Late Ronaldo penalty licks Toffees

BEIJING, Dec. 24 -- Cristiano Ronaldo's late penalty gave Manchester United a 2-1 victory over Everton at Old Trafford yesterday as the Red Devils again moved within a point of Arsenal in the English Premier League.

Ronaldo fired the spot kick past former United goalkeeper Tim Howard in the 88th minute, having seen his 22nd-minute long-range strike canceled out five minutes later by Tim Cahill's header.

The victory - United's ninth in a row at Old Trafford in the league - gives Alex Ferguson's team 42 points from 18 games. The Gunners edged Tottenham Hotspur by the same scoreline on Saturday and lead with 43 points from 18 games.

United's match kicked off ahead of yesterday's two other Premier League games, Newcastle United vs. Derby County and Blackburn Rovers vs. Chelsea.

Ronaldo now leads the Premier League scoring list with 11 goals this season - and 16 in all competitions. While the decider came from the penalty spot, the first was a standout strike.

Receiving a pass from Carlos Tevez 25 meters from goal, Ronaldo cut inside Lee Carsley and, while the ball took a slight deflection off the Everton midfielder's toe, it flew so fast past Howard that the goalkeeper didn't even dive for it.

The Toffees, who had gone 13 games unbeaten ahead of this match, drew level in the 27th when Cahill outjumped United defender Patrice Evra to meet Stephen Pienaar's cross from the left.

With four yellow cards in the first 14 minutes, it was a typically fiery meeting of the two northwest England neighbors. United midfielder Anderson was shown a yellow card for indicating to referee Howard Webb that Everton midfielder Phil Neville, a former United player, should have been cautioned for a foul on Ronaldo.

Making his first appearance against United after his move to Everton during last season, Howard blocked a deflected shot from Anderson with his chest and then dived low to his right to make a low save from Tevez as the home side put together a spell of pressure.

Wayne Rooney clipped the crossbar with a shot from just outside the area and forced Howard to make another blocking save with five minutes to go.

The winner came after a needless foul by Pienaar on Ryan Giggs and Ronaldo guided his spot kick into the net with Howard guessing the wrong way with his dive.

In Saturday's other games, fourth-place Manchester City was held 1-1 by Aston Villa and Liverpool outplayed Portsmouth 4-1 with Fernando Torres scoring twice.

Elsewhere, it was: Bolton Wanderers 3, Birmingham City 0; Middlesbrough 1, West Ham United 2; Reading 2, Sunderland 1; and Fulham 1, Wigan Athletic 1.

Tottenham, which has now gone 20 league and Cup games without beating Arsenal, missed its chance on Saturday.

Arsenal took the lead three minutes into the second half when a backheel by Cesc Fabregas set up Emmanuel Adebayor for his 10th league goal this season.

Dimitar Berbatov leveled from a tight angle in the 66th but, after the Bulgarian was then tripped in the box, Robbie Keane had his penalty saved by Manuel Almunia.

Arsenal took almost immediate advantage when 19-year-old Danish striker Bendtner came off the bench to power home a header from a Fabregas corner with his first touch.

"We were a bit flat in the first half and Tottenham played well," Arsene Wenger told Sky Sports.

"In the second half I feel we increased the pace of the game and dominated it but at 1-0 we maybe wanted to keep that result and slowed it down.

"Then the turning point came when we had the luck with the penalty save, that was a mental blow for them."

(Source: Shanghai Daily/Agencies)