Ton up for Ronaldo

Winger scores a brace to mark his 100th goal for Man United in a 5-0 victory over Stoke

LONDON: Champions United leapfrogged Arsenal into third place and eradicated memories of last weekend’s defeat by knocking five goals past Stoke at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Cristiano Ronaldo book-ended the win with free-kicks right at the start and right at the end of a one-sided contest.

 Michael Carrick claimed United’s second just before half-time, Dimitar Berbatov ended the contest four minutes after the break and, with United strolling, youngster Danny Welbeck came off the bench to score a memorable first goal for the club from well outside the box.

Arsenal’s title challenge suffered a hammer blow on Saturday as a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Aston Villa left them nine points adrift of leaders Liverpool.

Arsene Wenger’s side suffered their first two-goal defeat at the Emirates Stadium. An own goal by Gael Clichy and a Gabriel Agbonlahor strike revived Villa’s hopes of Champions League football next season and it could have been worse for the Gunners if Manuel Almunia had not saved Ashley Young’s first-half penalty. 

Liverpool’s win came courtesy of headers in either half from Dirk Kuyt and captain Steven Gerrard. Liverpool’s first-half dominance saw Kuyt give his side a 28th-minute
lead with a looping header.