United Hammer Chelsea To Close In On Leaders

Gomes ended the game limping heavily but Wigan could not take advantage as the match fizzled out.

Tottenham Hotspur remained rooted in the Premier League's relegation zone on Sunday after Wigan Athletic scored a late goal to beat them 1-0.

The visitors appeared to have done enough to earn a valuable point but were stung in stoppage time when Maynor Figueroa headed in a Ryan Taylor corner.

Striker Jermain Defoe began his second spell at Tottenham after re-joining the London club from Portsmouth this week but had precious few chances to justify his 15 million pounds ($23 million) fee.

Wigan had the better of the few scoring opportunities, Amr Zaki heading narrowly wide and Emile Heskey having a close-range effort blocked by keeper Heurelho Gomes in the first half.

Gomes ended the game limping heavily but Wigan could not take advantage as the match fizzled out.

Tottenham stay in 18th place with 20 points from 21 games while Wigan are seventh with 31 points, having won six of their last seven league games.

Later on Sunday, champions Manchester United host Chelsea with both clubs hoping to take advantage of leaders Liverpool's 0-0 draw against Stoke City on Saturday.

Manchester United thrashed Chelsea 3-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday as the Premier League champions moved an ominous step closer to leaders Liverpool.

Nemanja Vidic headed United in front in first-half stoppage time and Wayne Rooney doubled their advantage on the hour with a close-range volley. Dimitar Berbatov completed the rout in the 87th minute to lift United into third place.

Alex Ferguson's side are now just five points behind Liverpool and one behind Chelsea but with two games in hand of both their main title rivals.

Defeat was Chelsea's first on the road in the league this season and continued manager Luiz Felipe Scolari's poor record against the top sides since taking over at Stamford Bridge.

English Premier League RESULTS and
STANDINGS on Sunday
Wigan Athletic   1 Tottenham Hotspur    0

 Played on Saturday
 Arsenal          1 Bolton Wanderers     0
 Aston Villa      2 West Bromwich Albion 1
 Everton          2 Hull City            0
 Middlesbrough    1 Sunderland           1
 Newcastle United 2 West Ham United      2
 Stoke City       0 Liverpool            0          

 Standings            P  W  D L  F  A  Pts
  1 Liverpool            21 13 7  1 35 13 46
  2 Chelsea              20 12 6  2 40  9 42
  3 Aston Villa          21 12 5  4 35 23 41
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  4 Manchester United    18 11 5  2 29 10 38
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  5 Arsenal              21 11 5  5 34 23 38
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  6 Everton              21 10 5  6 29 25 35
  7 Wigan Athletic       20  9 4  7 25 21 31
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  8 Hull City            21  7 6  8 28 39 27
  9 Fulham               19  6 8  5 18 14 26
 10 West Ham United      21  7 5  9 26 30 26
 11 Newcastle United     21  5 8  8 28 34 23
 12 Bolton Wanderers     21  7 2 12 22 29 23
 13 Sunderland           21  6 5 10 22 30 23
 14 Portsmouth           20  6 5  9 21 33 23
 15 Manchester City      20  6 4 10 38 30 22
 16 Middlesbrough        21  5 6 10 18 30 21
 17 Stoke City           21  5 6 10 18 33 21
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 18 Tottenham Hotspur    21  5 5 11 20 26 20
 19 Blackburn Rovers     20  4 6 10 22 36 18
 20 West Bromwich Albion 21  5 3 13 17 37 18
 1-3:   Champions League / EC I
 4:     Champions League preliminary round
 5:     UEFA Cup
 6-7:   UEFA Cup depending on domestic cup
 18-20: Relegation

 Postponed fixtures on Saturday
 Fulham               v Blackburn Rovers (1500)
 Portsmouth           v Manchester City  (1500)

 Still to play on Sunday (GMT)
 Manchester United    v Chelsea          (1600)