Top > Sport > 2006 > December > 2006-12-25

Halfway through, it is all Man U

The race for the English Premier League Championship has reached the halfway point, and the race is as close as ever. Manchester United with 47 point and Chelsea trailing with 45 points have both won this weekend in their respective matches. Man U beat Aston Villa 3-0 and Chelsea rescued 3 points with a 90th minute goal to beat Wigan 3-2. Third place Liverpool won 2-0, but remains 13 points out of first place.

United`s striker Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals and Paul Scholes scored one, all in the second half. The team played without Wayne Rooney who has missed training this week due to personal reasons. Ronaldo was just as comfortable on the offensive side without Rooney. His first of the two goals was United manager Alex Ferguson`s 2,000th goal for United. "Maybe I`ll give him a bottle of wine," Ferguson joked.

Chelsea avoided falling five points behind Man U and first place when, three minutes into extra time, Robben scored the winner. In another match, Arsenal fell behind 0-1 to the Blackburn Rovers but recovered quickly, winning 6-2 in a high scoring match.