Rooney double keeps Man United top in England

LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) Wayne Rooney scored twice as Manchester United came from behind to beat Sheffield United 2-1 and stay three points clear of champions Chelsea at the top of the Premier League today.

Chelsea beat West Ham United 1-0 at Stamford Bridge where Geremi scored the only goal with a superbly-taken 22nd-minute free kick to stretch Chelsea's unbeaten home league run to 51 matches.

Arsenal, though, who moved into third place last week, lost ground after being held to a 1-1 draw at home by Newcastle United.

They dropped back to fourth after Portsmouth beat Watford 2-1 to move above them.

Kieron Dyer scored for Newcastle after 30 minutes, with Thierry Henry, who came on as a second half substitute, equalising for Arsenal with a 70th-minute free kick.

United, who have won their last seven successive league games, top the table with 34 points from 13 matches, Chelsea have 31 from 13, Portsmouth 23 from 13 and Arsenal 22 from 12.

Charlton, playing under new manager Les Reed for the first time following Iain Dowie's departure on Monday, stayed nailed to the bottom with just eight points after losing 2-0 at Reading.

Portsmouth came from behind to beat second-to-bottom Watford 2-1 with goals from Nwankwo Kanu (44) and a last-minute penalty from Lomano Lua Lua after American Jay DeMerit had given Watford the lead.

Newcastle's point at Arsenal lifted them out of the bottom three at the expense of Sheffield United.

Manchester City beat Fulham 3-1 in the lunchtime kickoff while Everton ended a run of three league matches without a win by beating Bolton Wanderers 1-0 at home with Mikel Arteta scoring the only goal after an hour.

Mid-table Liverpool were away to Middlesbrough in a late kickoff.

REUTERS SY BS2336