Soccer: United grind out win to stay in contention

Champions Manchester United clocked up a second consecutive premier league win by beating Middlesbrough 1-0 yesterday, without the help of England captain David Beckham.

Second-placed Arsenal missed the chance to close to within a point of leaders Liverpool, who played at Chelsea overnight, by being held to a 1-1 draw at West Ham.

Newcastle United moved into third place, level on 30 points with Arsenal, after rallying to a 2-1 home win over Blackburn Rovers, while Tottenham Hotspur hammered Fulham 4-0 in a London derby to go sixth.

Manchester United are ahead of Spurs on goal difference, with 27 points, after grinding out a victory over Boro that was marked by the absence of Beckham and the presence of Ryan Giggs, back from injury.

A tap-in from Ruud Van Nistelrooy was enough to give United another morale-boosting win after their 5-0 midweek demolition of Derby County, and raise hopes among Ferguson's followers that all is not yet lost for this season's title campaign.

Ferguson said a week ago that his team would probably need to win almost every remaining game if they were to capture an unprecedented fourth successive title.

"If they produce performances like that, then they'll give themselves a chance," Ferguson said.

"It's still a big fight. It's an uphill struggle.

"The second half was a really good performance. We controlled the match."

Beckham, who had been left out of the three previous starting lineups, did not even make the substitutes' bench. Ferguson has denied there is a rift with the England captain, pointing to a back problem for the midfielder.

Giggs, who had been sidelined for nearly a month with a hamstring injury, came on as a substitute and fired in a shot which the Boro keeper failed to hold - giving Van Nistelrooy a simple goal.

Arsenal twice hit the bar in the second half at Upton Park, but West Ham were left to rue a controversial refereeing decision - not to award them a late penalty after an apparent hand-ball by Arsenal's Patrick Vieira.

French striker Frederic Kanoute opened the scoring for the Hammers, but England defender Ashley Cole levelled almost immediately.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger paid tribute to the home side's performance, saying: "Overall, an average team would have lost here today because West Ham played well."

Wenger's side will have to shake off the setback by Wednesday, when they are back in action against Newcastle at Highbury.

Despite their position in the table, Newcastle manager Bobby Robson dismissed any talk of his side's winning the league.

"We'll challenge it, we'll threaten it, we won't win it," Robson said. "The other clubs have slightly stronger squads.

"But we are going well and it's not going to be easy for anyone here at St James."

Spurs striker Les Ferdinand scored the premier league's 10,000th goal, steering home a Darren Anderton cross, in their rout of Jean Tigana's side.

Anderton then cracked home Spurs' second, Simon Davies added a third and substitute Serhiy Rebrov completed Spurs' second big win of the week after they crushed Bolton Wanderers 6-0 in the League Cup quarter-finals.

Fourth-placed Leeds United, on 28 points, were also in action overnight, against Leicester City, needing a win to move up to second.

Meanwhile, Spurs will have to break a 12-year hoodoo against Chelsea if they are to reach the League Cup final. The London rivals were paired in the draw for the semifinals.

Blackburn Rovers will face a first-division opponent in their semifinal after Sheffield Wednesday play Watford in Thursday's remaining quarter-final tie.

The semifinals will be played over two legs on January 9 and 23.

Spurs have not beaten Chelsea in the past 25 games between the sides. Their previous victory was a 2-1 success at Stamford Bridge in February 1990.

Glenn Hoddle's side will be out to end that winless streak as they bid for a second League Cup triumph in four seasons.

Hoddle, a former Chelsea manager, had made it clear right from the beginning of the season that the League Cup, though unpopular with several of the larger clubs, was a priority for Spurs.

In Scotland, Alex McLeish got off to a stuttering start as manager of Rangers when his new club could manage only a 2-2 draw at lowly Motherwell.

Champions Celtic overcame a 1-0 deficit at halftime and an 18-minute floodlights failure to beat Dundee 3-1 at Parkhead.

Celtic have 52 points to the 39 of Rangers. Livingston remain third on 36 after a 2-1 home win over bottom club St Johnstone, while Aberdeen stay fourth on 30 after drawing 1-1 at Dundee United.

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