Dimitar Berbatov struck a hat-trick to cement Manchester United’s lead at the top of the Premier League yesterday as Darren Bent scored on his Aston Villa debut to derail Manchester City’s title push.
Berbatov took his goals tally for the season to 18 in all competitions as Birmingham were crushed 5-0 at Old Trafford, evergreen midfielder Ryan Giggs and Nani scoring the other goals for the Red Devils.
In the late kick-off, Villa’s 24-million-pound signing Bent struck on 18 minutes against City to give Gerard Houllier’s side a precious 1-0 win.
Bent, a surprise departure from Sunderland, has now scored on his debut for three clubs, having struck goals in his first games for Charlton, Sunderland, and now Villa.
The defeat was a blow to big-spending City, who could have gone level on points with United at the top of the table with a win.
Instead, they were elbowed out of second spot by Arsenal, who saw Robin Van Persie score a hat-trick – and miss a penalty – in a 3-0 win over 10-man Wigan.
With Manchester City dropping down to third, Chelsea remain fourth. The reigning champions play Bolton tomorrow.
Elsewhere, Tottenham scrambled a point at Newcastle after Aaron Lennon scored in injury time to equalise Fabricio Coloccini’s 59th-minute strike for the Magpies. The result saw Spurs hold on to fifth spot.
In the early kick-off, Kenny Dalglish recorded his first win since returning as Liverpool manager as the Merseyside giants secured a 3-0 victory at Wolves.
Two goals from Fernando Torres and a sensational Raul Meireles effort ensured a vital three points for Liverpool, who moved up to 10th after a dominant display at Molineux.
The win was Liverpool’s first away from home since October, and only their second of the season.
Dalglish’s first three matches in charge had seen defeats against Manchester United and Blackpool before a hard-fought 2-2 draw with Everton last week.
Dalglish was left purring at the performance of Torres, who appears to be revitalised since the departure of Hodgson.
“I thought he was fantastic,” Dalglish said.
“Apart from the two goals, he worked his socks off. He was threatening an awful lot of the time. That performance will do for us every day of the week.”
The result left Wolves one place off the bottom after West Ham were denied a vital win by Everton in an entertaining 2-2 draw at Goodison.
West Ham looked to have hauled themselves out of the relegation zone when Frederic Piquionne fired them 2-1 ahead on 84 minutes, after Everton’s Diniyar Bilyaletdinov had cancelled out Jonathan Spector’s first-half strike.
But Piquionne was then sent off and Marouane Fellaini snatched an injury-time equaliser to thwart West Ham, who remain bottom.
At Bloomfield Road, Sunderland bounced back from the disappointing loss of Bent to Aston Villa to record a 2-1 win over Blackpool, Kieran Richardson bagging a brace of goals.
Charlie Adam pulled a goal back from the penalty spot for Blackpool four minutes from time but Sunderland held on for the away win.
Results and standings
Arsenal 3
Van Persie 21, 58, 85;
Wigan 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 59,552.
Missed penalty: Van Persie (A) 71;Red card: Caldwell (W) 70;
Aston Villa 1
Bent 18;
Man. City 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 37,315.
Blackpool 1
Adam 86 pen;
Sunderland 2
Richardson 15, 36;
HT: 0-2. Att: 16,089.
Everton 2
Bilyaletdinov 77; Fellaini 90;
West Ham 2
Spector 26; Piquionne 84;
HT: 0-1. Att: 34,179.
Red card: Piquionne (WH) 85;
Fulham 2
Dempsey 33, 56 pen;
Stoke City 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 23,766.
Red card: Shawcross (S) 55.
Man. United 5
Berbatov 2, 31, 53; Giggs 45; Nani 76;
Birmingham 0
HT: 3-0. Att: 75,326.
Newcastle 1
Coloccini 59;
Tottenham 1
Lennon 90;
HT: 0-0. Att: 51,010.
Wolves 0
Liverpool 3
Torres 36, 90; Meireles 50;
HT: 0-1. Att: 28,869.
Playing today
Blackburn-West Brom - 17:00
Tomorrow
Bolton-Chelsea - 21:00
Leading scorers
17 goals: Berbatov (Man. Utd).
14 goals: Tevez (Man. City).
11 goals: Carroll (Newcastle).
10 goals: Bent (Aston Villa), Nolan (Newcastle).
Next fixtures
Tuesday: League Cup semi-final, second leg – 20.45 Arsenal vs Ipswich. Premier League – 20.30 Blackpool vs Manchester United; 20.45 Wigan vs Aston Villa.
Wednesday: League Cup semi-final, second leg – 20.45 Birmingham vs West Ham. Premier League – 20.45 Liverpool vs Fulham.
Saturday: FA Cup fourth round – 13.30 Everton vs Chelsea. 13.50 Swansea vs Leyton Orient. 14.00 Aston Villa vs Blackburn. 16.00 Birmingham vs Coventry; Bolton vs Wigan; Burnley vs Burton Albion; Sheffield Wed. vs Hereford; Stevenage vs Reading; Torquay vs Crawley; Watford vs Brighton. 18.15 Southampton vs Manchester United.
Sunday: 13.00 Arsenal vs Huddersfield. 14.00 Wolves vs Stoke City. 15.00 Notts County vs Man. City; West Ham vs N. Forest. 17.30 Fulham vs Tottenham.
The Championship
Barnsley 1 - Swansea 1
Cardiff 4 - Watford 2
Crystal Palace 0 - Bristol City 0
Derby 0 - N. Forest1
Ipswich 3 - Doncaster 2
Leicester 4 - Millwall 2
Middlesbrough 1 - Preston 1
Portsmouth 2 - Leeds 2
Reading 1 - Hull 1
Scunthorpe 0 - Burnley0
Sheffield Utd 1 - Norwich 2
Playing today
QPR-Coventry - 14:15
Standings: QPR 49; Cardiff, Norwich, Swansea 47; Leeds 45; N. Forest 43; Watford 42; Reading 41; Millwall, Leicester 39; Burnley, Hull 37; Coventry 36; Derby, Doncaster, Barnsley 34; Bristol City 32; Portsmouth, Ipswich 31; M’boro 30; Sheffield United 27; C. Palace 26; Scunthorpe 24; Preston 21.
League One
Bournemouth 1 - Brighton 0
Bristol Rovers 3 - Swindon 1
Charlton 2 - Plymouth 0
Dagenham 0 - MK Dons 1
Exeter 2 - Walsall 1
Huddersfield 0 - Colchester 0
Leyton Orient 4 - Sheff. Wed. 0
Notts County 0 - Carlisle 1
Oldham 2 - Brentford 1
Peterborough 4 - Hartlepool 0
Tranmere 2 - Southampton 0
Yeovil 0 - Rochdale 1
Standings: Brighton 46; Bournemouth, Huddersfield 43; Southampton 41; Peterborough, MK Dons 39; Charlton, Oldham 38; Rochdale 36; Colchester 35; Carlisle, Sheffield Wed., Exeter 34; Hartlepool, Plymouth 33; Brentford 32; L. Orient 31; N. County 30; Tranmere 29; Swindon 28; Bristol Rovers 27; Yeovil 26; Dagenham 21; Walsall 19.
League two
Acc. Stanley p - Hereford p
Aldershot 3 - Crewe 2
Bradford p - Burton Albion p
Macclesfield 1 - Barnet 1
Northampton 2 - Oxford United 1
Port Vale 0 - Cheltenham 1
Shrewsbury 0 - Chesterfield 0
Stevenage 2 - Morecambe 0
Stockport 3 - Lincoln City 4
Torquay 1 - Gillingham 1
Wycombe 1 - Rotherham 0
Standings: Chesterfield 49; Wycombe 46; Rotherham 41; Shrewsbury, Port Vale 39; Crewe 38; Bury, Gillingham, Cheltenham 37; Oxford 35; Torquay 33; Aldershot 32; Accrington, Northampton 31; Stevenage, Southend, Morecambe, Bradford 30; Macclesfield 27; Burton 25; Barnet, Stockport 24; Hereford, Lincoln 22.