AP
Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor (second left) celebrates scoring against Fulham during their Premier League match at Craven Cottage yesterday. Arsenal won 3-0.

LONDON (AP):

WAYNE ROONEY and Cristiano Ronaldo scored late to keep Manchester United at the top of the Premier League with a 2-0 win over Reading yesterday.

Title rivals Arsenal kept pace with the Red Devils with a 3-0 win at London rivals Fulham behind two goals from Emmanuel Adebayor, putting both teams on 54 points with United ahead on goal difference.

"You start to worry when a game goes on and on whether you're going to get the goal," Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said. "It's taken a lovely flick from Wayne Rooney to open it up for us."

Chelsea remained three points from the leaders with a 1-0 win at Birmingham, while most of the focus was on yesterday's late game, when Kevin Keegan returned to Newcastle for a home game against Bolton - 11 years after he last sat in the Magpies dugout. That encounter ended 0-0.

Also yesterday, it was Blackburn 1 Middlesbrough 1, Portsmouth 3 Derby 1 and Tottenham 2 Sunderland 0.

Today, Manchester City host West Ham and Everton are at Wigan. Liverpool host Aston Villa tomorrow.

Rooney took a cross from Carlos Tevez in the 77th minute to poke the ball past Reading goalkeeper Marcus Hanhemann, who had kept out numerous United attempts. Ronaldo made it 2-0 on a counter attack in the 90th, for his 17th Premier League goal this season.

"Credit to Reading, they had a fantastic energy in the team," Ferguson said. "They keep going at you. They really make you work and I think it was a very important result for us."

Reading, managed by former Manchester United midfielder Steve Coppell, held United to a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford in the opening round of the season.

On a roll

Arsenal have not lost a game this season when Adebayor has scored and the Togo striker put the Gunners ahead 2-0 by half-time.

He headed in his first goal after taking a cross from Gael Clichy in the 19th minute and took a cross from Aleksandr Hleb to head in his second goal - and 15th in the Premier League this season - in the 38th.

Tomas Rosicky volleyed in Arsenal's third in the 81st. The Gunners lost the league lead last week when they drew 1-1 with Birmingham.

"We are very, very ambitious and the way we came on the pitch today after the disappointing result of last week gives you a strong message about how much this team wants it," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.

Chelsea started new signing Nicolas Anelka for the first time, but didn't break through the Birmingham defence until the 80th minute, when a corner from Juliano Belletti was headed in by Claudio Pizzaro.