Manchester United back in second place

Manchester United moved back into second place in the English Premier League on Sunday, getting two goals from Ryan Giggs in a 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Birmingham City.
Giggs scored the first goal in the third minute from a free kick, and then made it 2-0 in the 15th with a shot from six yards that came after a pass from Wayne Rooney.

"Rooney" scored the third goal in the 83rd, controlling a loose ball at midfield and scoring from 15 yards.
Man United has 66 points, two more than Liverpool, which beat city rival Everton 3-1 Saturday. Chelsea, which beat Manchester City 2-0 Saturday, leads the league with 78 points.

ATTACKING COMPETITION EXCITES ROONEY

Rooney's partnership with Ruud van Nistelrooy had been a permanent fixture until the recent emergence of Louis Saha as a regular starter, and the England striker feels such competition can only benefit the team.
"It's good when there are players fighting for places," Wayne told MUTV. "You know every player's got to be on their toes and put in good performances every week."
This season's wealth of options is a far cry from last term's shortage of strikers while both van Nistelrooy and Saha were sidelined with injury.
"Last season we went through a lot of the season when we just had Alan Smith on his own," recalled Rooney. "It was a bit difficult for us. I think it's good that there's competition for places."
The 20-year-old prodigy went on to reveal that he has no preference who he partners in attack, and is just happy to play his normal game.
"I think I play my game and that's it," he said. "I try and play the best I can and it really doesn't matter what other forwards are around."

ROONEY LOOKS TO SUCCESS IN WORLD CUP

England striker Wayne Rooney has claimed that the squad will accept nothing less than victory at the German 2006 World Cup.
Sven-Goran Eriksson's side goes to the finals in Germany this summer as one of the favourites for the title.
And Rooney was quoted by the Guardian as saying: "We have a lot of good players in the squad and we will be disappointed if we don't come back with the World Cup.
"We have a good chance. We have a lot of experienced players and a lot of young players as well."
He added: "Over the last year we have been playing well and hopefully we can take that into the World Cup finals and come back as winners."
Rooney got his first glimpse of the coveted trophy on Thursday in London as it made its first appearance in England as part of a tour that takes in 31 cities in 28 countries.
The Manchester United forward said: "Some of the greatest footballers ever have lifted this trophy so it was an awesome feeling to get up close to it.
"The boys will do everything they can to make sure we see it back here."
The tour began in Accra, Ghana and lasts for three months before reaching its final destination in Rome on 10 April.
The event marks the first extensive tour of the real World Cup trophy, which is rarely seen outside the nation winning each tournament.
England has injury worries over key players in left-back Ashley Cole, centre-half Sol Campbell and striker Michael Owen.
But skipper David Beckham feels their injuries could prove to be a blessing in disguise for their World Cup hopes.
He told The Sun newspaper: "We have injured players who are very important to us, like Michael Owen and Ashley Cole, but I'm not worried they won't make it.
"Both of them have proved in the past they can recover from injuries quickly".
"On the positive side they have had a rest and should be nice and fresh by the time we kick off."

ENGLAND 2 - 1 URUGUAY

Joe Cole scored a last-gasp winner for England in their World Cup warm-up international with Uruguay at Anfield.
Man-of-the-match Cole converted a near-post cross from Shaun Wright-Phillips to settle the issue.
Peter Crouch scored his first goal for England in front of his crowd to bring England level with 15 minutes remaining, cancelling out a superb first-half strike from Omar Pouso.
Gary Neville was back in an England shirt for the first time in seven months for the World Cup warm-up international with Uruguay at Anfield.
The Manchester United defender last featured for his country against Denmark in August before being laid low for the next five matches through a groin injury.
Neville was hoping for a more positive reception than when he played for Manchester United against Liverpool on the same ground in the recent FA Cup clash.
Michael Carrick was looking for the chance to press his claims for a World Cup spot with his recall in midfield in place of the injured Frank Lampard.
The Tottenham player had impressed during the trip to the United States at the end of last season but has not featured since for Sven-Goran Eriksson.
There was also a debut for Charlton striker Darren Bent who partnered Wayne Rooney up front.
Before the game there was a minute's silence for the late former England manager Ron Greenwood plus ex-England and Chelsea striker Peter Osgood who died earlier in the day.

Everton denied Rooney cash fillip

EVERTON have missed out on a cash windfall - despite Wayne Rooney winning his first trophy as a Manchester United player.
The deal that took the striker from Goodison to Old Trafford in August 2004 contained a number of clauses that could lift the final value of the transfer to £27million.
Everton will receive additional payments for a variety of circumstances, such as Rooney playing 20 competitive England games while at United or signing a contract extension.
However, although the Goodison outfit will also be handed extra bonuses should Rooney win the FA Cup, the Premiership or the European Cup during his Old Trafford stay, they did not negotiate a payment in the event of United winning the League Cup.

As a consequence, Everton will receive no extra income after Rooney scored twice in Sunday's 4-0 final win over Wigan Athletic in Cardiff.