Saturday Football Round-up: United sink Boro deeper

European Leagues / Editor / 03 May 2009 / Leave a Comment

United go six clear with four to play as Southgate's men drift further from safety, Drogba warms up for Barcelona and a rare home defeat in the Potteries...

Manchester United are in to [1.1] to win the title after they pulled six points clear of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.

United were matched at [1.95] as they completed a routine 0-2 victory over Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium. PFA Player of the Year Ryan Giggs was the [19.5] first goalscorer before Park Ji-Sung added a second after 68 minutes as Sir Alex Ferguson shuffled his squad with Tuesday's Champions League semi-final against Arsenal in mind.

Time is running out for Middlesbrough and, while he might not have expected his side to take anything from the game, manager Gareth Southgate will be concerned at his side's failure to create any meaningful chances in 90 minutes. Boro are [1.22] to be relegated.

In spite of Wednesday's Champions League semi-final second leg against Barcelona, Guus Hiddink sent out a strong side at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea traded no higher than [1.62] on their way to a 3-1 victory over Fulham in the West London Derby. Nicolas Anelka, Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba were on target for the Blues in the type of impressive attacking display they will need to repeat against Lionel Messi and co. on Wednesday.

Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth are [19.5] and [44.0] in Betfair's relegation market after they both missed the chance to secure their top flight safety.

Rovers were beaten 3-1 by Manchester City at the Eastlands where Robinho scored his 15th goal of the season. At Fratton Park, a David James howler set the tone for a miserable afternoon for Portsmouth as Niklas Bendtner hit two goals in Arsenal's comfortable 3-1 win.

City are now eighth in the Premier League, one place behind West Ham for whom Diego Tristan scored the decisive goal in a rare home defeat for Stoke City. Tony Pulis is still refusing to take Stoke's survival for granted despite his team being as big as [70.0] to go down.

In days one truly dead rubber, Wigan and Bolton served up a fitting 0-0 bore draw at the JJB Stadium. The draw was matched at [3.55].