United extend lead with Wolves thrashing
Reigning champions Manchester United won 5-0 away to 10-man Wolves yesterday, moving four points clear of Manchester City – who play Chelsea on Wednesday – at the top of the English Premier League. Goals from Jonny Evans, Antonio Valencia, Danny...
Reigning champions Manchester United won 5-0 away to 10-man Wolves yesterday, moving four points clear of Manchester City – who play Chelsea on Wednesday – at the top of the English Premier League.
Goals from Jonny Evans, Antonio Valencia, Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez’s second-half double sent Wolves, already in the relegation zone, to the bottom of the table.
The heavy defeat for the Molineux club was made worse by the 39th-minute red card shown to defender Ronald Zubar for two bookable offences.
However, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson put his team’s performance in perspective by telling Sky Sports: “It was okay, I don’t think it was anything special. I think we’ve taken our goals well.
“The finish from Valencia was fantastic. Antonio is back in the team and his form was fantastic. He’s made one for Danny Welbeck before half-time that killed the match.
“It’s difficult for them (Wolves) with 10 men, they were honest and kept plugging away but the 3-0 advantage was too much for them.”
Asked about the title race, Ferguson added: “Hopefully we achieve what we want to achieve.
“What’s significant today is it has reduced the goal difference by five goals and that’s down to three now and it may make a difference at the end of the season.
“I expect it to go to the wire.”
Yesterday’s other Premier League game saw Newcastle win for the first time in five league matches as they reignited their push for a Champions League spot by beating Norwich 1-0.
Papiss Cisse scored the only goal in the 11th minute but Newcastle keeper Tim Krul had to save from Anthony Pilkington and Zak Whitbread before Steve Morison missed a late chance for Norwich.
Victory left Newcastle five points behind fourth-placed Arsenal.
Summaries
Premier League
Newcastle 1
Cisse 11;
Norwich 0
HT: 1-0. Att: 47,833.
Wolves 0
Man. United 5
Evans 21; Valencia 43; Welbeck 45; Hernandez 56, 61;
HT: 0-3. Att: 27,290.
Red card: Zubar (W) 39.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Man. United | 29 | 22 | 4 | 3 | 73 | 27 | 70 |
| Man. City | 28 | 21 | 3 | 4 | 69 | 20 | 66 |
| Tottenham | 28 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 52 | 34 | 53 |
| Arsenal | 28 | 16 | 4 | 8 | 57 | 39 | 52 |
| Chelsea | 28 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 48 | 32 | 49 |
| Newcastle | 29 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 41 | 41 | 47 |
| Liverpool | 28 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 33 | 26 | 42 |
| Swansea | 29 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 34 | 34 | 39 |
| Sunderland | 28 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 36 | 31 | 37 |
| Everton | 28 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 28 | 31 | 37 |
| Fulham | 29 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 37 | 40 | 36 |
| West Brom | 29 | 10 | 6 | 13 | 35 | 38 | 36 |
| Norwich City | 29 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 39 | 46 | 36 |
| Stoke City | 28 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 27 | 39 | 36 |
| Aston Villa | 28 | 7 | 12 | 9 | 31 | 35 | 33 |
| Blackburn | 28 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 40 | 60 | 25 |
| Bolton | 28 | 7 | 2 | 19 | 31 | 57 | 23 |
| QPR | 28 | 5 | 7 | 16 | 29 | 48 | 22 |
| Wigan | 29 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 25 | 54 | 22 |
| Wolves | 29 | 5 | 7 | 17 | 30 | 63 | 22 |
The Championship
Cardiff vs Burnley - 0-0