United rally to floor Spurs with 5 goal blitz

By Mitch Phillips

LONDON (Reuters) - Manchester United produced a thrilling Premier League comeback Saturday, scoring five goals in 22 second-half minutes to surge from 2-0 down to beat Tottenham Hotspur 5-2.

Spurs led until the 57th minute at Old Trafford but a controversial penalty allowed United back in and they ran riot with two goals each for Cristiano Ronaldo and an inspired Wayne Rooney and one by Dimitar Berbatov.

The win gave leaders United 77 points, three ahead of second-placed Liverpool who have played a game more.

Chelsea stayed third on 71 points with a 1-0 victory at West Ham United. Fourth-placed Arsenal (62) entertain Middlesbrough Sunday.

"Carlos Tevez was responsible for that energy we got. Once we got the first goal it gave us a fantastic impetus and then we were magnificent," United manager Alex Ferguson told Setanta Sports after bringing the Argentina striker on at halftime.

"We were too casual, had no speed in the first half, nothing like the tempo we wanted to play at and we deserved to be down. I think we were a bit fortunate (with the penalty) but once we got that goal we were electric."

Spurs have not won at Old Trafford for 20 years but looked well placed at halftime.

Ragged defending by Rio Ferdinand allowed Vedran Corluka's cross to reach Darren Bent who scored after 29 minutes.