London: Cristiano Ronaldo scored both goals and Manchester United beat Portsmouth 2-0 to return to the top of the English Premier League.

Ronaldo scored in the 10th and 13th minutes yesterday to take his season tally to 27,and lift the defending champion ahead of Arsenal on goal difference.

Third-place Chelsea stretched its record unbeaten streak at home in the league to 75 games with a 1-0 win over Reading, Tottenham drew 0-0 at fourth-place Everton, Manchester City drew 1-1 at bottom club Derby, and Liverpool lost 1-0 at West Ham.

United and Arsenal, which beat Newcastle 3-0 on Tuesday, are tied on 57 points, four more than Chelsea and 14 more than Everton.

Manchester City joined fifth-place Aston Villa on 41 points, and record 18-time English champion Liverpool fell back to sixth, 17 points off the pace.

"Always to lose is a bad thing for us, but especially this type of game," Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said. "We started really well and also the second half we were creating clear chances."

Ronaldo opened the scoring at Old Trafford from a pass by fellow Portugal winger Nani, then curled in a free kick past goalkeeper David James, who was making his 500th career appearance in the Premier League.

United dominated the match, with defender Rio Ferdinand regularly breaking forward in an attempt to bolster the attack, and Nani almost scoring late with a long-range shot.

 

Source : PTI