From The Touchlines

ROO ENDS DRY SPELL: Wayne Rooney sidefoots the ball into the net for Manchester United’s first goal in a comfortable 4-0 victory over Sunderland in a Boxing Day clash.

It was a merry Christmas – or rather a merry Boxing Day – for Manchester United as they steamrolled over Sunderland 4-0 in a Boxing Day clash at the Stadium of Light.

Louis Saha scored a double, with Wayne Rooney ending his dry spell while Cristiano Ronaldo continued his rich vein of form – something Sir Alex Ferguson is raving about already.

United’s Tomasz Kuszczak’s retained his place in goal in place of the injured Edwin van der Sar, while Saha was entrusted, along with Rooney, to lead the United attack.

South Korean Park Ji-Sung also returned after a long injury layoff, but found his place on the bench.

Sunderland were determined not to be pushovers, and they showed it with a series of spirited half-chances which kept United on their toes for much of the first half.

But after 20 minutes, there was no stopping United from opening the scoring with a neat goal by Rooney, who slotted the ball home after beating the offside trap.

Nine minutes later, Saha doubled the score with a simple first-time strike from Rooney’s pass – which rendered Craig Gordon motionless and stunned.

Things were really going United’s way, and they could have added a third only moments later – only for Gordon to come out big this time and deny Ronaldo’s blistering freekick, and subsequently block Wes Brown’s header.

On the other end, Kuszczak was also called into action when he tipped over Ross Wallace’s shot.

But Sunderland were dealt a cruel blow at the end of the first half when Ronaldo powered in a scorching freekick (below) to give United an unassailable 3-0 lead at the break.

With a huge lead, Ferguson had the luxury of taking off Ronaldo after 57 minutes and bringing on Park – considering the hectic Christmas period with three matches in a matter of eight days.

There was no lack of firepower upfront however, with Nani trying his luck following a deft pass from Park.

On the other hand, Sunderland were still full of fire, holding onto the ball well – but not able to create a defence splitting opportunity that would rattle the United backline.

Things began to slow down after that, with United content on holding onto the massive lead – with an occasional chance by Rooney to double his tally, the most crucial one being a close range effort blasted wide by the England striker.

Five minutes from the end, United were awarded a penalty after Nani was adjudged to have been felled by Danny Collins. With Ronaldo already substituted, the task of taking the penalty fell to Saha.

The Frenchman coolly stuck the ball in the far corner of the net, with Gordon going the wrong way.

If the Black Cats thought that was the end of their misery, they still had to deal with Nani’s powerhit at the end of the match, which, thankfully for them, was palmed away by Gordon.

The win proved to be a big boost ahead of their match against West Ham United, which they will be doing so as table toppers following Arsenal’s goalless draw at Portsmouth *YES!*

Team line-up

SUN: Gordon (gk), Collins, Higginbotham, McShane, Etuhu, Waghorn, Wallace (Leadbitter, 46′), Whitehead, Yorke (Richardson, 61′), Chopra (O’Donovan, 86′), Jones

ManU: Kuszczak (gk), Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic (Pique, 73′), O’Shea, Carrick, Fletcher, Nani, Ronaldo (Park, 57′), Rooney, Saha

THE CLINCHER: Manchester United’s Carlos Tevez (centre) celebrates with teammates Cristiano Ronaldo and Wes Brown after scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win over Liverpool.

A solitary goal from Carlos Tevez was enough for Manchester United to see off archrivals Liverpool in a highly-charged match at Anfield on Sunday.

The goal proved enough for United to grab all three points to stay within a point of Arsenal, who later won 1-0 against Chelsea.

United began with a full-strength squad, with Michael Carrick, who had travelled to Rome in midweek, the only exception.

Rafael Benitez, meanwhile, began with Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt in front, while Steven Gerrard and Javier Mascherano took their places in midfield – face to face with Owen Hargreaves and Anderson.

Despite the magnitude of the match, the clash only came alive in the 12th minute with a half-chance by Torres, who struck wide.

Tension then began to run high with both sets of players getting into the motion. On one occasion Hargreaves and John Arne Riise (below) were almost at each other necks after the former bumped into the latter following a challenge from Harry Kewell.

It was Kewell, though, who came within sight of goal after 27 minutes when United keeper Edwin van der Sar could only punch away the ball weakly into his path.

The Aussie midfielder’s strike was, however cleared off the line by Anderson, who was well positioned on the line.

United were still finding their way into the match, with Anderson unable to cap a fine run into Liverpool’s area after being stopped by Gerrard. That sparked another confrontation between the two, who were booked.

van der Sar’s poise in front of goal was in question again four minutes later when he failed to deal with Riise’s long ball from inside his own half – and only managing to collide with his backline.

Rio Ferdinand then nearly put the ball into his own net, but Patrice Evra was quick to slide in before Kuyt could pull the trigger. Ferdinand was clearly not amused and yelled at the Dutch keeper.

Tackles were still flying in hard and fast, but United then broke through two minutes before the break with a nicely set up goal which involved Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez.

Giggs did well to pull the ball into Rooney’s path, and the unmarked forward’s strike was tapped into goal by Tevez, who was unmarked as well, with Yossi Benayoun guilty of not marking him but the post instead.

United went into the break with the crucial lead, but Liverpool came out bustling in the second half, determined that they were not going to lose the tie.

Gerrard had an early strike on target, with Riise also seeing his shot saved by van der Sar five minutes later.

Liverpool were really pushing hard, holding onto possession for long spells, but were not able to convert their chances into goals.

Things got a little heated up when Mascherano bounced the ball hard in dissent towards referee Mark Halsey’s decision to award a freekick in United’s favour after he had fouled Ronaldo.

Ryan Babel came on for Kewell after 65 minutes, with the Reds still pushing relentlessly for the elusive goal.

While Kuyt had a strike on target before being replaced by Peter Crouch, Babel had the best chance for Liverpool 15 minutes from the end when Wes Brown cleared right into his path at the edge of the area.

The Dutch player, however, was holding his head in disbelief when his powerstrike went just beyond the far post, although van der Sar would have had it covered.

Three minutes later, it was Rooney’s turn to waste a golden opportunity when he struck the ball wide off the mark following a nice square pass from Ronaldo. Both players could not believe their eyes. Neither could I.

Despite Liverpool’s onslaught, they could not find their breakthrough – even a last ditch attempt by Gerrard with his trademark freekick yielded nothing.

The result puts Liverpool in fifth place, 10 points of the pace with more than half the season to go – with Benitez still not giving up hope.

Sir Alex Ferguson, on the other hand, was all smiles after another victory over their archrivals, which cements their spot in second place but still closing in on table-toppers Arsenal.

Team line-up

LIV: Reina (gk), Arbeloa, Hyypia, Carragher, Riise (Aurelio, 80′), Gerrard, Mascherano, Benayoun, Kewell (Babel, 65′), Kuyt (Crouch, 73′), Torres

ManU: van der Sar (gk), Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Hargreaves, Anderson (O’Shea, 90′+1′), Giggs, Ronaldo, Tevez (Carrick, 83′), Rooney

DEJECTED: Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner and Emmanuel Adebayor cannot believe they let their guard down against Middlesbrough, as Arsene Wenger’s men suffer their first defeat in the Premiership this season.

Liverpool and Arsenal were the biggest losers in this weekend’s Barclays Premier League when both teams lost their unbeaten records.

Liverpool were comprehensively beaten by Reading 3-1, no thanks to Rafa Benitez’s wear rotations, while fatigue got the better of Arsenal as they succumbed to a 1-2 defeat away at Middlesbrough.

Benitez, already under fire for his tinkering, decided to start with two defensive midfielders in the shape of Momo Sissoko and Javier Mascherano, while Peter Crouch started wide on the left.

That, and also the clash against Olympique Marseille bothering him, proved to be his undoing as Reading’s Stephen Hunt, Kevin Doyle and James Harper dampened Reds’ hopes of actually challenging for the title this season.

On the other hand, Arsenal were found wanting in their lack of passion and desire to win at the Riverside Stadium.

In fact, it was Gareth Southgate’s men who were off the blocks quickly, holding onto possession well against Arsene Wenger’s side missing the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Alexander Hleb, Mathieu Flamini and Robin van Persie.

All four were also missing from Arsenal’s 1-1 draw against Newcastle United in midweek.

A former Arsenal man in the form of Jeremie Aliadiere took advantage of Gunners’ bad situation with a fine driving run into the box, with Kolo Toure marking him closely, perhaps too close for comfort.

Manuel Almunia, meanwhile, was determined not to let Aliadiere in within sight of the goal, and made the careless mistake of coming off his line, which caused Toure to be a little more frantic than usual and knocked the Frenchman over.

Howard Webb did not hesitate and pointed to the spot, with Toure staring in disbelief. Stewart Downing stepped up and converted the penalty, although Almunia went the right way.

Boro were the much better side for the half, with Arsenal not being able to create great chances of restoring parity. But Boro, even with the lion’s share of possession, were unable to add to their score.

In the second half, Boro were guilty of not cementing their position when both Tuncay Sanli and George Boateng missed gilt-edged opportunities.

On the other end, Emmanuel Adebayor was frustrated in front of goal as his shot went agonisingly wide.

Tuncay then brought cheer to the Riverside crowd 16 minutes from time with a nicely angled strike. On the touchlines, Southgate was, undeniably, estatic over the goal and congratulated the Turkish midfielder.

GOOD JOB MATE!: Gareth Southgate (left) congratulates his player Tuncay Sanli after the latter scored Middlesbrough’s second goal in a shocking 2-1 win over Arsenal.

Tuncay’s goal was his second in as many matches after securing the equaliser in their previous encounter against Reading last weekend.

The goal virtually killed off Arsenal’s hope of at least coming off with a draw, and despite a last minute goal by Tomas Rosicky, Boro were not to be denied their first win in 11 matches.

Arsenal’s defeat means that Manchester United are only one point behind them in the league table. There’s still a long way to go.

GIGGS’ MILESTONE STRIKE: Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs reels off in delight after securing United’s breakthrough goal in a 4-1 win over Derby County.

The rain was pouring incessantly at Old Trafford, but Manchester United still managed to churn out a 4-1 victory over strugglers Derby County.

Despite the scoreline, United were make to work hard for the result, with Carlos Tevez netting two while Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo scored the others.

United began with a strong side, knowing well that they are now safely through to the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League, hence rendering this Wednesday’s match against AS Roma much of a formality.

Derby seemed to thrive in the extremely wet conditions, with Giles Barnes and James McEveley all having a go at United’s goal.

Paul Jewell’s men also held their own for much of the first half, having long spells of possession in the United half but not coming up with the desired results.

On the other end, Ronaldo dragged the ball wide after 12 minutes, while Giggs saw his freekick float over Stephen Bywater’s bar following a foul by Claude Davis.

United were knocking hard on Derby’s door, and that door was nearly opened after 23 minutes when Ronaldo’s deep, REALLY deep ball to Wayne Rooney was miraculously cleared out by McEveley.

That being the best chance of the half, at least so far, only spurred United on even more, with Ronaldo and Tevez asking the most questions, with the latter having his shot saved after Anderson had made a fine driving run down the middle.

Frustration was setting in, coupled with the muddy conditions and downpour, but United were celebrating their breakthrough goal five minutes from half time.

Their persistence following a nice spell in the Derby half finally paid off when Giggs slammed the ball into goal from close range on a rebound following Ronaldo’s powerstrike which stung Bywater’s palms.

It was a milestone hit as Giggs scored his 100th goal for the club and virtually reached legend status.

Two minutes later, United came agonisingly close to going 2-0 up just before the break, but Rooney could only look on disbelievingly when his lob came off the upright following a defence-splitting throughball by Giggs.

United did get their second on the stroke of half time when Tevez nailed the ball in from close range from Ronaldo’s freekick, although the Argentine hit the air with his first chance.

Derby made two switches at the break by bringing on Steve Howard and Tyrone Mears for McEveley and Craig Fagan respectively – and it nearly paid dividends.

Four minutes after the restart Howard saw his header from Stephen Pearson’s corner saved, while Barnes saw his effort five minutes later palmed out by van der Sar, although the Dutch keeper should have saved it.

Giggs could have had his second four minutes after, but the Welsh midfielder saw his first time strike come off the post instead.

But Tevez doubled his tally moments later with a low, hard strike after being given too much space in the box by Leacock and Andy Griffin.

Giggs was eventually replaced, to a standing ovation by the Stretford End crowd, by Louis Saha.

Rooney was not having a good night out at all after 69 minutes when he bent his strike just a little too much after cutting in brilliantly.

Derby then put themselves under unnecessary pressure when Gary Teale, who had earlier come on for Barnes, turned the ball out near his goal post when he thought he had reached an impasse.

MUDDY AFFAIR: Mud flies as Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney and Derby County’s Tyrone Mears battle for the ball.

The field was soaked wet and the ball was not rolling as smoothly as it should, but Derby managed to notch up a consolation after Howard deflected Mears’ pass into goal, with van der Sar out in no man’s land and Vidic trying, in futility, to clear the ball off the line.

But United still had the final say in the encounter when Ronaldo converted his spotkick, which was awarded after Mears was adjudged to have fouled the Portuguese stalwart.

Tevez had offered to take the spotkick initially, but Ronaldo was adamant that he should take it. The rest, as they say, is history – although it was sort of a poetic justice for Ronaldo after he was denied a penalty in the previous match against Fulham.

Team line-up

ManU: van der Sar (gk), Brown, Vidic, Ferdinand (O’Shea, 71′), Evra, Anderson (Fletcher, 62′), Carrick, Giggs (Saha, 64′), Tevez, Rooney

DC: Bywater (gk), Griffin, Moore, Davis, McEveley (Howard, HT), Leacock, Fagan (Mears, HT), Pearson, Oakley, Barnes (Teale, 60′), Miller

ANOTHER DOUBLE: Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a brace in a comfortable 2-0 win for United over Fulham, which brings his tally for this season in all competitions to 13.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s double on either side of the half helped Manchester United to a convincing 2-0 win over Fulham in an English Premier League match played on Monday night.The win took United back into second spot, three points behind Arsenal, who secured a narrow 2-1 win away at Aston Villa.

The dinner time kickoff was a must win match for the Red Devils, considering archrivals Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea had notched up important victories over the weekend.

Keeper Edwin van der Sar reprised his role between the posts, while Wayne Rooney returned after being sidelined with a twisted ankle for six weeks.

His partner-in-crime Carlos Tevez tested Fulham keeper Antti Niemi within the first eight minutes of the encounter, with the best chance coming in the fifth minute following an inch-perfect pass from defender Wes Brown.

The Argentine was perfectly set up for the strike, only for Niemi to thwart his efforts when he blocked Tevez’s shot.

However, it was Tevez’s eighth minute try that really caused a mayhem in the box when his effort was cleared out by Aaron Hughes for what would be a string of three successive corners for United.

While the first two corners did not yield any results for United, the third corner proved to be United’s lucky break, although there was nothing lucky about Ronaldo’s scorching strike in an extremely good position.

A strayed clearance from Steven Davis paved the way for Nemanja Vidic to flick a header to Ronaldo, who volleyed the ball first time with so much power into the top corner of the net. Niemi was well beaten.

Fulham then began to see more of the ball, although the next 10 minutes or so would prove to be a tepid period for both Sir Alex Ferguson and Lawrie Sanchez.

It was only midway through the first half when United saw another opening to further cement their position. This time, Niemi was spot on to deny Tevez after the latter had connected well with Giggs’ whipping cross into the area. The ball struck Niemi on his head out into safety.

It was only six minutes later when Fulham’s crisp and swift passing nearly levelled matters for them, but after midfielder Danny Murphy was set up nicely by Shefki Kuqi, the former Liverpool man’s strike was parried out by van der Sar for a corner. The subsequent chance was also spurned by Murphy whose curler of a shot went wide.

Momentum shifted to the other end and it was again Tevez in search of a goal, but his header following several aerial tussles by his teammates was just wide.

Three minutes from the break Fulham spurned another chance to restore parity went Kuqi, in acres of space, powered his header over the bar after receiving a nicely weighted cross from Simon Davies.

Fulham finished the half with more fervour, although both sides returned after the break with much to be desired – at least for the first 12 minutes.

United then stormed 2-0 ahead when Ronaldo rose above Dejan Stefanovic to head in substitute John O’Shea’s cross. O’Shea had replaced Patrice Evra at halftime.

Sanchez, who had begun the match with Kuqi and American Clint Dempsey upfront, decided to take the latter off after a less-than-convincing performance in front of goal. Dempsey was replaced with David Healy.

But it was United who were asking questions on Fulham’s shaky defence when Rooney, unmarked, managed to drag the ball wide after 66 minutes.

A minute later Kuqi missed a goal-scoring opportunity when he failed to connect with Hameur Bouazza’s cross while on the other end, Rooney’s luck in front of goal deserted him as the England forward’s strike was just held by Niemi.

Both sides made changes after 71 minutes, with Sanchez bringing on Seol Ki-Hyeon in place of Bouazza and Ferguson cutting short Rooney’s return by bringing on Louis Saha.

It was seven minutes later when Ronaldo saw a glimpse of acquiring a hat-trick when he beat the offside trap to latch on to Tevez’s through ball.

The winger moved quickly into the box, only for Niemi to upend him – or so it seemed.

Ronaldo was instead booked by Rob Styles for diving, the second incident in as many matches after Evra was booked in a UEFA Champions League encounter with Sporting Lisbon over a similar offence.

(FYI, replays showed Ronaldo had a case against Niemi, who was nowhere close to getting the ball. You be the judge. My guess is Rob Styles has a phobia of awarding penalties since the earlier incident when he wrongly gifted a penalty in Chelsea’s favour against Liverpool earlier in the season. That not only robbed Liverpool of an almost-certain victory; it also caused him to be suspended as he admitted his mistake.)

(On the other hand, however, I felt Ronaldo should have gone all the way as he had a clear sight of goal and more importantly, no one was marking him. Perhaps he thought he could get something when he saw Niemi coming out. Either way, he did not get his hat-trick.)

Six minutes before the final whistle and Ronaldo was again denied a hat-trick when his shot after a pass from Giggs was blocked by Niemi.

Niemi had to be on his toes after that to thwart Giggs, Saha and also Tevez and as a result, ensured Fulham did not suffer a more humiliating defeat at the hands of the defending champions.

The win takes United back to second spot, above Liverpool and Chelsea.

Team line-up

ManU: van der Sar (gk), Brown, Vidic, Ferdinand (Carrick, 74′), Evra (O’Shea, HT), Hargreaves, Anderson, Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney (Saha, 71′), Tevez

Ful: Niemi (gk), Konchesky, Hughes, Stefanovic, Omozusi, Bouazza (Seol, 71′), Davis, Davies, Murphy, Kuqi, Dempsey (Healy, 64′)