LONDON, 10 December 2006 — Manchester United surged nine points clear at the top of the Premier League with an edgy 3-1 derby victory over Manchester City yesterday.

City had not won a league game at Old Trafford since 1974 and their hopes of ending that depressing sequence were dashed as Wayne Rooney and Louis Saha struck before halftime.

Hatem Trabelsi pulled a goal back for City with 18 minutes remaining, but Cristiano Ronaldo eased United’s jitters when he tucked in a late third.

United, who have 44 points from 17 games, now hold their biggest lead in a title race since 2001, although Chelsea can close the gap to six points with victory over Arsenal yesterday.

“There are a lot of hurdles to navigate but I don’t see any reason why we can’t do it,” manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports. “With us playing before Chelsea we can relax now and watch the game tomorrow and support the Gunners.”

Portsmouth moved third on 28 points after a 2-0 home victory over Everton with Nwankwo Kanu’s ninth goal of the season putting him top of the Premier League scoring charts.

Steven Gerrard put Liverpool on the way to a second successive 4-0 league victory and fourth place. Jamie Carragher, Luis Garcia and Mark Gonzalez were also on target.

Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov’s double helped Tottenham Hotspur to a 5-1 rout against lowly Charlton Athletic, their ninth home victory in succession in all competitions.

Watford are keeping Charlton off the bottom, however, after drawing their eighth match of the season, 0-0 at home to Reading.

The Manchester derby proved an eventful encounter and maintained United’s long unbeaten league run, which stretches back to September.

Stuart Pearce had not tasted defeat at Old Trafford since taking over as City boss, but that record came to an end thanks largely to some shoddy defending that would not have impressed the former England hard man.

All three of United’s goals were down to defensive mistakes, beginning in the fifth minute when Ronaldo’s cross was not dealt with and Rooney swept in his 50th Premier League goal.

City had their moments, most notably when teenage full back Micah Richards headed narrowly wide after indecision in the United defense and when Georgios Samaras stung Edwin van der Sar’s fingers with a volley.

Seconds before halftime, however, Trabelsi lost possession in the corner, allowing Gabriel Heinze to fire in a cross shot that Saha touched past Nicky Weaver in the City goal.

Weaver failed to return for the second half after being injured trying to deny Saha, and he was replaced by Sweden international Andreas Isaksson. Trabelsi made up for his error after 72 minutes, surprising Van der Sar with a curled shot that cannoned in off the underside of the crossbar. But another missed interception from Richard Dunne six minutes from time allowed Ronaldo to seal the points. City’s misery was complete when Bernardo Corradi was sent off in stoppage time after a blatant dive.

Elsewhere, Newcastle United’s improvement continued as Obafemi Martins scored twice in a 3-1 victory at Blackburn Rovers who had Stephane Henchoz sent off before halftime.

Middlesbrough came from behind to grab a point in a 1-1 draw at home to Wigan Athletic who had goalkeeper Chris Kirkland taken to hospital after he was injured late in the first half.

Naldo Treble Leads Werder to Easy Bundesliga Win

In Berlin, Brazilian defender Naldo scored a hat trick to see Bundesliga leaders Werder Bremen to a rousing 6-2 victory away to Eintracht Frankfurt yesterday.

VfB Stuttgart stayed on the title trail by edging out VfL Bochum 1-0 with a late Marco Streller goal, while Bayern Munich also kept within striking distance thanks to a nervy 2-1 victory over stubborn Energie Cottbus.

With 16 games played, and just one more round of matches before the Bundesliga’s six-week mid-season break, Werder lead the standings with 33 points.

Stuttgart climb to second on 31, while champions Bayern, in fourth, join third-placed Schalke 04 on the 30-point mark.

Schalke can climb back level with Werder on 33 points if they win today’s Ruhr Valley derby at home to Borussia Dortmund.

Werder, who bowed out of the Champions League after a 2-0 defeat at Barcelona on Tuesday, were clearly in no mood for mourning and moved ahead when Naldo slid in a shot from an Ivan Klasnic pass in the third minute.

A mistake from goalkeeper Tim Wiese gave Frankfurt an easy equalizer. He came out to clear a free kick from Albert Streit but missed the ball entirely, giving Marco Russ the chance to head in. Werder swept back on the attack and moved ahead in the 11th minute when Daniel Jensen took the ball from the toes of Diego and squeezed in a shot from six meters.

Rangers Cut Gap in Scotland With 3-0 Win Over Hibs

In Glasgow, Rangers reduced the gap at the top of the Scottish Premier League to 13 points with a comfortable 3-0 win over Hibernian on Saturday. They were three up at the break thanks to goals from Dado Prso, Libor Sionko and captain Barry Ferguson and the misery piled up for Hibs in the second half when Ivan Sproule was sent off for his second bookable offense on 68 minutes.

Rangers now have 31 points from 18 games while leaders Celtic have 44 from 17 and play at Dunfermline today.