Manchester United moved to within two points of Premier League leader Liverpool on Wednesday after the champion beat on-form Wigan 1-0 at Old Trafford. Steve Bruce's side rode into the Theatre of Dreams on the back of a run of six wins in its previous seven league matches. But United needed less than a minute to puncture the visitor's confidence. Dimitar Berbatov's superb pass sent Cristiano Ronaldo away on the right and the World Player of the Year's low cross was flicked on by Michael Carrick to leave Wayne Rooney with a simple tap in. That was to prove enough to secure all three points but another hugely positive evening for Sir Alex Ferguson's side was marred by the sight of Rooney limping off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury only seven minutes after he had scored the decisive goal. The win means United will go top of the table for the first time this season if it can beat Bolton at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday. Liverpool does not play its next match until Monday night's Merseyside derby clash with Everton at Anfield. Chelsea wins FA Cup tie Chelsea improved as the match went on to beat Southend United 4-1 in an FA Cup third round replay on Wednesday after a jittery opening against the League One (third division) side. Goals from Michael Ballack, Salomon Kalou, Nicolas Anelka and Frank Lampard gave Chelsea, with only one win in their previous six matches, a deserved win after Southend had taken a 16th-minute lead with an Adam Barrett header. Hull City also made it through to the last 32 when it won the all-Premier League replay 1-0 against Newcastle United at St. James' Park with an 81st minute tap-in from Daniel Cousin. Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear and Hull counterpart Phil Brown were sent to the stands in the first half after squaring up to each other on the touchline. Crystal Palace earned a trip to fellow Championship side Watford in the next round after it beat League One (third division) leaders Leicester City 2-1 at Selhurst Park with Paul Ifill and teenage substitute Sean Scannell scoring Palace's goals. Sevilla, Valencia advance In Madrid, Luis Fabiano scored twice for Sevilla as the 2007 King's Cup winner eased into the quarterfinals with a 3-0 victory at Deportivo Coruna in their second leg tie on Wednesday. Holder Valencia needed extra time to see off Racing Santander 3-1, two goals from Vicente and one from Joaquin sending it through to the last eight 4-2 on aggregate after both the first leg and the opening 90 minutes had ended 1-1. Segunda B (third tier) teams Poli Ejido and Real Union were eliminated by Espanyol and Real Betis respectively, although Espanyol needed the away goals rule to progress after the tie ended 3-3 on aggregate. Jorge Garcia's header in added time sent Sporting Gijon through at the expense of Real Valladolid with a 4-3 aggregate win, and Real Mallorca drew 1-1 at Almeria to give it a 4-2 win over the two legs. In Wednesday's late match, Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 2-1, to win 5-2 on aggregate. Baptista strikes twice Brazilian Julio Baptista struck twice to give AS Roma a 2-0 win over Sampdoria in their rearranged Serie A game on Wednesday. The forward scored with a tremendous free kick on 21 minutes and eight minutes after the break he slotted in a second. Roma, last season's runner-up, had a terrible start to the campaign but has gradually been improving and is now up to eighth place. Ineffective Samp, who bought Fiorentina striker Giampaolo Pazzini earlier in the day, remain five points above the drop zone. Juve in Cup quarters Juventus booked its spot in the Italian Cup quarterfinals with an easy 3-0 home win over Catania on Wednesday. Right winger Marco Marchionni scored from close range on four minutes after visiting goalkeeper Albano Bizzarri had made a mess of saving Alessandro del Piero's header. Juve, which hosts Napoli in the quarterfinals next month, went 2-0 up midway through the second half when Sebastian Giovinco finished off a fine move and Del Piero soon added a classy third.
