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March 1 (Reuters) - English Premier League fixtures (timesGMT).Playing on Tuesday Chelsea v Manchester United (1945)Playing on Saturday Birmingham City v West Bromwich Albion (1245) Arsenal v Sunderland (1500) Bolton Wanderers v Aston Villa (1500) Fulham v Blackburn Rovers (1500) Newcastle United v Everton (1500) West Ham United v Stoke City (1500) Manchester City v Wigan Athletic (1730)Playing on Sunday Liverpool v Manchester United (1330) Wolverhampton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur (1600)Playing on Monday Blackpool v Chelsea (2000)(Compiled by Infostrada Sports; Editing by Toby Davis)


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Labels: English, fixtures, league, PREMIER, Reuters

LONDON (AP)—Javier Hernandez scored twice in a 4-0 victory at Wigan on Saturday, helping first-place Manchester United restore a four-point lead over Arsenal in the Premier League.

The Mexico striker scored off Nani’s low cross after 17 minutes and took a pass from Wayne Rooney in the 74th for his 12th goal of the season. Late goals by Rooney and Fabio da Silva completed the rout.

United now awaits important games against Chelsea and Liverpool.

“To win 4-0 away from home at a place like Wigan is very good. … It’s an acid test going to Chelsea and Liverpool,” United manager Alex Ferguson said.

United has played the same number of games as the rest of the top four. Second-place Arsenal plays in the League Cup final against Birmingham on Sunday when Manchester City hosts Fulham in the league.

Tottenham and Chelsea, who are fourth and fifth, have the weekend off because they were to play the League Cup finalists.

In the race against relegation, Wolverhampton climbed out of last place and the drop zone with a 4-0 victory over Blackpool. The match was overshadowed by the death of former Wolves and Tottenham defender Dean Richards at 36 on Saturday. Richards, who played for the Wolves between 1995 and 2001, died after a long illness.

Victories for Aston Villa and Everton put them five points further ahead of the relegation zone. Villa beat Blackburn 4-1 and Everton defeated Sunderland 2-0. Wigan is now only being kept off the bottom by West Ham, which is two points behind and hosts Liverpool on Sunday.

MADRID (AP)—Lionel Messi scored on a rare header, and Barcelona won 3-0 at Mallorca to open a seven-point lead over second-place Real Madrid in the Spanish league despite missing four regulars.

Barcelona has 68 points and Real Madrid has 61 following a 0-0 draw at Deportivo La Coruna.

Mesi looped the ball over goalkeeper Dudu Aouate in the 38th minute. Messi leads the league with 26 goals, two more than Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. Of Messi’s 169 goals for Barcelona, this was just his seventh on a header.

David Villa scored in the 57th and Pedro Rodriguez in the 66th. The three Barcelona forwards have combined for 82 goals this season, with Villa and Pedro scoring 20 apiece.

Barcelona was missing midfielder Xavi Hernandez, defender Carles Puyol and goalkeeper Victor Valdes because of injuries and right back Daniel Alves because of yellow card accumulation.

ROME (AP)—Bologna won 2-0 at Juventus in the Italian league behind goals by Marco Di Vaio in the 49th and 66th minutes.

Bologna is 11th with 35 points, while Juventus is seventh with 41 following its second loss in seven days.

First-place AC Milan, which has 55 points, hosts second-place Napoli, which has 52, on Monday. Third-place Inter (50) is at Sampdoria on Sunday.

BERLIN (AP)—Lukas Podolski scored a late goal, giving Cologne a 1-0 win over Freiburg in the Bundesliga. Cologne has won five in a row at home and moves up to 11th place.

Podolski lifted the ball over Oliver Baumann for his 12th goal of season.

Christian Schulz scored in the last minute for Hannover, which won 1-0 at St. Pauli. Hannover moved into third place, but can be overtaken if Bayern Munich beats first-place Borussia Dortmund in the late game.

Mainz won 2-1 at Hoffenheim, Kaiserslautern drew 1-1 with Hamburger SV, and Raul Gonzalez equalized to earn Schalke a 1-1 draw at home to Nuremberg.

PARIS (AP)—Rennes beat Lens 2-0 for its fourth straight win and moved into first place in the French league.

Razak Boukari put Rennes ahead with a powerful shot into the top corner of the net in the 14th minute. Victor Hugo Montano added a second goal in the 70th, beating the offside trap to collect a pass from Jerome Leroy and score with a low shot.

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP)—Hearts was held to a 0-0 draw at Aberdeen, squandering a chance to take second place in the Scottish Premier League.

Hearts is a point behind Rangers, which plays St. Johnstone on Sunday in the first of three games in hand over the third-place club.

First-place Celtic goes to Motherwell on Sunday, eight points ahead of Rangers. Celetic has played two more matches than its Glasgow rival.

Hibernian beat Inverness 2-0 for its fourth straight league win but remains 10th in the 12-team league.

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Labels: defeats, league, PREMIER, United, Wigan

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Mark Wilson was thrilled to net his first Celtic goal in five years at the club as his side ran out comfortable 3-0 winners over 10-man Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

The defender celebrated his call-up to the Scotland squad for next Wednesday's Carling Nations Cup clash with Northern Ireland by heading his side's second goal as they defeated the Dons for the third time in 11 days.

The former Dundee United player has endured a series of injuries throughout his career - most notably numerous knee operations and recent groin trouble.

But he has emerged as a key player in Celtic's recent good run of form, which has seen them consolidate top spot in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Wilson, who netted in the 75th minute, said: "I'm delighted as it's my first goal in five years and with the Scotland call-up it is a pretty fortunate day.

"I don't think there will be many more goals for me like that one - especially headers.

"I will certainly take it and it was a good time of the game for us to get a goal as you don't want to be going into the last bit of the game just the one goal up.

"It is always pretty nervy so the second goal settled us."

Wilson partnered fellow full-back Charlie Mulgrew in a makeshift central defence amid injuries to Daniel Majstorovic, Thomas Rogne and Glenn Loovens along with Celtic's failure to land Stoke's Abdoulaye Faye or Nottingham Forest's Kelvin Wilson during the January transfer window.

So the 26-year-old was doubly pleased that the Hoops managed to keep another clean sheet, although Andrew Considine's second-minute red card did not help Aberdeen's cause.

Wilson said: "I know a lot of people would have been thinking that Charlie and myself is not the ideal partnership.

"In all honesty it isn't but the two of us are defenders first and foremost and, when the team needs you, you step in and do your best and that was what happened with the two of us.

"Efrain Juarez also came in at right-back, even though it isn't his natural position, and did well.

"There is no doubt the sending-off helped us as it took a lot of pressure off the back four but it is terrific to keep a clean sheet again and big Fraser Forster made some important saves."

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Labels: PREMIER, SCOTTISH, Sportinglifecom