Manchester United pull off a 3-0 Premier League win over Chelsea with goals from Nemanja Vidic, Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov on Sunday.

The win put United within a point of second-place Chelsea with two games in hand, and winning both of those home matches would allow the defending champions to overtake league leader Liverpool, which was held to a 0-0 draw at Stoke on Saturday.

Liverpool leads the league with 46 points, four ahead of Chelsea, which never tested United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar at Old Trafford.

Vidic scored the opening goal in first-half injury time only moments after Cristiano Ronaldo had what appeared to be a legitimate goal disallowed because the referee hadn't given permission for United's previous corner to be taken.

Vidic's downward header beat Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech at the far post after Berbatov had flicked on a corner from Giggs.

Rooney scored his 11th goal of the season in the 63rd minute to make it more comfortable for United. Ronaldo back heeled to Patrice Evra on the left flank and Rooney volleyed the France defender's cross through the legs of Ashley Cole beyond Cech.

Berbatov added the final goal in the 87th after he ran past Chelsea defender Franco di Santo to turn Ronaldo's free kick home.

(Xinhua News Agency January 12, 2009)