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LONDON - Wayne Rooney scored twice as Manchester United came from behind to beat Sheffield United 2-1 and stay three points clear of champions Chelsea at the top of the English premier soccer league yesterday.
Chelsea beat West Ham United 1-0 at Stamford Bridge where Geremi scored the
only goal with a 22nd-minute free kick to stretch Chelsea's unbeaten home league run to 51 matches.
Arsenal, though, who moved into third place last week, lost ground after being held to a 1-1 draw at home by Newcastle United.
They dropped back to fourth after Portsmouth beat Watford 2-1 to move above them.
United, who have won their last seven league games, top the table with 34 points from 13 matches, Chelsea have 31 from 13, Portsmouth 23 from 13 and Arsenal 22 from 12.
Sheffield United and Manchester United, meeting in the league for the first time for 13 years, played out a full-blooded match at Bramall Lane where the home side struck first.
Keith Gillespie, who began his career at Manchester United and played a handful of games before leaving in 1995 as part of the deal that took Andy Cole from Newcastle to Old Trafford, opened with a diving header after 13 minutes.
Gillespie, who subsequently played for Blackburn Rovers, Wigan Athletic and Leicester City, was making his 44th appearance for Sheffield United - and that was his first goal.
But 17 minutes later, the leaders were level, with Rooney scoring his sixth league goal of the season and the striker, who scored England's goal in the Netherlands last week, secured United the points with a 75th-minute winner.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said: "They scored an early goal and made it difficult for us, but getting a goal back before halftime gave us confidence, and the patience to wait."
At Stamford Bridge, Geremi scored his first goal since October 2005 with a superbly taken 22nd-minute free kick awarded after Danny Gabbidon fouled Didier Drogba.
It was enough to give Chelsea all three points and keep the Hammers firmly entrenched in the battle for survival at the wrong end of the table.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said: "I think we deserved the points but at the same time I think West Ham gave us a game.
"Normally we should score a second goal and kill the game, but it was a good game because both teams played with a good attitude."
While Manchester United and Chelsea were both winning, Arsenal were forced to settle for a draw against Newcastle, who have not won in nine league matches.
Kieron Dyer, making his first league start of the season after coming on as a substitute against Manchester City last week, scored his first goal for 20 months after 30 minutes when he curled a low shot past Jens Lehmann in the Arsenal goal.
Despite the home side having most of the possession, they only scored once when Thierry Henry, a second half substitute, equalised with a 70th-minute free kick.
Liverpool's toothless away form continued as they could only manage a 0-0 draw with Middles-brough at the Riverside.
Jonathan Woodgate turned one late Peter Crouch header on to the crossbar, but apart from that it was clear to see why Liverpool have managed just one away goal in the league. Liverpool move up one place to ninth with 18 points while Boro remain in 14th place.
Charlton, playing under new manager Les Reed for the first time after Iain Dowie's departure, stayed nailed to the bottom with eight points after losing 0-2 at Reading, where Seol Ki-hyeon and Kevin Doyle scored for the home side.
Portsmouth came from behind to beat second-to-bottom Watford 2-1 with goals from Nwankwo Kanu and a last-minute penalty from Lomano Lua Lua after American Jay DeMerit had given Watford the lead after 32 minutes.
Manchester City beat Fulham 3-1 in the lunchtime kickoff while Everton ended a run of three league matches without a win by beating Bolton Wanderers 1-0 at home with Mikel Arteta scoring the only goal after an hour.
- REUTERS
