Man Utd close within point of Chelsea

The return of centre-back Vidic tonight has seen Man Utd return to winning ways with a 3-0 demolition job over hapless West Ham. Wayne Rooney who was scoreless last weekend) headed twice, with super sub Michael Owen who again scored despite only coming on in the 78th minute.

West Ham despite now looking safe after moving up the table under new owners, fell behind to a superbly constructed goal from Rooney - and playing at Old Trafford couldn't match Man Utd. The shots at goal stat which favoured the home side 11-4 spoke for itself.

As a result, Man Utd opened their campaign 28th round of the Premier League, and now close in on their London rivals, Chelsea by within a point, although they now have played a game more.

All eyes will now be on the other half of Manchester on Saturday, when they travel to London to meet Chelsea at Stamford Bridge - that game will be the early kick-off on Saturday (Sunday 1:30am NZT), whilst Stoke host 3rd placed Arsenal at 6am; Aston Villa travel to Hull City for the key afternoon game, whilst on Sunday, Spurs hosts Everton at White Hart Lane, and in the late game Liverpool entertain Blackburn who won't have All Whites skipper Ryan Nelsen who is recovering from a knee injury.

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE 2009-10 [rd28]

Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Chelsea	27	19	4	4	63	22	61
Manchester United	28	19	3	6	66	24	60
Arsenal	27	17	4	6	63	30	55
Tottenham Hotspur	27	13	7	7	48	26	46
Manchester City	26	12	10	4	48	33	46
Liverpool	27	13	6	8	47	27	45
Aston Villa	26	12	9	5	34	23	45