Manchester United, Arsenal close gap on leaders Chelsea

Manchester United and Arsenal piled the pressure on leaders Chelsea on Sunday as they each claimed victories to fire themselves back into the race for the English Premier League title, dpa reported.

Champions United pinched a 3-1 win at Hull to go to within two points of Chelsea while Arsenal are third after a 3-0 win over fourth-placed Aston Villa, but with a game in hand on the top two.

Hull remain in the bottom three but United and Arsenal both took advantage of Chelsea's goalless draw with Birmingham City on Boxing Day.

United were perhaps flattered by the margin of their victory at Hull, who recovered from a Wayne Rooney goal just before half-time thanks to an equalizer by Craig Fagan from the penalty spot.

An own goal from Andy Dawson restored United's lead and Rooney set up Wayne Berbatov for the third.

Cesc Fabregas was the hero for Arsenal, coming off the substitutes' bench to score two second-half goals and Abu Diaby scored a late third.

Emile Heskey went close for Villa, who beat both Chelsea and champions Manchester United this season.

But they were generally on the back foot and when Fabregas came off the bench 10 minutes into the second half, the match turned.

First the Spain midfielder curled a free kick into the corner of the net from 25 yards and then he finished off a brilliant move to double their lead.

The only bad note for Arsenal came when Fabregas had to go off after a 27-minute cameo with a recurrence of his hamstring problem, but Diaby slotted in the third to seal a confident win.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said the injury to Fabregas was not that bad, and that it was worth taking the risk to earn a crucial three points.

"It is a massive result for the team," Wenger said. "When you look where we were a few weeks ago, credit to the team, they didn't give up when everybody has written us off.

"We kept going and that shows that the team has shown mental strength. This team is talented, is hungry, has a great spirit and for me they deserve to be successful.

"However, we have not won yet anything. It makes it interesting now. We are in a strong position."