Wayne Rooney, in
irrepressible form of late,
headed United in front with
his seventh goal in the past
four league games and when
Anthony Vanden Borre put
through his own net in first-
half stoppage time, the game
was over as a contest.
Two more own goals, first
from Richard Hughes and
then Marc Wilson,
sandwiched an increasingly
rare Dimitar Berbatov strike,
as United turned up the heat
on their title rivals with a
ruthless display.
In Saturday's early kick-off
Liverpool got the better of
city rivals Everton, with a
Dirk Kuyt goal giving Rafel
Benitez's side a 1-0 victory
in a feisty Merseyside derby
.
When Sotirios Kyrgiakos was
sent-off for the Reds after
34 minutes, it appeared
Everton had a great
opportunity to record their
first win at Anfield since
Kevin Campbell netted the
winner in 1999. Marouane
Fellaini went off injured after
the two-footed challenge
from Kyrgiakos, but was
lucky not to have been sent
from the pitch himself after
replays revealed he stamped
on the Greek defender.
Tim Cahill had a great chance
just before half-time but his
header was well over and in
the second-half, Kuyt
nodded home from Steven
Gerrard's corner to send the
Kop into raptures. Steven
Pienaar was given his
marching orders in injury
time for a second booking -
having been lucky to be on
the pitch after a poor
challenge in the first-half -
and Liverpool held on to
temporarily up to fourth in
the league.
Brian Laws claimed his first
win as Burnley manager as
goals from David Nugent and
debutant Danny Fox earned
a 2-1 win that fired the
Clarets out of the relegation
zone
and plunged West Ham into
the bottom three.
The Hammers signed three
strikers in the transfer
window and Gianfranco Zola
handed Benni McCarthy his
first start at Turf Moor, but
it was Burnley's January
recruits who shone the
brightest, with David Nugent
- fresh from having his loan
from Portsmouth extended -
opening the scoring after
being put through by new
boy Fox.
And the left-back was not
content with creating goals,
getting on the scoresheet
himself with a left foot
thunderbolt to give the
Clarets a two-goal cushion.
Zola threw on Mido and Ilan
in the second-half and it was
the latter who took his
chance, scoring with nine
minutes left on the clock, but
it was Laws who was
celebrating holding out for a
win as the Hammers slipped
into 18th place.
Stoke City produced a
dominant display to down
ten-man Blackburn
Rovers 3-0
and continue their excellent
form at the Britannia Stadium.
It was a disappointing
performance from Sam
Allardyce's side who certainly
weren't helped by
Christopher Samba's second-
half dismissal.
With two games in hand on
Fulham - ahead of them in
tenth - the Potters could
potentially climb into the top
half of the table with a couple
of positive results. But boss
Tony Pulis will have been
content enough to see his
side perform like a true
Premier League outfit. Danny
Higginbotham scored the first
with a left-foot volley,
before strikes from Mamady
Sidibe and Matthe
Etherington wrapped up the
points.
GettyImages
Hull City's George
Boateng is mobbed by
his team-mates after
scoring his side's second
goal of the game
Hull City beat moneybags
Manchester City 2-1
to put a dent in Roberto
Mancini's Champions League
ambitions. Jozy Altidore
broke the deadlock after half
an hour, slotting home his
first Premier League goal
followingsome excellent work
by Jan Venegoor of
Hesselink, before George
Boateng fired home a
sensational second-half
strike to double the lead.
Emmanuel Adebayor grabbed
one back for City to make it a
nervy end at the KC Stadium
and Patrick Vieira came on
for his second Premier
League debut but the Tigers
survived to climb out of the
relegation zone.
Sunderland and Wigan
shared the spoils in a 1-1
draw
, as Steve Bruce failed to get
one over on his old club.
Mohamed Diame netted his
first goal for the Latics to
give Roberto Martinez's side
a 20th minute lead but
Kenwyne Jones salvaged a
draw for the Wearsiders,
heading home a Jordan
Henderson cross.
Bolton Wanderers and
Fulham played out a
goalless draw in a dire
encounter
at the Reebok stadium. Mark
Clattenburg disallowed a
Kevin Davies goal late on,
penalising the striker for a
challenge on Cottagers
defender Brede Hangeland to
keep the score at 0-0.