Shearer lifts Newcastle

8220;Knowing Alan Shearer like I do, he will be happy to share that the record with the fans and send them away really happy,8221; Roeder said.

It was Newcastle8217;s first victory in seven league games and lifted them to 15th in the table, having picked up 29 points from 24 games.

France striker Thierry Henry also reached a significant milestone, grabbing his 200th goal for injury-hit Arsenal in their 2-0 triumph at Birmingham City.

Arsenal, on 40 points, moved up one place to fifth, one point behind neighbours Tottenham Hotspur who host Charlton Athletic in a London derby on Sunday.

Leaders Chelsea entertain third-placed Liverpool on Sunday, allowing second-placed Manchester United to trim their lead to 12 points with a lively 4-2 victory over Fulham at Old Trafford.

An inspired Cristiano Ronaldo was twice on target for the Reds, the first a swinging free kick, and his second coming late on to quell a spirited challenge from a Fulham side without an away win this season.

Park Ji-sung and Louis Saha were also on target for United in a five-goal first half in which Brian McBride and Heidar Helguson twice reduced the deficit to a single goal.

United manager Alex Ferguson refused to concede the title and said he would become a Liverpool fan for the day on Sunday. 8220;I will have my red and white on to support Liverpool against Chelsea on Sunday,8221; he said.

8220;It can happen 8212; it happened to us once 8212; but Chelsea are consistent and unless they really throw the championship away I can8217;t see it. They really need to make catastrophic mistakes.8221;

Luke Moore8217;s hat-trick inspired Aston Villa to a 4-0 rout of sliding Middlesbrough while new signing Dean Ashton marked his first start for West Ham United with a goal in the 2-0 home win over bottom club Sunderland, who had Stephen Wright sent off.

West Bromwich Albion defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-0 and Bolton Wanderers shared a 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic.

David Weir8217;s goal gave Everton a 1-0 win over Manchester City, who had Stephen Jordan sent off with one minute to go. New signing Dean Kiely was in sparkling form for second-from-bottom Portsmouth and it took Newcastle until the 41st minute to force the breakthrough. Reuters