English Premiership round-up

Manchester United maintained their six-point lead at the top with a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa, as Chelsea beat Wigan 4-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Liverpool stayed in pole position for one of the other UEFA Champions League places with a convincing win over Watford, as Bolton were held to a goalless draw by Manchester City.

Nobody managed to significantly strengthen their position at the other end of the table, with West Ham the only side in the bottom four to pick up a point following a thrilling draw with Fulham.

Manchester United enjoyed a brilliant first half at Old Trafford, with Park Ji-sung setting the tone with an 11th minute finish and then supplying Michael Carrick for the second two minutes later.

Cristiano Ronaldo kept up his superb form with a 35th minute header, and United coasted to victory despite Gabriel Agbonlahor's strike for Villa (52).

Chelsea stayed in touch with Manchester United as they dealt Wigan their seventh consecutive defeat.

Frank Lampard"s free-kick from distance sailed straight in after 13 minutes, before Arjen Robben rounded Chris Kirkland after 70 minutes.

A miserable afternoon for Kirkland was compounded after 70 minutes as he deflected Robben's low cross into his own net, before Didier Drogba headed home in injury time.

Liverpool, thrashed 6-3 at home to Arsenal in midweek, bounced back with a 3-0 victory against Watford at Vicarage Road.

Craig Bellamy, starting alongside Peter Crouch and Dirk Kuyt up front, tapped in Steve Finnan's cross after 34 minutes to open the scoring for The Reds.

Peter Crouch scored the next two, heading into an empty net after 40 minutes and stroking home Bellamy's delightful cross three minutes into the second half.

An uninspiring clash at The Reebok Stadium finished 0-0, although Joey Barton wasted a glorious chance to win the game for City as he missed an open goal from close range.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink popped up in the 27th minute to score against former club Middlesbrough at The Valley, but Charlton surrendered their lead to lose 3-1.

Lee Cattermole equalised on the stroke of half-time with a neat finish, before Julio Arca netted after 63 minutes and Yakubu Aiyegbeni secured the three points with a blistering strike.

West Ham were denied victory by a late Philippe Christanval goal as their game with Fulham ended 3-3.

Tomasz Radzinski had broken the deadlock for The Cottagers in the 16th minute, only for Bobby Zamora to level for The Hammers 12 minutes later.

Yossi Benayoun then put West Ham 2-1 in front straight after half-time with a stunning strike from the edge of the area, before Brian McBride (59) equalised for Fulham.

Benayoun skipped round Jan Lastuvka to restore West Ham's lead after 64 minutes, but Zamora saw red for a second bookable offence 14 minutes from time and Chrstanval salvaged a point for Fulham deep into stoppage time.

Sheffield United drew 1-1 with Portsmouth at Bramall Lane, with Gary O'Neill's 81st minute goal cancelling out Stephen Quinn's brilliant free-kick (22).