MU 5 : 1 Newcastle, 2R both scored twice

Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo both scored twice as Manchester United closed to within three points of Arsenal at the top of the English Premier League (EPL) with a 5-1 win at Newcastle United.

Arsenal endured a doubly bad Saturday as they were held to a 2-2 draw at Birmingham City, with striker Eduardo breaking his leg after a tackle that manager Arsene Wenger called 'horrendous'.

Fernando Torres scored his first Premier League hat-trick as Liverpool beat Middlesbrough 3-2 to move up to fourth, while Portsmouth, West Ham United and Wigan Athletic also claimed victories.

The home side actually began well but Ronaldo set up Rooney for a simple finish on 25 minutes and the Portugal forward doubled the lead a minute before half-time.

With Newcastle's defence all over the place, Ronaldo rounded the goalkeeper for the third (55) and though Abdoulaye Faye bundled in a goal for the Magpies (77), Rooney curled in a superb fourth (79) and Louis Saha scored a fifth in injury time.

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