LONDON, March 4: Two second-half penalties tucked away by Benni McCarthy gave Blackburn Rovers a 2-1 victory at Bolton Wanderers in a rainswept north-west derby on Sunday.

The win pushed Rovers into ninth spot in the Premier League and boosted their chances of claiming a UEFA Cup place next season. Defeat dented fifth-placed Bolton's hopes of gatecrashing the top four.

Rovers took the lead when Bolton midfielder Gary Speed brought down David Bentley on the right side of the penalty area after 58 minutes, allowing South Africa striker McCarthy to shoot low to the right of Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Referee Rob Styles pointed to the spot again 10 minutes later when Bolton's Abdoulaye Faye wrapped his legs round the goalbound McCarthy, who picked himself up to beat Jaaskelainen again despite the Finnish keeper guessing the right way.

Nicolas Anelka's neat finish set up a frenetic finish in which Faye had a headed goal disallowed for offside.

Rovers have 40 points from 29 games while Bolton have 47.

Manchester United, who beat Liverpool on Saturday, lead by nine points from Chelsea who have a game in hand.

Results:

Played on Sunday:

Bolton Wanderers 1 Blackburn Rovers 2

Played on Saturday:

Arsenal 2 Reading 1

Fulham 1 Aston Villa 1

Liverpool 0 Manchester United 1

Manchester City 0 Wigan Athletic 1

Newcastle United 0 Middlesbrough 0

Portsmouth 0 Chelsea 2

Sheffield United 1 Everton 1

Watford 2 Charlton Athletic 2

—Reuters