Manchester United beat Manchester City 3-1 on Saturday to move nine points ahead of defending champion Chelsea in the Premier League.

Goals by Wayne Rooney and Louis Saha gave the Red Devils a 2-0 halftime lead in the neighbours' 146th meeting. Although Hatem Trabelsi scored for City in the 72nd, Cristiano Ronaldo completed the scoring with six minutes to go.

United's 14th victory this season leaves it with 44 points from 17 games while Chelsea, which hosts Arsenal on Sunday, has 35 from 15.

``I will be supporting the Gunners for a change,'' said United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who has had a fierce rivalry with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. ``We can relax and watch the game on TV tomorrow. They are two great sides, but hopefully we will be in an even better position tomorrow evening.''

Portsmouth beat Everton 2-0 to move into third place. The other results were: Bolton 4, West Ham 0; Tottenham 5, Charlton 1; Liverpool 4, Fulham 0; Blackburn 1, Newcastle 3; Middlesbrough 1, Wigan 1; Watford 0, Reading 0.

Rooney gave United a sixth-minute lead at Old Trafford when he got away from City captain Richard Dunne to meet a cross from Ronaldo and score from close range.

Dunne was at fault again as United went 2-0 ahead in the final minute of the first half. He lost the ball to a combination of Rooney and Gabriel Heinze on the edge of his own area and a cross by the Argentina defender found Saha, who prodded the ball in from in front of goal off the underside of the crossbar.

City goalkeeper Nicky Weaver was injured trying to stop Saha's goal and Andreas Isaksson took over in the second half for his first appearance since his joining from Rennes in August.

United lost momentum after the break and City hit back with a goal 18 minutes from the end when Trabelsi scored a 20-yard shot.

United regained impetus and scored a third in the 84th when Rooney's shot deflected off Dunne to Ronaldo, who scored from close range with a right-foot volley.

City finished the game with 10 players after striker Bernardo Corradi was shown a second yellow card in injury time for diving inside the United area.

City manager Stuart Pearce said he'd no complaints and that he would be talking to Corradi about it.

``Bernardo went down a little bit too easily, and I am not like the other 19 managers who would sit here and give you a load of cock and bull about it,'' Pearce said. ``I would prefer him to stay on his feet and I intend to speak to him about it this week. Hopefully then, he will stay on his feet.''

Matthew Taylor put Portsmouth ahead in the 14th minute with a 45-yard lob after he spotted Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard off his line. Nwankwo Kanu added the second in the 26th as Pompey moved to third with 28 points, 16 behind leader Manchester United.

Kevin Davies scored Bolton's first two goals at the Reebok Stadium before El Hadji Diouf and Nicolas Anelka added two more late in the game. West Ham stays in the relegation zone, above only Charlton and Watford.

Liverpool scored four second-half goals _ through Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Luis Garcia and Mark Gonzalez _ at Anfield to climb to fourth.

``We needed to score a first goal to open the game,'' Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said. ``At least we are a team with more confidence. You can see we are always creating chances and, if you have a little luck, you will score goals.''

Dimitar Berbatov scored twice in Tottenham's 5-1 win over struggling Charlton at White Hart Lane.

Obafemi Martins scored twice for Newcastle against Blackburn, which had Stephane Henchoz sent off five minutes before halftime.

Aiyegbeni Yakubu scored a 67th-minute equalizer for Middlesbrough after Henri Camara had given Wigan the lead at the Riverside. Last-place Watford was held to its fifth 0-0 draw of the season.

League Championship leader Birmingham beat second-place Preston 3-1 to move three points clear of Derby, which won 1-0 at Leeds. Preston slipped to fourth behind Cardiff, which was held 2-2 at home by Ipswich.