LONDON, April 20: Manchester United kept alive their English Premier League title chances with an easy 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge Saturday, effectively ending Chelsea’s Champions League qualification chances in the process.

Chelsea had won their last seven home league games and had beaten United 3-0 at Old Trafford in December. However, their attention appeared to be on next month’s FA Cup final as they failed to up the tempo even after falling behind to two excellent first-half goals by Paul Scholes and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

United also started slowly but blasted on to the scoresheet after 15 minutes when Scholes expertly shot home from 25 metres.

Van Nistelrooy got the second four minutes before the break after neat flicks from Ryan Giggs and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and United, with a Champions League semifinal on Wednesday, capped a comfortable second-half stroll with the third five minutes from time when Solskjaer converted a low Giggs cross.

They move to the top of the league on 73 points, one ahead of Arsenal, who have two games in hand starting with Sunday’s home clash with struggling Ipswich Town.

Liverpool, who host Derby County later on Saturday, are third on 71. Newcastle are fourth on 64, with Chelsea, having played two games more, fifth on 61.—Reuters