Macheda's goal keeps Man United top of league

LONDON — Teenager Federico Macheda kept Manchester United's title defense on track for the second straight week Saturday, scoring in the 76th minute after coming off the bench in a 2-1 victory at Sunderland in the Premier League.

United stayed in first place and is a point ahead of Liverpool, which routed Blackburn 4-0. United, with a game in hand, has 71 points. Liverpool is second with 70 and Chelsea, which edged Bolton 4-3 after leading 4-0, is third with 67.

Paul Scholes had put United ahead after 19 minutes, but the 34-year-old midfielder's header was offset by Kenwyne Jones in the 55th. Macheda scored on his first touch after entering the game.

"He looks like a great goal scorer and hopefully there's more to come," said Scholes, who is twice Macheda's age. "He's a young lad and I'm sure the others will help to keep his feet on their ground."

Last weekend, Macheda scored a late winner in the 17-year-old Italian's debut to give United a 3-2 victory over Aston Villa.

Fernando Torres scored twice to help Liverpool to its fifth straight league win. Before the game at Anfield, a minute's silence was held to mark the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough Stadium tragedy in which 96 Liverpool fans died.

Chelsea was 4-0 up after 63 minutes thanks to two goals from Didier Drogba, a penalty kick by Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack's first league goal of the season. But Bolton scored three times in 11 minutes on goals by Andy O'Brien, Chris Basham and Matt Taylor.

Arsenal went nine points ahead of Aston Villa in the fourth Champions League spot after coming from behind to win 4-1 win at Wigan.

After Mido's early goal, Arsenal stormed back after haftime with goals by Theo Walcott, Mikael Silvestre, Andrei Arshavin and Alex Song. Aston Villa hosts Everton on Sunday, when Fulham is at Manchester City.

Middlesbrough remains in the relegation zone despite beating Hull 3-1. The defeat left Hull four points above the drop zone — along with Portsmouth, which drew 2-2 against last-place West Bromwich Albion.

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MILAN (AP) — Serie A leader Inter Milan squandered a two-goal lead at home to draw 2-2 with Palermo, and Lazio won 4-2 against neighbor AS Roma in a game in which three players were ejected.

Mario Balotelli and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored for Inter, with Edinson Cavani and Davide Succi replying for Palermo.