United make it two wins in a row

MANCHESTER United kept their fading hopes of Champions League qualification flickering with a breezy 3-0 victory at West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League yesterday.

Goals from Phil Jones, Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck gave United back-toback league wins for the first time since December, after their 2-0 success at Crystal Palace last month.

United’s last game at The Hawthorns had been Alex Ferguson’s last as manager and his successor, David Moyes, was looking for a reaction to his side’s shock 2-0 loss to Olympiakos in the Champions League.

United broke through in the 34th minute. A free kick wide on the right gave Robin van Persie an opportunity to whip a cross into the box and Jones stole in front of a clutch of defenders to beat Ben Foster with a near-post header.

They tightened their grip in the 65th minute, with Rooney nodding in a cross from Rafael da Silva to claim his 11th league goal of the campaign.

Zoltan Gera tested David De Gea as West Brom probed for a path back into the game, but Welbeck killed off their hopes in the 82nd minute when he ran onto Rooney’s through ball to curl a shot past Foster.

Chelsea extend their lead at the top of the table after beating Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 at Stamford Bridge last night. The win lifted Chelsea seven points above Liverpool and Arsenal, who both have a game in hand, and nine points clear of fourth-placed Manchester City, who will have three games in hand.

Elsewhere, bottom club Fulham lost 3-1 to second-bottom Cardiff City, Crystal Palace lost 1-0 to Southampton and Stoke City and Norwich City drew 1-1. — AFP