Two for Rooney as Man Utd cruise past Villa 3-1

LONDON, (Reuters) –  Manchester United may have kept  their powder dry in the transfer window but they remain the team  to beat in the Premier League as two goals by Wayne Rooney  helped them to a 3-1 home win over Aston Villa yesterday.

United, who barely spent a penny as their rivals splashed  out more than 200 million pounds ($318.8 million) in a bid to  match their consistency, move to 54 points and stay five clear.

Arsenal are second with 49 after they fought back to beat  Everton 2-1 at The Emirates while fourth-placed Chelsea won 4-2  at Sunderland to make it three league wins in a row.

The champions are now on 44 points and just a point behind  Manchester City, who visit Birmingham City today.

The night’s other game was a 2-2 relegation thriller between  West Bromwich Albion and Wigan Athletic.

A year ago England striker Rooney was the hottest property  in the game as everything he touched turned to goals but he has  never been able to regain that form after an injury last March.

He had a forgettable World Cup and a flat first half of the  season for United, with the diversion of his shock transfer  demand and quick change of mind adding to the pressure.

MARVELLOUS FINISH

In recent weeks, though, he has begun to show signs of his  former sharpness and he certainly hit the ground running yesterday when he netted 50 seconds after kickoff.

He brought down a clearance from United goalkeeper Edwin van  der Sar and sent a dipping shot just under the bar from the edge  of the box — then doubled the lead with a tap-in from a perfect  Nani cross at the end of the half.

“It was a marvellous early goal. It was great vision from  Edwin but what a finish — a marvellous finish,” United manager  Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports.

“Goals always help strikers but he (Rooney) has got a great  appetite to play and… to work and fight and gets his rewards  eventually.

Villa briefly threatened when new signing Darren Bent scored  after 58 minutes only for United defender Nemanja Vidic to  finish superbly after Rooney set him up five minutes later.

Winger Ashley Young hit the bar with a long-range curler for  the visitors but United always looked to have another gear in  reserve.

ARSENAL RALLY

In contrast Arsenal had to dig deep after Louis Saha put  Everton ahead after 24 minutes.

The Merseysiders, who led 2-1 until the last minute in the  same fixture last season, defended well until Andriy Arshavin  lashed in the equaliser after 70 minutes.

Poor Everton marking allowed Laurent Koscielny to head  Arsenal’s second from a corner five minutes later.

“We were not as crisp today but you could see how strong the  belief is in this team,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told the  BBC. “We had to rely on our exceptional spirit and attitude and  managed to turn this game around.”

Sunderland, who beat Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge in  November, went ahead after four minutes through Phil Bardsley.