Man Utd survive Ronaldo red card to close on rivals

Nov 30, 2008, 16:40 GMT

London - Champions Manchester United closed the gap on their rivals at the top of the English Premier League on Sunday with a 1-0 win at neighbours Manchester City, despite having Cristiano Ronaldo sent off in the second half.

The win puts United on 28 points, in third place, five points behind Chelsea and Liverpool, though they have a game in hand.

'Today the focus was very good,' United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said.

'We needed three points today. We are behind Liverpool and Chelsea. We are chasing them and we needed to win the game today to get ourselves near them. We have had a significant result today and I hope it makes a difference.'

Wayne Rooney gave the champions the lead late in the first half with his 100th career goal, but the game's biggest flashpoint came with Ronaldo's sending off 22 minutes from time.

The United players were incensed when referee Howard Webb showed Ronaldo a second yellow card for an inexplicable hand-ball from a corner, a decision that Ferguson said he thought was harsh.

'I have seen it again and I think he was trying to protect his face,' he said.

'He may have got a little shove. He thought he had heard a whistle but I am not going to talk about the referee. We could be here all day.'

United dominated in the first half with Dimitar Berbatov and left- back Patrice Evra looking particularly threatening, but it was not until two minutes before half-time that the breakthrough finally arrived.

As the home side squandered several chances to clear the ball, Rooney was able to tap the ball in from close range after City goalkeeper Joe Hart could only parry Michael Carrick's firm left-foot shot.

City's best chance of the match came midway through the first half as Stephen Ireland's scuffed shot from the edge of the penalty box found its way through a crowd of players to strike the post.

Thanks to a superb save from Edwin van der Sar in injury time, City were unable to capitalise on their numerical advantage and Rooney almost made it 2-0 only for Joe Hart, who had gone up for a City corner, to dash back and tip the ball past the post.

Leaders Chelsea were due to take on Arsenal at Stamford Bridge later Sunday, while second-placed Liverpool play West Ham United on Monday night.