Nov. 29 -- Manchester United beat Everton 3-0 to maintain its lead atop English soccer's Premiership over Chelsea, which beat Bolton 1-0. Fulham defeated Arsenal for the first time in 40 years.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Patrice Evra and John O'Shea scored for United, which rebounded after blowing a lead and tying Chelsea 1-1 tie at Old Trafford three days ago. Chelsea has won four straight at Bolton.

``We are not top of the league,'' Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho told Sky Sports. ``But we had two difficult matches. I don't think we will take a lot of time to be top of the league.''

Fulham beat Arsenal 2-1, Portsmouth snapped Liverpool's six-game winning streak at home with a 0-0 draw at Anfield, and Manchester City extended its unbeaten run to 10 games against Aston Villa, winning 3-1 away.

Manchester United has 38 points to 35 for Chelsea, the two- time defending champion. Portsmouth moved into third on goal difference ahead of Bolton with 24, while Arsenal remained sixth following a third straight league game without a win.

Ronaldo scored in the 39th minute, with Everton wasting a chance to tie when James Beattie failed to control a ball in the United penalty box. Evra got his first United goal in the 63rd minute, taking a pass from Wayne Rooney, and O'Shea finished the scoring in the 89th.

United manager Alex Ferguson kept leading scorer Louis Saha and midfielder Paul Scholes on the bench. Everton was without its two top scorers, Tim Cahill and Andy Johnson.

Ballack Scores

Michael Ballack, Germany's captain, put Chelsea ahead three minutes into first-half injury time when he headed the ball into the net from a corner. Chelsea earned the corner when Andriy Shevchenko forced Jussi Jaaskelainen into a diving save.

Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini preserved the win by stopping El Hadji Diouf in the 79th minute and once more in injury time.

``I like to be first, but I am very happy with this situation,'' Mourinho said.

U.S. striker Brian McBride gave Fulham the lead in the sixth minute with a header from a corner kick, and Tomasz Radzinski made it 2-0 after Luis Boa Morte set him up by getting past two defenders. Robin van Persie scored for Arsenal with a 30-yard free kick before halftime.

Arsenal defender Philippe Senderos was ejected in the 66th minute for a second yellow card.

Liverpool failed to turn its possession into goals, with the Reds also missing central midfielders Xabi Alonso, Bolo Zenden and Momo Sissoko because of injuries.

Arsenal and Liverpool trail Manchester United by 16 points.

Darius Vassell scored for the fifth time in five games against his former club and Joey Barton made it 2-0 within 32 minutes for Manchester City, which won for the first time on the road this season.

Gavin McCann scored for Aston Villa in the 66th minute before defender Sylvain Distin restored the two-goal advantage in the 75th.

Bloomberg.com

Ferguson stokes Chelsea fires with Drogba outburst
James Ducker
It was only ever going to be a matter of time before Chelsea and Manchester United’s mental sparring turned antagonistic, but if there was a surprise yesterday, it was that it was Sir Alex Ferguson, and not José Mourinho, pointing an accusatory finger.

In a thinly veiled attack that is certain to anger the Chelsea manager, Ferguson implied that Didier Drogba should have been sent off for an elbow on Nemanja Vidic, the United defender, during the teams’ 1-1 draw in the Barclays Premiership at Old Trafford last Sunday.

Vidic had to sit out United’s 3-0 victory at home to Everton on Wednesday after undergoing an X-ray on his jaw, which bore the brunt of Drogba’s elbow. The Chelsea striker was booked for the first-half challenge, but, having initially feared that Vidic had broken his jaw, Ferguson believes that the yellow card Howard Webb brandished was not punishment enough.

“He [Vidic] got an elbow into his jaw and it was a concern because we thought maybe it was fractured,” the United manager said. “Fortunately it is not, but he is still very, very tender so we just had to leave him out [against Everton]. What was a concern was that the player [Drogba] only got a yellow card for the use of the elbow.”

With the title race now looking like a straight fight between United and Chelsea, the two clubs have appeared only too happy to raise the stakes over the past week.

Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea chief executive, was the first to twist the knife by claiming that the Premiership champions will be the biggest club in the world come 2014, while Mourinho’s insistence that his team will be back on top “soon” after their 1-0 win over Bolton Wanderers on Wednesday is certain to have irked United.

Few, however, are as good at ruffling feathers as Ferguson and his accusatory comments about Drogba are the clearest indication yet that, for all the mutual respect that exists between the United manager and Mourinho, the niceties are over.

There would be no better way for United to get under Chelsea’s skin than by extending their three-point lead. By the time Arsenal visit Stamford Bridge on Sunday week, Chelsea could trail the leaders by nine points if United win their next two league games, away to Middlesbrough tomorrow evening and at home to Manchester City next Saturday.

These fixtures sandwich Benfica’s visit to Old Trafford, a game which will determine whether United are still in the Champions League after Christmas. This makes six points no easy feat, as Gary Neville conceded yesterday.

United were humbled 4-1 at the Riverside last season, drew 1-1 with City at Old Trafford, and lost to Benfica in Lisbon to exit the Champions League at the group stage, and Neville believes the team can ill-afford such slip-ups this season, even if Wednesday’s result was a good omen.

“We’ve got a difficult period of games now which are crucial for us,” the United captain said. “We talked about the importance of this period before Wednesday’s game. They are all big games, but the Benfica and City games are huge and we simply had to beat Everton after the disappointment of drawing with Chelsea.

“This stage last season was when we dropped some points but we are not going to do that this season. We can’t afford to.”

Numbers game

4 The number of goals that Manchester United conceded against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium in the Barclays Premiership last season.

9 The number of points Chelsea will trail United by come the Premiership champion’s game at home to Arsenal on Sunday week if United win their next two league games.

£15m The cost of United’s exit at the hands of Benfica from the group stage of the Champions League last season.

Timesonline

Chelsea`s 1-1 draw against Arsenal means that they only got 1 point instead of all 3 points.

That`s put a smile on Fergie`s face. :tongue: