Man United recovers with 5-0 win at Wigan

LONDON — Manchester United recovered from its shocking midweek defeat with a 5-0 Premier League win at Wigan, while Arsenal defeated visiting Portsmouth 4-1.

Wayne Rooney hit his 100th and 101st club goals and Michael Owen struck his first to help give defending champion United the victory it desperately wanted after Wednesday's 1-0 loss at newly promoted Burnley.

"You have to react to a defeat," United manager Alex Ferguson said. "We got a performance there. We had six chances in the first half and we didn't take any of them. The important thing is to have patience and we did that."

Victory kept United, which is chasing a record fourth straight title, even with Arsenal on six points, but the Gunners have played two games to United's three ahead of the teams' meeting next weekend.

Manchester City kept pace on six points after Emmanuel Adebayor scored for the second straight match to lead his new team a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, while United States striker Jozy Altidore set up a goal on debut to give Hull a 1-0 win over Bolton.

Altidore came on as a 60th-minute substitute and set up a goal for Kamel Fathi Ghilas with his first touch a minute later.

"The fans will take to him," Hull manager Phil Brown said. "He's a big, bubbly character."

Manchester United has started the season slowly following the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid and struggled to break down Wigan for 56 minutes on Saturday.

But former Wigan winger Antonio Valencia then crossed from the left for Rooney to head in and become the 21st player to score 100 goals for United.

Wigan then hit the bar before Rooney and Paul Scholes combined in the 58th to set up Dimitar Berbatov, who lifted the ball over goalkeeper Chris Kirkland and into the net.

Rooney made it 3-0 in the 65th with a deflected shot to move to 101 goals in 241 appearances and Owen replaced his former England teammate before beating Kirkland with a near-post shot.

"Strikers have to score," Ferguson said. "That's their mantra."

The win moved United up among the pack at the top of the Premier League, although Tottenham and Chelsea both have the chance to go three points clear when they play matches Sunday. Aston Villa is at Liverpool on Monday.

Also Saturday, it was: Sunderland 2, Bolton 1; Birmingham 0, Stoke 0.

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