United beat Newcastle to go seven points clear

By Martyn Herman

LONDON (Reuters) - Manchester United were given an early scare at Newcastle United on Wednesday before hitting back for a 2-1 victory that restored their seven-point cushion at the top of the Premier League.

Newcastle's Peter Lovenkrands became the first player to score past United keeper Edwin van der Sar in the league for more than 21 hours with a ninth-minute tap-in but Wayne Rooney levelled and Dimitar Berbatov sealed the points after the break.

United's 11th consecutive league victory took them to 65 points from 27 games. Chelsea and Liverpool, who have both played a game more, are both back on 58 with time running out.

Fourth-placed Aston Villa's Champions League ambitions were dealt a blow with a 2-0 loss at Manchester City while Stoke City climbed out of the bottom three with a 2-0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers. West Ham United won 1-0 at Wigan Athletic.

Tottenham Hotspur shook off the disappointment of losing to Manchester United in Sunday's League Cup final with a 4-0 hammering of Middlesbrough to ease their relegation worries.

Fifth-placed Everton drew 0-0 at Blackburn Rovers while Hull City scored late to beat Fulham 1-0 at Craven Cottage to halt their recent slide.

United, who are closing in on an 18th league title, saw their lead reduced by Chelsea and Liverpool on Tuesday and their rivals would have been hoping for a favour from a Newcastle side is desperate need of points.

They could not have been expecting Van der Sar to offer them a chink of light, but the veteran Dutchman did just that after nine minutes when he spilt a cross from Jonas Gutierrez and Dane Lovenkrands was on hand to punish the error.