Rooney strikes in United stroll

Mar 31 2008 Western Mail

WAYNE ROONEY netted twice to give Manchester United a 4-0 win over Aston Villa which consolidated their position at the top of the table.

Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 17th minute with an audacious back-heeled flick through a crowd of bodies from inside the penalty area.

The Portugal winger then supplied the cross for Carlos Tevez to head home from close range in the 33rd minute.

Rooney scored his first of the game in the 53rd minute with a neat finish after he rounded Villa goalkeeper Scott Carson.

The England international then collected a clever reverse pass from Ronaldo and finished from inside the penalty area to round off the scoring in the 70th minute.

Emanuel Villa grabbed a brace for Derby, but a 2-2 home draw against Fulham was not enough for the Rams, who were finally relegated from the Premier League.

Paul Jewell’s side broke the deadlock when Dean Leacock’s long-range shot struck the knee of Villa on the edge of the penalty area and fooled goalkeeper Kasey Keller.

Roy Hodgson’s side equalised in the 24th minute when Diomansy Kamara headed Simon Davies’ cross home from six yards.

The Cottagers then took the lead when Leacock put through his own net in the 78th minute, but Villa equalised with a glancing header two minutes later.

Jlloyd Samuel put through his own net in added time as 10-man Arsenal came back from a two goals down to win 3-2 against Bolton at the Reebok Stadium.

Bolton opened the scoring after Gretar Steinsson delivered a dangerous cross from the right and Matthew Taylor stole in front of his marker to head the ball home from close range.

Gunners midfielder Abou Diaby was then shown a red card for a bad tackle on Steinsson in the 31st minute.

Gary Megson’s side doubled their advantage two minutes before the break when Taylor rounded off a Wanderers counter-attack with a shot from the edge of the box that took a deflection and beat the despairing dive of goalkeeper Manuel Almunia.

William Gallas pulled one back in the 62nd minute when he turned home a Cesc Fabregas corner from close range.

Arsene Wenger’s side equalised from the penalty spot six minutes later after Gary Cahill had brought down Alexander Hleb.

Robin van Persie made no mistake and sent Bolton goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi the wrong way.

Samuel then directed a Hleb cross past Al Habsi from inside the six-yard box in injury time to give Arsenal the points.

Mauro Zarate scored twice as Birmingham boosted their hopes of beating the drop with a 3-1 home win over Manchester City.

Jermain Defoe’s goalscoring run continued as he netted both goals to give Portsmouth a 2-0 win over Wigan.

Reading were held to a 0-0 draw by Blackburn at the Madejski Stadium while Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones and midfielder Andy Reid both scored to help the Black Cats come from a goal behind to defeat West Ham 2-1 at the Stadium of Light.