| 2 - 1 |
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| Wayne Rooney 23 | Roque Santa Cruz 32 | |||||||
| Cristiano Ronaldo 60 |
Manchester United strengthened their hold on first place in the Premier League with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Blackburn at Old Trafford.
The reigning champions looked sharp from the off and took the lead after 23 minutes when Nani's clever ball was only half cut out by Ryan Nelsen and Wayne Rooney, handed his first start since returning from injury, made no mistake from close range.
However, Blackburn were back on level terms nine minutes later as André Ooijer found Roque Santa Cruz and the Paraguayan kept his cool to hold off Rio Ferdinand and round Tomasz Kuszczak before slotting home from an acute angle.
It was the first goal the United had conceded in 1,333 minutes of League football, going all the way back to Samir Nasri's goal at Arsenal on November 8.
The hosts thought they had regained the lead just before the break when Jonny Evans rose to power home Nani's corner. But referee Howard Webb ruled it out for a push from from the Northern Ireland international or Cristiano Ronaldo just in front as a group of players jumped.
Ronaldo got away with a petulant kick on David Dunn, in an incident not seen by the referee, before being booked for an outrageous dive on the edge of box after contact with Gaël Givet.
United almost found themselves behind in the 59th minute when Nelsen hit the post and Kuszczak smothered a follow-up shot by El-Hadji Diouf.
Ronaldo grabbed the spotlight again for all the right reasons, though, as his stunning angled free-kick beat Paul Robinson on the hour.
Morten Gamst Pedersen then claimed a penalty after going down in the box under pressure from Rafael, but ref Webb waved play-on although he did not book the Norwegian.
Chelsea began life under Guus Hiddink in fine style as they beat Aston Villa 1-0 and climb to third in the Premier League table.
The Blues looked the stronger of the two sides and took the lead on 19 minutes after some superb work from Frank Lampard.
The England midfielder produced a sublime piece of skill, that bamboozled Villa's Curtis Davies and Stilian Petrov, before releasing a perfectly weighted pass that Nicolas Anelka chipped over goalkeeper Brad Friedel.
John Terry went close to extending Chelsea's advantage as his thumping header from a Lampard corner brought an superb one-handed save from Friedel.
Ashley Young almost equalised when his curling free-kick hit the crossbar and pinged up from the turf. Emile Heskey was the first to react to the rebound but he headed well wide.
Terry came close again on 49 minutes when he met another Lampard's corner with a firm header, but Petrov was able to clear off the line with Friedel beaten.
Andrei Arshavin's debut in an Arsenal shirt ended in frustration as the Gunners stumbled to a third successive 0-0 draw in the Premier League against resilient Sunderland.
The tone of game was set as early as the 11th minute when Robin van Persie was released into the left side of the penalty box by Denilson. He rounded goalkeeper Márton Fülöp, but clipped his goalbound effort wide of the target.
It was almost a dream start for Arshavin as the debut boy cut in from the right before firing a left-footed strike that drew a fine save from Fülöp.
But the misfiring Gunners were eventually held to their third goalless draw in as many Premier League matches.
Elsewhere in Premier League on Saturday:
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The reigning champions looked sharp from the off and took the lead after 23 minutes when Nani's clever ball was only half cut out by Ryan Nelsen and Wayne Rooney, handed his first start since returning from injury, made no mistake from close range.
However, Blackburn were back on level terms nine minutes later as André Ooijer found Roque Santa Cruz and the Paraguayan kept his cool to hold off Rio Ferdinand and round Tomasz Kuszczak before slotting home from an acute angle.
It was the first goal the United had conceded in 1,333 minutes of League football, going all the way back to Samir Nasri's goal at Arsenal on November 8.
The hosts thought they had regained the lead just before the break when Jonny Evans rose to power home Nani's corner. But referee Howard Webb ruled it out for a push from from the Northern Ireland international or Cristiano Ronaldo just in front as a group of players jumped.
Ronaldo got away with a petulant kick on David Dunn, in an incident not seen by the referee, before being booked for an outrageous dive on the edge of box after contact with Gaël Givet.
United almost found themselves behind in the 59th minute when Nelsen hit the post and Kuszczak smothered a follow-up shot by El-Hadji Diouf.
Ronaldo grabbed the spotlight again for all the right reasons, though, as his stunning angled free-kick beat Paul Robinson on the hour.
Morten Gamst Pedersen then claimed a penalty after going down in the box under pressure from Rafael, but ref Webb waved play-on although he did not book the Norwegian.
| 0 - 1 |
| ||||||
| Nicolas Anelka 19 |
Chelsea began life under Guus Hiddink in fine style as they beat Aston Villa 1-0 and climb to third in the Premier League table.
The Blues looked the stronger of the two sides and took the lead on 19 minutes after some superb work from Frank Lampard.
The England midfielder produced a sublime piece of skill, that bamboozled Villa's Curtis Davies and Stilian Petrov, before releasing a perfectly weighted pass that Nicolas Anelka chipped over goalkeeper Brad Friedel.
John Terry went close to extending Chelsea's advantage as his thumping header from a Lampard corner brought an superb one-handed save from Friedel.
Ashley Young almost equalised when his curling free-kick hit the crossbar and pinged up from the turf. Emile Heskey was the first to react to the rebound but he headed well wide.
Terry came close again on 49 minutes when he met another Lampard's corner with a firm header, but Petrov was able to clear off the line with Friedel beaten.
| 0 - 0 |
|
Andrei Arshavin's debut in an Arsenal shirt ended in frustration as the Gunners stumbled to a third successive 0-0 draw in the Premier League against resilient Sunderland.
The tone of game was set as early as the 11th minute when Robin van Persie was released into the left side of the penalty box by Denilson. He rounded goalkeeper Márton Fülöp, but clipped his goalbound effort wide of the target.
It was almost a dream start for Arshavin as the debut boy cut in from the right before firing a left-footed strike that drew a fine save from Fülöp.
But the misfiring Gunners were eventually held to their third goalless draw in as many Premier League matches.
Elsewhere in Premier League on Saturday:
| 2 - 1 |
| ||||||
| 0 - 0 |
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| 2 - 2 |
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