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Manchester United turned up the heat on Premier League leaders Liverpool and manager Rafael Benitez as they closed the gap at the top of the table with a convincing win against Chelsea at Old Trafford.

Nemanja Vidic headed United in front in first half injury time after Dimitar Berbatov flicked on Ryan Giggs’s corner.

Wayne Rooney then turned in Patrice Evra’s cross after 63 minutes to set United on the path to a deserved three points – leaving them five points behind Liverpool with two games in hand.

First Half Highlights

2-0 Rooney Goal

Full Highlights

An Idea!!!

Dimitar Berbatov rounded off the win by grabbing the third from close range four minutes from time, turning in Cristiano Ronaldo’s free-kick as United’s fans finally sensed their title charge was hitting top gear.

Sir Alex Ferguson will regard the victory as the perfect response to public taunts from Liverpool counterpart Benitez that United may be “a little bit scared” at the sight of their great rivals at the Premier League summit.

Referee Howard Webb was in the spotlight after Benitez’s blast about Ferguson and officials – and he showed his intent to clamp down quickly with a third minute booking for Frank Lampard after he fouled Ronaldo.

LAST SEASON’S CORRESPONDING GAME

Manchester United 2-0 Chelsea

23 September 2007 – Ref: Mike Dean

Man Utd scorers: Tevez 45, Saha 90 (pen)

Sent Off: Obi (Chelsea) 32

THIS SEASON’S REVERSE FIXTURE

Chelsea 1-1 Manchester United

21 September 2008 – Ref: Mike Riley

Chelsea scorer: Kalou 80

Man Utd scorer: Park 18