflection off Wilfered Bouma. Ten minutes later, the impressive Ecuadorian underlined why he is thought to be a target of a handful of top Premier League sides by controlling Emile Heskey's flick-on and hitting beautifully into the back of the net for the second. Chris Kirkland had to make a handful of fine saves from the hosts, but Wigan always looked the stronger side, meaning they are safe but that Villa's hopes of fifth place are slim.
Finally, Blackburn came back from behind to beat Derby 3-1 in an entertaining clash at Ewood Park. The visitors took a shock lead 18 minutes in thanks to Kenny Miller's tidy finish from Roy Carroll's long goalkick. Rovers took some time to get back into the game, but they did so thanks to two goals either side of half-time. Roque Santa Cruz scored the first on the brink of the break, before Jason Roberts found the second a minute into the restart. Santa Cruz then made it three in the dying moments to ensure that Derby will not be able to avoid being lumped with the worst points total in Premier League history.
