Soccer: Van Nistelrooy winner takes Man Utd closer to Arsenal

BIRMINGHAM - Manchester United kept up the pressure on premier league soccer leaders Arsenal with a hard-earned 1-0 win at Birmingham City today, their ninth win in their last 10 matches.

A 56th minute goal by Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy secured the victory that took United to 53 points -- three behind Arsenal and five ahead of third-placed Newcastle United, who have a game in hand.

Birmingham, who face Chelsea and Liverpool in their next two games, worked hard throughout but barely threatened to score and remain only two places and six points above the relegation zone.

Today's clash was United's first game at St Andrews for 17 years and they went about their early business as if they were still trying to find their way around the famous old ground.

United had the lion's share of possession in the early stages but lacked an incisive edge.

Birmingham, who signed six new players during January's transfer window as they fight to say up after their promotion last season, had only one real opportunity, when Christophe Dugarry had a header cleared off the line by Juan Sebastian Veron after half an hour.

United went closer just before the break when in-form Paul Scholes unleashed a shot from a tight angle but saw it strike the underside of the bar and bounce to safety.

The goal came 11 minutes into the second half when Van Nistelrooy fashioned a chance out of nothing.

The big striker, who had barely touched the ball before that point, collected it on the penalty spot with his back to goal, surrounded by defenders, but somehow turned to score his 26th goal of the season with a low shot.

From then on United produced a solid performance to give themselves another lift ahead of a testing two weeks during which they will play Manchester City in the league, Arsenal in the FA Cup and Juventus in the Champions League.

- REUTERS

Results of English league soccer matches played today:


Division one

Brighton 2 Wimbledon 3


Division two

Cheltenham 3 Tranmere 1

Huddersfield 1 Plymouth 0

Mansfield 0 Brentford 0

Northampton 0 Cardiff 1

Notts County 2 Crewe 2


Division three

Cambridge 1 Bury 2

Carlisle 1 Lincoln 4

Kidderminster 1 Bournemouth 0

Oxford 0 Wrexham 2

Swansea 1 Darlington 0


English league soccer standings after matches played today:


Division one P W D L F A Pts

1. Portsmouth 30 18 9 3 59 29 63

2. Leicester 30 18 7 5 47 28 61

3. Sheffield United 28 15 7 6 42 27 52

4. Nottingham Forest 30 13 9 8 47 31 48

5. Reading 29 14 4 11 34 29 46

6. Wolverhampton 29 12 9 8 49 30 45

7. Norwich 29 12 9 8 41 28 45

8. Watford 30 13 6 11 36 45 45

9. Coventry 30 11 10 9 36 33 43

10. Millwall 30 12 7 11 38 43 43

11. Crystal Palace 29 10 12 7 42 31 42

12. Ipswich 29 11 8 10 44 36 41

13. Rotherham 30 11 8 11 48 42 41

14. Derby 30 12 5 13 38 39 41

15. Gillingham 28 10 9 9 36 39 39

16. Wimbledon 29 10 8 11 48 48 38

17. Burnley 29 10 8 11 43 55 38

18. Preston 30 8 11 11 45 49 35

19. Bradford 29 9 7 13 35 49 34

20. Walsall 30 9 6 15 41 46 33

21. Stoke 30 5 10 15 34 54 25

22. Grimsby 30 6 7 17 34 59 25

23. Sheffield Wednesday 30 5 8 17 27 52 23

24. Brighton 30 4 8 18 28 50 20


Division two

1. Wigan 30 21 6 3 49 18 69

2. Crewe 30 17 7 6 53 27 58

3. Cardiff 29 17 6 6 46 24 57

4. Oldham 30 15 10 5 46 26 55

5. Bristol City 29 15 7 7 53 32 52

6. Queens Park Rangers 30 14 7 9 41 34 49

7. Tranmere 30 13 6 11 41 45 45

8. Luton 28 12 8 8 42 36 44

9. Blackpool 29 12 8 9 38 37 44

10. Plymouth 29 11 9 9 39 34 42

11. Swindon 30 10 9 11 41 43 39

12. Wycombe 30 10 8 12 43 40 38

13. Brentford 27 10 8 9 32 30 38

14. Chesterfield 29 11 5 13 26 36 38

15. Notts County 30 6 13 11 43 49 31

16. Peterborough 30 7 10 13 31 39 31

17. Port Vale 28 8 7 13 31 41 31

18. Stockport 30 8 6 16 40 51 30

19. Northampton 30 8 6 16 27 47 30

20. Barnsley 29 7 8 14 32 45 29

21. Mansfield 30 8 5 17 45 64 29

22. Colchester 29 6 10 13 29 42 28

23. Cheltenham 29 6 10 13 27 41 28

24. Huddersfield 29 7 7 15 21 35 28


Division three

1. Hartlepool 30 19 6 5 49 31 63

2. Rushden and Diamonds 30 15 10 5 47 29 55

3. Bury 29 13 9 7 42 39 48

4. Oxford 29 13 7 9 38 27 46

5. Wrexham 27 12 9 6 44 34 45

6. Scunthorpe 30 12 9 9 45 36 45

7. Torquay 29 12 9 8 50 48 45

8. York 29 12 8 9 35 36 44

9. Lincoln 29 11 10 8 32 26 43

10. Bournemouth 27 11 10 6 35 33 43

11. Kidderminster 28 11 9 8 39 35 42

12. Southend 30 13 2 15 34 38 41

13. Cambridge 28 11 7 10 46 43 40

14. Hull 30 8 14 8 33 30 38

15. Leyton Orient 28 10 6 12 32 34 36

16. Darlington 28 7 12 9 34 36 33

17. Rochdale 26 7 9 10 38 39 30

18. Shrewsbury 27 7 9 11 38 50 30

19. Carlisle 30 8 5 17 34 51 29

20. Macclesfield 29 7 7 15 35 42 28

21. Exeter 28 6 10 12 32 41 28

22. Bristol Rovers 29 6 8 15 31 41 26

23. Boston 29 7 8 14 33 41 25

24. Swansea 29 6 7 16 27 43 25

Note; Boston deducted four points.