LONDON, England, December 26 – A 90th-minute goal by Javier Hernandez gave Manchester United a thrilling 4-3 victory at home to Newcastle United on Wednesday that put Alex Ferguson’s men seven points clear in the Premier League.
The leaders had to come from behind three times to win, and second-place Manchester City’s 1-0 loss at Sunderland meant that the traditional Boxing Day fixtures left United with plenty of reasons to feel thankful.
United were without Wayne Rooney and Ashley Young due to injury and illness, and they fell behind in the fourth minute when James Perch tapped in after David de Gea saved from Demba Ba.
Jonny Evans equalised in the 25th minute, sliding in after Tim Krul denied Javier Hernandez, but the Northern Irishman undid his good work four minutes later when he inadvertently turned in Danny Simpson’s cross for an own goal.
The goal was given despite Papiss Cisse lingering in an offside position behind Evans, and United manager Ferguson harangued referee Mike Dean and his officials as the teams returned for the second half.
Patrice Evra drew the hosts level just before the hour, driving in from the edge of the area to claim his fourth goal of the campaign, only for Cisse to restore Newcastle’s advantage by slamming home from 12 yards.
Robin van Van Persie equalised in the 71st minute and after Sammy Ameobi had hit the post for Newcastle, Hernandez ghosted into the visitors’ area to sweep home Michael Carrick’s pass and secure a potentially crucial victory.
City’s loss at Sunderland was only their second defeat of the season and the result was rendered doubly damaging by events at Old Trafford.
The champions threatened first when returning captain Vincent Kompany hit the bar in the eighth minute, but the home side claimed the game’s only goal eight minutes into the second half.
Adam Johnson was the scorer, embarrassing his former City team-mate Joe Hart with a low shot from wide on the right that squeezed inside the near post.
Chelsea were also beneficiaries of City’s slip-up, prevailing 1-0 at Norwich City through a 20-yard Juan Mata strike to close to within four points of Roberto Mancini’s men with a game in hand.
With Arsenal not playing and Tottenham Hotspur not in action until they visit Aston Villa later, Everton took advantage by beating Wigan Athletic 2-1 to creep into the top four.
Leon Osman broke the deadlock with a deflected effort in the 52nd minute before Phil Neville, on his 500th Premier League appearance, teed up Phil Jagielka for Everton’s second. Arouna Kone claimed a consolation for Wigan.
Queens Park Rangers sank back to the foot of the table after losing 2-1 at home to West Bromwich Albion, in a game held up by 11 minutes after the Baggies got caught up in traffic en route to the match.
The visitors eventually prevailed through a fine low strike from Chris Brunt in the 29th-minute and a second-half own goal by home goalkeeper Rob Green, with Djibril Cisse replying for Harry Redknapp’s side.
QPR’s defeat allowed Reading to climb off the bottom after they drew 0-0 at home to Swansea City.
Rickie Lambert’s late penalty cancelled out Dimitar Berbatov’s early opener to earn Southampton a 1-1 draw at Fulham, while the day’s late game sees Liverpool visit Stoke City.
Arsenal and West Ham United were the only Premier League sides not in action on Wednesday, after their scheduled game was postponed due to a strike on the London Underground transport network.
RESULT SUMMARY
Everton 2 (Osman 52, Jagielka 77) Wigan 1 (Kone 82)
Fulham 1 (Berbatov 8) Southampton 1 (Lambert 85-pen)
Man Utd 4 (Evans 25, Evra 58, Van Persie 71, Hernandez 90) Newcastle 3 (Perch 4, Evans 28-og, Cisse 68)
Norwich 0 Chelsea 1 (Mata 38)
QPR 1 (Cisse 68) West Brom 2 (Brunt 29, Green 49-og)
Reading 0 Swansea 0
Sunderland 1 (Johnson 53) Man City 0
Playing later
Aston Villa v Tottenham (1730GMT), Stoke v Liverpool (1945GMT)
Postponed
Arsenal v West Ham (London Underground strike)
