Solskjaer double sends Man. United top

Manchester United went back to the top of the Premier League with an Old Trafford demolition job on Newcastle United yesterday that should have brought them more than two Ole Gunnar Solskjaer goals.

The Norwegian converted close-range efforts either side of half-time as United won 2-0 to move to 16 points and above Chelsea on goal difference following the champions' 1-1 home draw with Aston Villa on Saturday.

Bolton Wanderers are third on 14 points after their 2-0 home win over Liverpool on Saturday.

In yesterday's other games Reading won 1-0 at West Ham United, Blackburn Rovers beat Wigan Athletic 2-1 while Tottenham Hotspur were 2-1 home winners over Portsmouth who remain fourth.

Manchester United, who lost to Arsenal and drew with Reading in their previous two games after winning the first four, were quickly into their stride yesterday, though they had to wait until four minutes before half-time to get on the scoresheet.

Cristiano Ronaldo, again United's most impressive performer, fired a shot against a post and Solskjaer was on hand to knock in the rebound.

Three minutes after half-time Solskjaer got his second when he diverted a Nemanja Vidic shot beyond Steve Harper.

United had already hit a post through Darren Fletcher and Ronaldo rattled the bar with another powerful run and shot as Newcastle fell apart.

They needed some good saves by Harper to keep the score respectable and never looked remotely capable of ending their 34-year run without a league win at Old Trafford.

"We played with a great intensity and controlled the game throughout," United manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports.

"Today we were back on song. We had some terrific efforts at goal, it was a really terrific performance."

Ferguson was also full of praise for Solskjaer, whose career seemed over after a series of knee injuries.

"If you are out of the game for two years at his age you obviously have doubts but you might find it difficult to believe that a player at the age of 33 is getting better but that's what we've seen this season."

At Ewood Park, Emile Heskey put Wigan ahead in the second minute before David Bentley levelled at the end of the first half.

Blackburn's Jason Brown, a halftime goalkeeping replacement for Brad Friedel, had a debut to remember when he saved a Svetoslav Todorov penalty in the 77th minute, allowing Benni McCarthy to win it for the hosts four minutes later.

Early lead

At White Hart Lane, Tottenham took an early lead, doubled it with a dubious penalty and then held on for the win after Portsmouth pulled one back and dominated possession after the break.

Spurs, without a league goal in four games, went ahead after 36 seconds when Portsmouth keeper David James spilled a Dimitar Berbatov header and Danny Murphy pounced on the loose ball.

A Jermain Defoe penalty after a dive by Spurs midfielder Didier Zokora made it 2-0 after 35 minutes but Nwankwo Kanu pulled one back for Portsmouth with a 40th-minute header.

Portsmouth, who conceded their first goal and suffered their first defeat of the season in last Monday's 1-0 loss to Bolton Wanderers, made most of the running from then on but Spurs always looked dangerous on the break.

Promoted Reading continued their good run courtesy of a second-minute long shot by Korean winger Seol Ki-hyeon and have risen to seventh.