England’s Wayne Rooney struck twice to give Manchester United a 2-1 win over Portsmouth on Saturday, cutting the gap on Premier League leaders Chelsea to six points. Earlier, Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw at Southampton, leaving the champions 10 points behind Chelsea.United were also in danger of being held to a draw at Old Trafford when Portsmouth equalised just after the interval but Rooney provided a neat finish nine minutes from time to earn his side victory. “It was a tough game and we knew it would be a very difficult game,” Rooney said. “When they scored they put men behind the ball and we made it very difficult for ourselves. “We knew we had to win today to get to six points behind Chelsea and all we can do is keep winning our games.”In Saturday’s other matches, Everton moved eight points clear in fourth place with a 3-1 win at Aston Villa, Crystal Palace eased their relegation worries with a 2-0 home win over Birmingham City and Tottenham Hotspur beat London rivals Fulham 2-0.Manchester United started well against Portsmouth as Rooney opened the scoring after eight minutes with a precise close-range finish from Gary Neville’s cross.Portsmouth, who inflicted one of United’s two league defeats this season, responded well, however, pressing the hosts and creating chances.The visitors equalised two minutes after halftime when midfielder Gary O’Neil scored with a 20-metre shot into the top corner of the net. United, with striker Ruud van Nistelrooy back in the starting line-up, dominated possession but failed to create many chances against the massed Portsmouth Defence. With just minutes Left, however, Van Nistelrooy found Rooney with a pin-point pass and the England striker surged into the area before clipping the ball past goalkeeper Kostas Chalkias.
