United cut Chelsea lead

Wayne Rooney gave away a goal but redeemed himself to inspire Manchester United to a 3-1 win over struggling Hull City.

Wayne Rooney gave away a goal but redeemed himself to inspire Manchester United to a 3-1 win over struggling Hull City which slashed Chelseas lead to two points at the top of the Premier League on Sunday.

The result lifted champions United back ahead of Arsenal,who beat fourth-placed Aston Villa 3-0 with Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas coming off the bench to score two goals,into second place.

Stuttering Chelsea faltered on Saturday when they failed to score for the first time in 34 games and were held to a 0-0 draw at Birmingham City.

Chelsea have 42 points from 19 games,Manchester United are on 40 from the same number and Arsenal have 38 with a game in hand.

Rooney fired United ahead from close range on the stroke of halftime at the KC Stadium but allowed Hull back into the game with a woeful back pass in the 58th minute that led to a Craig Fagan penalty.

The England striker redeemed himself when his cross was turned in by Andy Dawson for a 73rd-minute own goal that put United back in front.

Dimitar Berbatov made it 3-1 by tapping in at the far post eight minutes from time after Rooney had set him up with a perfect pass.

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Fabregas,back from a hamstring injury,stamped his authority on the match with two goals in the space of 16 minutes before limping off six minutes from time in a bittersweet ending for manager Arsene Wenger.

Its a recurrence of his hamstring, Wenger told Sky Sports television about Fabregas. We knew before the game that it was not perfect,I decided to put him on the bench. But we were in the situation where he was needed. We will see if we will have long regrets or short regrets, added the Frenchman.

I dont believe it is too bad. He doesn8217;t think it is too bad8230; if it is a pull again then this time it is three weeks so lets hope its only a little bit of scar tissue, said Wenger.

On Saturday,Rafael Benitezs Liverpool edged to a much-needed 2-0 win over Wolves in a dismal affair at Anfield with goals from captain Steven Gerrard and Yossi Benayoun.

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Wolves were reduced to 10 men soon after the break in bizarre circumstances. Defender Stephen Ward,already on a booking,needlessly fouled Brazilian midfielder Lucas only for referee Andre Mariner to book his team mate Christophe Berra before reversing his mistake and handing Ward a second yellow.

A rare moment of quality saw Liverpool take the lead through Gerrard,who climbed highest to meet a Emiliano Insua cross and head home on 62 minutes. Eight minutes later the hosts added a second through midfielder Benayouns deflected strike.