Rooney double helps United sink Villa

Manchester United restored their five-point advantage at the top of
the Premier League yesterday after they eased to a 4-0 victory over
Aston Villa.

Wayne Rooney set United on their way with an early penalty and later
added a second in between goals for Danny Welbeck and substitute Nani, and United are now 1-5 to retain the title. Manchester City, seemingly back in the groove after scoring ten goals in their last two matches, are 5-1.

Ladbrokes believe the chances of United claiming the title at the
Etihad on April 30 have increased, going 13-8 from 5-2, though if City
manage to win at Wolves next Sunday it would take a victory from
United to do it that night – assuming they have already done the
business against Everton next weekend.

For the second week in a row at Old Trafford Ashley Young won a
controversial spot-kick from which Rooney opened the scoring when going over easily under minimal contact.

Villa put up little fight after that as poor defending led to Welbeck
doubling United’s lead and second-half goals from Rooney and Nani
completed a tough afternoon for the Villans.

Struggling Villa are by no means safe from relegation and
it’s 18-1 with bet365 that Alex McLeish takes a second club from
Birmingham into the Championship in successive seasons.

Hearts pulled off a 15-2 upset to beat Celtic in the semi-finals of
the Scottish Cup, setting up the first all-Edinburgh final against
Hibernian since 1896.

Hearts looked to have been denied when Gary Hooper headed a late
equaliser for Celtic, but Craig Beattie restored their lead with a
stoppage-time penalty after Joe Ledley was penalised for handball.

The Jam Tarts are now 8-13 to lift the trophy.

Real Madrid are 4-11 to win the Spanish title after maintaining their
four-point advantage over Barcelona on Saturday night.

Real scored twice in the last 15 minutes to secure a 3-1 win over
Sporting Gijon, who had taken a shock lead after half an hour, while
Barcelona also fell behind at Levante before Lionel Messi struck a
second-half double.

Real travel to Barcelona next Saturday after the pair’s Champions League assignments this week.