Manchester United join City at top after rivals lose at Everton

Jan 31, 2012, 22:21 GMT

London - English champions Manchester United moved level on points with Manchester City atop the Premier League on Tuesday night, taking advantage of a slip-up from their rivals.

Goals from Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov gave United a 2-0 victory over Stoke while City slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Everton.

The results left both sides level on 54 points, five points clear of Tottenham Hotspur, who beat bottom side Wolves 3-1.

Liverpool moved up to fifth after a 3-0 win at Wolves, closing to within four points of Chelsea, who needed a last-minute equalizer at Swansea to salvage a point.

Two second-half penalties gave United a simple victory over Stoke at Old Trafford.

First Jermaine took out Park Ji-Sung and Hernandez converted the penalty, eight minutes into the second half, and then Berbatov scored from the spot after Antonio Valencia was felled by Jonathan Walters.

City fell to their third league defeat of the season - all away from home - as they were beaten 1-0 at Everton.

It was a former United player, Darron Gibson, who scored the only goal of the game on the hour mark. Samir Nasri hit the bar for City in the first half.

Gareth Bale scored two more goals as Tottenham were too good for Wigan, with Luka Modric scoring the other.

Andy Carroll opened the scoring for Liverpool at Wolves, with Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt completing a simple win and boosting their hopes of a top-four spot.

Chelsea looked to be on their way to defeat as the seconds ticked down at Swansea, for whom former Chelsea player Scott Sinclair scored six minutes before the break. Though Ashley Cole was sent off for two yellow cards, full back Jose Bosingwa scored a rare goal for Chelsea three minutes into injury time to pinch a point.