Berbatov bags five in United’s seven

LONDON: Dimitar Berbatov bagged five goals as rampant Manchester United stormed into first place in the League with a 7-1 win over Blackburn at Old Trafford.

Alex Ferguson’s side moved three points clear of Chelsea after Berbatov ended his goal drought to become the fourth player to score five goals in a Premier League match. Berbatov opened the scoring after 75 seconds when he pounced on Wayne Rooney’s flick.

Arsenal back on track

Arsenal briefly led the table after getting back on track at the end of a traumatic week with a 4-2 victory at Aston Villa.

Andrey Arshavin opened the scoring and Samir Nasri increased the lead six minutes later. Ciaran Clark’s 52nd minute strike briefly gave Villa some hope before Morocco forward Marouane Chamakh poked in the third goal. Clark scored again from close-range in the 70th minute but Jack Wilshere sealed the points with a diving header in stoppage time.

City in trouble

Manchester City’s title challenge suffered a blow as Stoke’s Matthew Etherington earned a 1-1 draw with a late equaliser. City had taken the lead in the 81st minute through Micah Richards but Etherington levelled in stoppage time.

Meanwhile, West Ham boosted their survival hopes with a 3-1 win over Wigan. Sylvan Ebanks-Blake scored a last minute winner as struggling Wolves beat Sunderland 3-2. Blackpool drew against Bolton 1-1 and Fulham and Birmingham shared the same fate.  West Brom gave Everton a 4-1 thrashing.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th, 2010.