LONDON (AP):
CRISTIANO RONALDO scored twice to give Manchester United a 2-0 victory over Bolton and a three-point lead atop the Premier League.
In yesterday's other game, Robbie Keane equalised two minutes from the end and Tottenham held Chelsea 4-4 to stop the Blues drawing level on points with second-place Arsenal.
With Manchester United vs Liverpool and Chelsea-Arsenal to come on Sunday, the Premier League title race gets hotter as the teams go into their final eight games.
United now have 70 points from 30 games, Arsenal 67 and Chelsea 65. Fourth-place Liverpool appear to be out of contention with 59.
Against a Bolton side which has won only once and now lost 11 times on the road, United cruised to a 2-0 lead inside the first 19 minutes at Old Trafford, where Alex Ferguson's team now has two more home games in a row. Named captain for the game, Ronaldo gave United a ninth-minute lead.
Dropped ball
Bolton failed to clear a corner and the ball dropped to the winger who fired it into the roof of the net to match George Best's club record for a winger of 32 goals.
Back from suspension after his red card against Portsmouth in the FA Cup loss, goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak blocked a close-range shot from Kevin Davies.
A minute later, it was 2-0, however, when Bolton needlessly gave away a free kick and Ronaldo powered a dipping 30-metre shot that flew inside the post. That made it 24 league goals in 24 starts for Ronaldo and the Portuguese star had taken Best's mark.
In a spell of Bolton pressure, Kuszczak made two good saves to deny Nicky Hunt and Gavin McCann. El Hadji Diouf had the ball in the United net from a free kick in the 56th minute only to have referee Alan Wiley rule it out because he hadn't blown for it to be taken.
Didier Drogba headed home a cross from John Terry to give Chelsea a third-minute lead at White Hart Lane. But Spurs, who beat the Blues 2-1 in last month's League Cup final, leveled in the 12th when Jermaine Jenas swung in a free kick from the right and Jonathan Woodgate scored with a powerful header.
