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| March 27, 2006 | Monday | Safar 26, 1427 |
United regain second spot
LONDON, March 26: Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney steered Manchester United back to second place in the Premier League after a 3-0 win over struggling Birmingham City on Sunday. An early Giggs free kick flew in off City keeper Maik Taylor before the Welshman drilled home a second with only 15 minutes on the clock at Old Trafford. Rooney then surged through the defence to beat Taylor in a one-on-one in the 83rd.
Victory moved Alex Ferguson’s men nearer an automatic Champions League place and a Birmingham side managed by former United favourite Steve Bruce closer to relegation.
Earlier, defender Stuart Parnaby scored a stoppage-time goal to give Middlesbrough a thrilling 4-3 win over Bolton Wanderers while Charlton Athletic beat Newcastle United 3-1.
Champions Chelsea, who defeated Manchester City 2-0 on Saturday, are top on 78 points from 31 matches, with United second on 66 points with a game in hand.
Liverpool, who beat Everton 3-1 in the Merseyside derby, have 64 points from 32 games. They should at least hold on to third place and reach the Champions League qualifiers.
Birmingham, crushed 7-0 by Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals on Tuesday, are 18th in the 20-team division. Ahead of Portsmouth on goal difference, they are three points adrift of West Bromwich Albion.
Results:
Played on Sunday:
Charlton Athletic 3 Newcastle United 1
Manchester United 3 Birmingham City 0
Middlesbrough 4 Bolton Wanderers 3
Played on Saturday:
Aston Villa 0 Fulham 0
Chelsea 2 Manchester City 0
Liverpool 3 Everton 1
Sunderland 0 Blackburn Rovers 1
Wigan Athletic 1 West Ham United 2
—Reuters
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