Associated Press

London, April 25:

Wayne Rooney scored to help Manchester United to a 2-1 win over Newcastle in the Premier League on Sunday — its second win over the Magpies in as many weeks. The win kept United in touch with Arsenal in the race for second. United is one point behind second-place Arsenal.

In other match, Lomano LuaLua scored twice in five minutes as Portsmouth beat Southampton

4-1 to keep its local rival bottom of the standings. United dominated in beating Newcastle 4-1 in the FA Cup semi-finals last week. On Sunday, it gifted Newcastle the lead. A weak goal kick by United ‘keeper Tim Howard was intercepted by Darren Ambrose, who ran forward to score past the diving United States international in the 27th minute. Rooney levelled in the 57th with a powerful, swerving, dipping volley from just outside the box, a goal manager Alex Ferguson described as “phenomenal.” Defender Wes Brown added United’s winner in the 74th, leaping to head his first league goal for United. United was without Ruud van Nistelrooy, who didn’t even make the bench after sustaining an ankle injury in training. It was Newcastle’s

fifth successive loss, including the FA Cup defeat to United and a 4-1 defeat at Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Cup quarter-final second leg. Chelsea leads with 85 points, followed by Arsenal on 71 and Manchester United on 70. Everton is fourth with 58 points, four ahead of crosstown rival Liverpool.

Spanish La Liga

MADRID: Ludovic Giuly scored twice to help leader FC Barcelona to a 4-0 victory over Malaga and leave it three wins away from its first Spanish league title since 1999. Defender Oleguer Presas and substitute Gerard Lopez also netted at Malaga’s La Rosaleda stadium as Barcelona

restored its six-point advantage over second-place Real Madrid with five games remaining.

Barcelona has 75 points, while Real Madrid, which beat Villarreal 2-1 on Saturday, has 69.

In another match, Espanyol beat Real Zaragoza 3-1 to move into third place. Espanyol has 53, one more than Sevilla, Villarreal and Valencia. Also on Sunday, Real Sociedad edged host Betis 3-2, Valencia downed lowly Albacete 2-0, while Deportivo La Coruna lost 4-1 against visiting Racing Santander.

Italian Serie A

ROME: Pavel Nedved scored in the closing minutes as Juventus won 1-0 at Lazio to restore a two-way leadership with defending champion AC Milan with five rounds to play. The win at Stadio Olimpico lifted Juventus to 73 points, tied with AC Milan. Juventus and AC Milan piled up a 14-point lead over third-place Inter Milan, which tumbled 2-1 at Messina and was left with 59. In another key match of the 33rd round, Sampdoria downed AS Roma 2-1 to regain fourth place in the standings, four points behind Inter and two ahead of Udinese.

Terry awarded PoY in England

LONDON: Chelsea captain John Terry was named English player of the year by the Professional Footballers’ Association on Sunday, and dedicated the award to his teammates and manager. Terry, 24, was voted for by his fellow players in the English Premier League. He beat Chelsea teammates Frank Lampard and goalkeeper Petr Cech, 2004 winner Thierry Henry of Arsenal, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard and Crystal Palace striker Andy Johnson. Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney was named the young player of the year. Terry and the other finalists — Manchester United’s Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand, Arsenal’s Ashley Cole, Robben and Wright-Phillips — were also named in the PFA’s Premier League team of the year. — AP