Fergie plays down title talk

LONDON – Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said it was critical the Premiership leaders did not become distracted by title talk after a 3-1 win against Aston Villa saw them stay six points clear at the top of the table.

Reigning champions Chelsea remained second with a 4-0 home victory over Wigan to end a modest run of three successive league draws but Ferguson, whose side now travel to fourth-place Arsenal said it was vital United kept their eye on the task in hand. First-half goals from Park Ji-Sung, Michael Carrick and Cristiano Ronaldo put United in an impregnable position.It was United’s third win over the Birmingham club in as many weeks after a 3-0 success in the league at Villa Park and a 2-1 third round FA Cup victory the previous weekend.Reigning champions Chelsea stayed second with a 4-0 home victory over Wigan while Liverpool remained third after a 3-0 win away to basement club Watford.Arsenal belied their reputation for being a soft touch in the north with a 2-0 win away to Blackburn despite playing most of the match with 10 men.They lost Gilberto Silva in the 13th minute after the Brazil midfielder was sent-off for kicking out at Robbie Savage.Despite that setback Kolo Toure put Arsenal ahead before a rapid counter-attack goal from skipper Thierry Henry sealed victory 19 minutes from time at Ewood Park.”We controlled the game quite well,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, whose side had already won twice at Rovers’s north-west rivals Liverpool this year to knock the Merseysiders out of both the FA and League Cups.Struggling Charlton went down 3-1 against Middlesbrough while West Ham also stayed in the relegation zone after a 3-3 draw against London rivals Fulham.Bolton remained fifth with a goalless draw at home to Manchester City while Euro rivals Portsmouth, in sixth, drew 1-1 away to Sheffield United.South Korea international Park followed up his own blocked shot to give Manchester United an 11th minute lead against Villa.Two minutes later Park turned provider for Carrick before the England midfielder supplied the cross for Ronaldo to head home in the 35th minute.Gabriel Agbonlahor pulled a goal back for Villa early in the second-half.Frank Lampard ignored the speculation surrounding manager Jose Mourinho’s future to fire Chelsea into an early lead with a long-range free-kick.But a first win in four league games wasn’t secured until Arjen Robben made it 2-0 on the hour before the Dutch international’s 70th minute cross was turned into his own net by Wigan keeper Chris Kirkland.Didier Drogba added a fourth in the final minute at Stamford Bridge.Afterwards, Portuguese boss Mourinho gave little away, saying: “Chelsea is important, not me.”West Ham remained in the bottom three after a see-saw home draw.Tomasz Radzinski gave Fulham a 16th-minute lead before striker Bobby Zamora, sent off late-on for a second yellow-card, levelled.Yossi Benayoun put the Hammers ahead early in the second-half but Fulham’s United States striker Brian McBride tied the game at 2-2.However, Israel’s Benayoun restored West Ham’s lead before French defender Philippe Christanval drew Fulham level in the last minute.Charlton went ahead through former Boro striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink at The Valley.But Boro bounced back through Lee Cattermole’s equaliser on the stroke of half-time before goals from Julio Arca and Aiyegbeni Yakubu completed the recovery.Craig Bellamy’s strike and a double from fellow striker Peter Crouch gave Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez a much-needed victory at Watford.The Spanish boss had been widely criticised for fielding a weakened side in Tuesday’s humiliating 6-3 League Cup quarter-final loss to Arsenal.Bolton were fortunate to gain a goalless draw after City’s Joey Barton missed an excellent chance.Portsmouth went behind to Stephen Quinn’s free-kick before Gary O’Neil capitalised on Claude Davis’s error to equalise nine minutes from time.Nampa-AFPFirst-half goals from Park Ji-Sung, Michael Carrick and Cristiano Ronaldo put United in an impregnable position.It was United’s third win over the Birmingham club in as many weeks after a 3-0 success in the league at Villa Park and a 2-1 third round FA Cup victory the previous weekend.Reigning champions Chelsea stayed second with a 4-0 home victory over Wigan while Liverpool remained third after a 3-0 win away to basement club Watford.Arsenal belied their reputation for being a soft touch in the north with a 2-0 win away to Blackburn despite playing most of the match with 10 men.They lost Gilberto Silva in the 13th minute after the Brazil midfielder was sent-off for kicking out at Robbie Savage.Despite that setback Kolo Toure put Arsenal ahead before a rapid counter-attack goal from skipper Thierry Henry sealed victory 19 minutes from time at Ewood Park.”We controlled the game quite well,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, whose side had already won twice at Rovers’s north-west rivals Liverpool this year to knock the Merseysiders out of both the FA and League Cups.Struggling Charlton went down 3-1 against Middlesbrough while West Ham also stayed in the relegation zone after a 3-3 draw against London rivals Fulham.Bolton remained fifth with a goalless draw at home to Manchester City while Euro rivals Portsmouth, in sixth, drew 1-1 away to Sheffield United.South Korea international Park followed up his own blocked shot to give Manchester United an 11th minute lead against Villa.Two minutes later Park turned provider for Carrick before the England midfielder supplied the cross for Ronaldo to head home in the 35th minute.Gabriel Agbonlahor pulled a goal back for Villa early in the second-half.Frank Lampard ignored the speculation surrounding manager Jose Mourinho’s future to fire Chelsea into an early lead with a long-range free-kick.But a first win in four league games wasn’t secured until Arjen Robben made it 2-0 on the hour before the Dutch international’s 70th minute cross was turned into his own net by Wigan keeper Chris Kirkland.Didier Drogba added a fourth in the final minute at Stamford Bridge.Afterwards, Portuguese boss Mourinho gave little away, saying: “Chelsea is important, not me.”West Ham remained in the bottom three after a see-saw home draw.Tomasz Radzinski gave Fulham a 16th-minute lead before striker Bobby Zamora, sent off late-on for a second yellow-card, levelled.Yossi Benayoun put the Hammers ahead early in the second-half but Fulham’s United States striker Brian McBride tied the game at 2-2.However, Israel’s Benayoun restored West Ham’s lead before French defender Philippe Christanval drew Fulham level in the last minute.Charlton went ahead through former Boro striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink at The Valley.But Boro bounced back through Lee Cattermole’s equaliser on the stroke of half-time before goals from Julio Arca and Aiyegbeni Yakubu completed the recovery.Craig Bellamy’s strike and a double from fellow striker Peter Crouch gave Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez a much-needed victory at Watford.The Spanish boss had been widely criticised for fielding a weakened side in Tuesday’s humiliating 6-3 League Cup quarter-final loss to Arsenal.Bolton were fortunate to gain a goalless draw after City’s Joey Barton missed an excellent chance.Portsmouth went behind to Stephen Quinn’s free-kick before Gary O’Neil capitalised on Claude Davis’s error to equalise nine minutes from time.Nampa-AFP