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Monday 12 January 2009

Well ...that was easier than expected!

Manchester United turned up the heat on Premier League leaders Liverpool and manager Rafael Benitez as they closed the gap at the top of the table with a convincing win against Chelsea at Old Trafford.

Nemanja Vidic headed United in front in first half injury-time after Dimitar Berbatov flicked on Ryan Giggs' corner. Wayne Rooney then turned in Patrice Evra's cross after 63 minutes to set United on the path to a deserved three points - leaving them five points behind Liverpool with two games in hand. Berbatov rounded off the win by grabbing the third from close range four minutes from time, turning in Cristiano Ronaldo's free-kick as United's fans finally sensed their title charge was hitting top gear.

Sir Alex Ferguson will regard the victory as the perfect response to public taunts from Liverpool counterpart Benitez that United may be "a little bit scared" at the sight of their great rivals at the Premier League summit.

United were not at their free-flowing best in a game that was too stop-start to be of the highest quality, but they showed none of the fear Benitez might have been hoping to detect. (Source: BBC Sport)