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Manchester United edged an error-strewn encounter with Hull to close to within two points of leaders Chelsea in the race for the Premier League title.

Wayne Rooney drew first blood for United on the stroke of half-time, but later made a calamitous back-pass which paved the way for a Hull penalty.

Craig Fagan levelled from the spot, but Rooney made amends when his low cross led to an Andy Dawson own goal.

Dimitar Berbatov then sealed the win after a pin-point pass from Rooney.

At a stage of the season when champions United traditionally begin to hit their stride, the victory closed the gap on Chelsea after they were held to a goalless draw at Birmingham on Saturday.

But for all Rooney’s influence, Sir Alex Ferguson’s men – who arrived on Humberside in wounded-animal mode after suffering two defeats in their previous three Premier League outings – were rarely at their best.

In fairness that had much to do with Hull, whose industry and commitment proved formidable obstacles despite some hairy moments for goalkeeper Boaz Myhill, most notably when he miscued a first-half clearance.

Having seen his team charged by the Football Association after last weekend’s mass confrontation at Arsenal, Phil Brown had looked to foster a siege mentality among his players in the build-up.

And his players clearly bought into the billing of unfairly-punished underdogs as they absorbed United’s strong start and were unlucky to be denied an early penalty.

Fagan found Richard Garcia with a precise through-ball, but as the Australia international raced into the area he was upended by a sliding tackle from Nemanja Vidic that prompted furious protests from Hull.

It was Alan Wiley, the referee whose fitness was questioned by Ferguson after United’s 2-2 draw against Sunderland earlier this season, who came to the visitors’ rescue.

Wiley saw nothing wrong with the challenge, but no sooner had he waved away the complaints than Hull were at United again, Seyi Olofinjana forcing a fine reflex save from Tomasz Kuszczak.

Another opportunity to open the scoring went begging when Olofinjana put Stephen Hunt through only for the Republic of Ireland midfielder to shoot wide.

As the misses mounted for Hull, the feeling grew that there would be a price to pay against a United side desperate to bounce back following last weekend’s 3-0 defeat at Fulham.

The return of a trio of defenders in Rafael da Silva, Vidic and Wes Brown provided a platform for United to go forward with greater confidence, and although their attacking fluency was never at its best, they nonetheless offered plenty of threat.

Giggs twice went close early on, volleying on to the roof of the net before rippling the side-netting with a free-kick, while Rooney and Rafael both forced acrobatic saves from Myhill.

The danger was clear and, sure enough, with the interval beckoning Darren Fletcher swung in a near-post cross from the right flank, Giggs deflected it to Rooney, and the lurking England man prodded home from close-range.

With the hour mark approaching, however, Rooney gifted Hull a reprieve, directing a woeful back-pass to Kuszczak which was intercepted by Fagan.

Da Silva bundled over Jozy Altidore from the resulting cross, and Fagan shot unerringly past Kuszczak to ensure that there would be no repeat of Geovanni’s missed spot kick against Arsenal last week.

Sensing the possibility of a win that would lift them clear of the relegation zone, Hull poured forward in search of a winner, but their enterprise was to prove their undoing.

With 17 minutes remaining, Giggs led a United counter-attack, slotting the ball through for Rooney to direct a low cross towards substitute Ji-Sung Park which the sliding Dawson could only direct into his own net.

And Rooney was once again at the heart of the action as United put the polish on their win with eight minutes remaining, directing a slide-rule pass through the legs of Anthony Gardner that enabled Berbatov to score with a tap-in.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger expects to be without Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner until the new year.

 

 

 

The 21-year-old international had been recovering from a groin injury sustained in the 3-0 win over North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on October 31.

"Let's say the new year (for him)," Wenger told the club's official website.

"It is quite disappointing because he looked quite sharp."

Arsenal are third in the Premier League table, but eight points behind fellow London club Chelsea – to whom they lost 3-0 at home at the end of November.

Was it anger, frustration or merely embarrassment that led to Arsene Wenger storming off down the tunnel at Eastlands without shaking Mark Hughes's hand?

Wenger's misplaced belief in his latest crop of youngsters was shown up as Arsenal lost 3-0 to Manchester City in their Carling Cup quarter-final, their third defeat in their last four matches.

The Gunners have now shipped 10 goals in their last three trips to the City of Manchester Stadium, and Wenger left the dugout right on the final whistle, neglecting to congratulate his opposite number.

The beef had been bubbling under nicely throughout the match, and Wenger looked perturbed when Hughes encroached into his side of the technical area to kick a stray ball to one of his players.

Whatever message he was trying to send out, all he achieved was to add a little extra bonus to Sparky's evening. If Hughes is to become a top manager with City, regularly getting under the skin of one of his main rival bosses is a good way to start going about things.

Hughes described Wenger's reaction as "ungracious", barely suppressing a smile as he did so, but Wenger was indignant, sarcastically claiming he had no professional courtesy and reminding everyone just who the Champions League manager was out of the two.

He said, while wrapping Sanchez Watt and Craig Eastmond up in cotton wool for another season: "It is a competition for our younger players. If I don't play them here where would I play them?

"We played in the quarter-final of the Champions League last season against top teams. Playing in those matches is 10 times harder than playing in the Carling Cup."

City now face local rivals United in the last four, which is great news for them now that Alex Ferguson has promised to continue fielding some of his own fringe players.

They are now close to emulating those other nouveau riche gatecrashers, Chelsea, by making the Carling Cup the first reward for their obscene spending.

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For a player of just 18 years of age and two full appearances behind him, Gael Kakuta has already managed to gain extraordinary notoriety.

After the row over whether he was induced into signing for Chelsea led to the club's suspended transfer ban, Kakuta finally made an impressive debut against Wolves, but last night missed the decisive spot-kick as the Blues were knocked out of the Carling Cup at Blackburn.

The good thing about penalty shoot-outs is that you can play it how you want – either the keeper is a hero or the man who misses the deciding kick is the villain. Pillorying a teenager for failing to convert a penalty is a little harsh, but the extra spotlight on him gave his miss plenty of resonance.

All credit to Paul Robinson for his performance, including saving another kick from Michael Ballack (that's right, a German), but Kakuta's shot straight at the keeper led to Chelsea's sixth defeat in their last seven shootouts. In this day and age, however, he is unlikely to find solace in a pizza commercial.

Just as Alberto Aquilani's half-hour of playing time for Liverpool has seen the Reds crash out of the Carling Cup, Champions League and scrape a disappointing draw with Birmingham in the league, Chelsea fans may just be wondering if it's really worth all the bother.

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Everton cruised into the last 128 of the Europa League with a 1-0 win at AEK Athens, but the win came at a cost. The Toffees can now add Jo, Sylvain Distin and Dan Gosling to their ridiculously long injury list.

David Moyes did his best to see the bright side of the dodgy Olimpiako Stadio pitch, saying: "It was like back to the old days. I would have enjoyed it in my playing days but I don't know how some of the players felt about the conditions out there." 

Never mind playing all these extra matches in Europe, at the rate Everton continue to accrue injuries they should think of pulling out of all football for a while, otherwise they'll end up having to field two goalkeepers,  just as Gillingham did on Tuesday night.

As for Celtic, they crashed out of Europe despite a 2-0 win over Hapoel Tel Aviv. Still, as they lie third in Group C they are the best-placed candidates to drop down into the next level of competition, the All-Lanarkshire U12s trophy.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I have nothing to say. I am free to shake hands with whom I want" – Wenger's moody response when asked why he failed to extend Mark Hughes any professional courtesy.

FOREIGN VIEW: "One sees that they do not support that we become leaders and when Barça beat Madrid. Notice that they must take secret, treacherous photos and later publish with the intention of disparaging me. We were within the framework of a private celebration. We celebrated with friends the team's victory over Real Madrid. This is the character of the Spanish media. This harms the right to the privacy, it has no integrity and a lack of professional ethics" – Marca reports Barcelona chief Joan Laporta slamming the press for publishing pictures of his wild post-Clasico celebrations, handily illustrated with a couple of said pictures.  

COMING UP: There is one more bit of Brit-based Europa League action this evening, with Fulham still very much in the Group E mix. Follow LIVE text commentary of the Cottagers' clash with CSKA Sofia from 20:00.

Darron Gibson scored twice as Manchester United booked their place in the semi-finals of the Carling Cup with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Tottenham.

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The Republic of Ireland international put the disappointment of failing to qualify for the World Cup behind him with two fantastic first-half finishes to end Tottenham's involvement in the competition.

The midfielder fired low past Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes after 16 minutes before doubling their tally with a beautiful curled effort from 25 yards six minutes before the break.

Spurs had chances of their own with Jermain Defoe guilty of wasting a gilt-edged opportunity in the first half.

But despite being second best for much of the encounter United held on comfortably for the win.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, as promised, kept faith with the youngsters who had fallen to defeat in the Champions League just six days earlier against Besiktas and after the early exchanges it looked as if a similar result could be on the cards.

Spurs looked the more composed in possession and threatening on the attack, while United chased shadows in the rain at Old Trafford.

Defoe fired in a rasping drive from outside the area that Tomasz Kuszczak, preferred to Ben Foster, did well to save low to his right, while Aaron Lennon and Gareth Bale were causing all sorts of problems for Gary Neville down the Tottenham left.

But while Spurs were unable to deliver the killer blow that their possession merited, United clinically put them to the sword.

Gibson opened the scoring after 16 minutes with a stinging low drive from outside the area that nestled in the bottom left-hand corner with Spurs keeper Gomes well beaten.

At the other end chances came and went. Defoe, the five-goal hero against Wigan in the Premier League, shot straight at United defender Ritchie De Laet from six yards after being picked out by a pin-point cross from Bale, while Robbie Keane was twice tackled by Nemanja Vidic as he looked to pull the trigger.

Park ji-sung failed to connect with a cross from the left when he was unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box before Gibson doubled United's lead with an exquisite curler.

Gibson received the ball from Danny Welbeck 25 yards from goal before bending it into the top corner.

Spurs continued to pile on the pressure after the break as United struggled to maintain possession.

David Bentley had two chances to drag Spurs back into the game after the re-start, drawing a good save from Kuszczak with a side-footed finish after being picked out in the area by Bale before heading another cross from the Welshman wide of target.

But the Spurs threat gradually waned as United got a grip on the ball in midfield and Tottenham's hunger ebbed away.

The visitors brought on Peter Crouch in an effort to add another dimension to their play, but the striker was given little but scraps and long balls into the box to feed on.

Substitute Federico Macheda found the side netting in stoppage time with a low drive from outside the area as United ended the game in the ascendency.

Ferguson's side join Aston Villa in the semi-finals after Martin O'Neill's men beat Portsmouth 4-2 at Fratton Park.

Toby Davis / Eurosport