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Vidic stars for Manchester United

— Photo: AFP

THE SAVIOUR: Nemanja Vidic’s injury-time goal saw Manchester United beat Sunderland at Old Trafford on Saturday.

MANCHESTER (England): Nemanja Vidic’s injury-time goal finally saw Manchester United overcome a spirited Sunderland to win 1-0 in the English Premier League at the Old Trafford, here on Saturday.

Victory ensured the reigning champion remained in third place, six points behind leader Liverpool.

Earlier, Cristiano Ronaldo made a bizarre exit, substituting himself midway through the second-half due to an apparent rib injury.

The Portugal winger, recently crowned the European Footballer of the Year, appeared in some distress as he signalled to the bench, but instead of waiting for a replacement to be readied, he simply limped off the pitch and disappeared up the tunnel in the 65th minute.

It was an unusual moment to say the least, but Vidic’s late strike, a close range tap-in after Michael Carrick’s shot had been pushed onto the post, ensured that Ronaldo’s exit did not prove too costly.

In other matches, Liverpool remained on top after winning 3-1 away to a struggling Blackburn Rovers. Victory saw Liverpool stay a point ahead of Chelsea after the Londoners beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0.

Chelsea’s win saw it surpass Tottenham Hotspur’s English record of 10 successive top-flight away victories set in 1960, while Arsenal remained in the top four with a 1-0 win at home to Wigan. Elsewhere, Newcastle, on course for victory after Michael Owen scored twice, was held to a 2-2 draw at home to Stoke while Hull beat Middlesbrough 2-1.

The results: Manchester United 1 (Vidic 91) bt Sunderland 0; Arsenal 1 (Adebayor 16) bt Wigan 0; Blackburn 1 (Santa Cruz 86) lost to Liverpool 3 (Alonso 69, Benayoun 79, Gerrard 90); Bolton 0 lost to Chelsea 2 (Anelka 9, Deco 21); Hull 2 (Turnbull 82-og, King 85-pen) bt Middlesbrough 1 (Sanli 79); Newcastle 2 (Owen 8, 24) drew with Stoke 2 (Sidibe 60, Faye 90). — Agencies

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