LONDON, March 23: Manchester United’s English Premier League title chances suffered a massive blow Saturday when Middlesbrough stunned the champions with a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford.

Croatian Alen Boksic exploited the gaping holes in United’s defence to score the winner after nine minutes as United suffered their eighth defeat of the season.

Alex Ferguson’s side remain top of the table with 64 points, but second-placed Arsenal — who beat Newcastle United 3-0 in the FA Cup quarter-final replay earlier on Saturday — are just one point behind and have two games in hand.

Liverpool, in third with 62 points, face Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday.

Relegation-threatened Everton scraped their second victory in succession under new boss David Moyes, beating second-from-bottom Derby County 4-3 in a thriller at Pride Park.

Results

Charlton Athletic 1 Bolton Wanderers 2

Derby County 3 Everton 4

Ipswich Town 0 Aston Villa 0

Leicester City 0 Leeds United 2

Manchester United 0 Middlesbrough 1

Sunderland 1 Southampton 1

—Reuters