Manchester United and Chelsea kept up the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal on Saturday with home wins over Derby County and Sunderland
LONDON: Manchester United and Chelsea kept up the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal on Saturday with home wins over Derby County and Sunderland respectively.
United beat bottom-placed Derby County 4-1 at Old Trafford where Ryan Giggs scored a landmark 100th league goal, to move on to 36 points from 16 matches.
Chelsea beat Sunderland 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to climb on to 34 points from 16 matches.
Arsenal, who play at Middlesbrough on Sunday, lead the table with 37 points from 15 games.
Everton maintained their recent good run with a 3-0 home win over Fulham at Goodison Park where Yakubu Aiyegbeni scored a hat-trick. Newcastle United scored a late goal to beat Birmingham City 2-1 at home while Portsmouth won 3-1 at Aston Villa in an early kick-off.
Liverpool meet Reading later on Saturday while four other matches are scheduled for Sunday.
ASTON VILLA 1 PORTSMOUTH 3
Two superb goals from Ghanaian international Sulley Muntari and an early own goal from Craig Gardner meant Portsmouth extended their unbeaten league run to 11 matches -- including six successive wins away from home.
Pompey, who had not won at Villa Park for nearly 38 years, raced into a 3-0 lead after 61 minutes before Gareth Barry pulled one back for the home side with a 72nd-minute penalty.
CHELSEA 2 SUNDERLAND 0
Andriy Shevchenko put Chelsea ahead after 23 minutes when he headed home unmarked at the far post, connecting with a cross from Salomon Kalou for only his sixth goal in 38 league games for the Blues.
Chelsea sealed victory in a poor game played in driving rain when Frank Lampard made it 2-0 from the penalty spot after Danny Higginbotham pulled at Alex's shirt in the penalty area.
Sunderland finished with 10 men when Liam Miller was sent off in the closing stages for pushing Claudio Pizarro in the face. Chelsea are now unbeaten in 71 home league games since February 2004.
EVERTON 3 FULHAM 0
A second-half hat-trick from Yakubu Ayegbeni gave Everton three points with victory over a Fulham side who have now won just twice in 46 away league matches.
Yakubu, who also had a hat-trick against Fulham when he played for Portsmouth in August 2004, opened the scoring in the 51st minute and found the net again after 61 and 79 minutes
MANCHESTER UNITED 4 DERBY COUNTY 1
Ryan Giggs scored his 100th league goal for United after 40 minutes, tapping in after goalkeeper Stephen Bywater parried a Cristiano Ronaldo shot.
Carlos Tevez added a second just before halftime after Derby failed to clear a Ronaldo free kick and Tevez added a third after 60 minutes.
Derby scored their first away goal of the season through Steve Howard in the 76th minute before Ronaldo made it 4-1 with a last-minute penalty.
NEWCASTLE UNITED 2 BIRMINGHAM CITY 1
A late goal from defender Habib Beye gave Newcastle their first win since Oct. 22 after Cameron Jerome had put Birmingham ahead after nine minutes. Obafemi Martins levelled from the penalty spot for Newcastle after he was brought down in the area by Matt Sadler.
There were chances for both teams in a lively match with David Rozehnal and James Milner both hitting the woodwork for Newcastle.
Playing later:
Reading v Liverpool 1715 GMT
Playing on Sunday:
Blackburn Rovers v West Ham United 1600 GMT
Bolton Wanderers v Wigan Athletic 1500 GMT
Middlesbrough v Arsenal 1330 GMT
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City 1500 GMT
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