Manchester United in first division lead

Press, 19 March 1984, Page 21

Manchester United in first division lead

NZPA-Reuter London Manchester United fully exploited Liverpool’s weakening hold on the English soccer league title when it beat Arsenal, 4-0, on Saturday to displace the champion at the top of the first division. Two first-half goals by the Dutch midfielder, Arnold Muhren — the first goals in this fixture in four years — put United on course for a return to the top for the first time in four months.

United’s Irish international striker, Frank Stapleton, got the third goal after 63 minutes with England’s captain, Bryan Robson, netting the fourth a minute from time as Arsenal, which had the central defender, Tommy Caton, sent off just before halftime, crashed to its first defeat in five matches. The win hauled United to the top of the league for the first time since November 5. It heads Liverpool, which lost 0-2, at Southampton on Friday night by a point with 10 matches remaining.

United has 64 points from 32 matches while Liverpool has 63 from the same number. Nottingham Forest remains* third on 56 points, eight behind United, after losing, 0-1, at Aston Villa.

With West Ham and Queen’s Park Rangers, fifth and sixth respectively, also losing, United and Liverpool

now look set to battle out the championship between themselves. West Ham was beaten 4-1, by lowly Leicester while Rangers went down 0-1, to a Wilf Rostron goal for the F.A. Cup semi-final-ist, Watford. United, which bids to recover from a 2-0 deficit ir its European Cup Winners Cup quarter-final tie with Spain’s Barcelona on Wednesday, threatened to run riot against Arsenal. Muhren, Stapleton, and Robson all went close in the opening minutes before Caton fouled Robson inside the penalty area and the Dutchman converted from the spot with ease. Six minutes from half-time a deflection helped Muhren score his second goal past Arsenal’s Northern Ireland goalkeeper, Pat Jennings. Then Caton, who had been booked earlier for a foul, fouled Whiteside and was dismissed in the forty-third minute.

Stapleton struck against his former club to ensure that United took full advantage of Liverpool’s defeat on Friday night and Robson added his name to the scoresheet in the eightyninth minute to complete the formality.

Forest, which travels to Sturm Graz of Austria in the U.E.F.A. Cup on Wednesday hoping to defend a 1-0 first-leg lead, continued a recent habit of losing to late goals. This

time is was Villa’s Steve McMahon who grabbed the winner eight minutes from time.

Everton, which will take on Liverpool in the League Cup final at Wembley on Sunday, will take heart from its 1-0 win over struggling Ipswich. A fourth-minute goal by Derek Mountfield was enough to put Everton back on the winning trail after it suffered its first defeat of 1984 at Forest in mid-week.

Rangers tumbled out of the Scottish F.A. Cup when they were beaten, 3-2, by Dundee in a quarter-final replay, but their Glasgow rival, Celtic, clinched a place in the last four with an emphatic 6-0 win over Motherwell.

Dundee shook Rangers when Jim Smith opened the scoring after 22 minutes. laian Ferguson added a second goal in the sixty-fourth minute but Rangers battled back to equalise through John McClelland and Dave McPherson with 10 minutes to go before Ferguson snatched a shock winner to send Dundee into the semi-finals. ENGLISH LEAGUE Division one. — Aston Villa 1, Nottingham Forest 0; Everton 1, Ipswich 0; Leicester 4, West Ham 1; Manchester ' United 4, Arsenal 0; Norwich 0, Luton 0; Notts County 2, Coventry 1; Southampton 2, Liverpool 0; Stoke 2, Birmingham 1; Tottenham 0, West Bromwich 1; Watford 1, Queens Park Rangers 0; Wolverhampton 0, Sunderland 0. Division two. — Barnsley 0, Portsmouth 3; Cambridge 1, Sheffield Wednesday 2; Cardiff 2, Shrewsbury 0; Carlisle 3, Charlton 0; Crystal Palace 0, Huddersfield 0; Derby 0, Brighton 3; Fulham 5, Manchester

City 1; Leeds 2, Grimsby 1; Newcastle 3, Middlesbrough 1; Oldham 3, Swansea 3; Chelsea 2, Blackburn 1. Division three. — Bolton 1, Exeter 0; Brentford 1, Oxford 2; Bristol Rovers 1, Wimbledon 1; Burnley 1, Millwall 0; Lincoln 0, Wigan 1; Orient 2, Newport 2; Plymouth 1, Bournemouth- 0; Preston 2, Gillingham 2; Scunthorpe 2, Bradford 1; Sheffield United 2, Hull 2; Walsall 2, Rother-' ham 2.

Division four. — Chester 2, Darlington 1; Colchester 1, York 3; Doncaster 1, Peterborough 1; Halifax 1, Bristol City 2; Hartlepool 2, Torquay 1; Hereford 3, Wrexham 0; Mansfield 1, Bury 1; Reading 3, Northampton 0; Rochdale 1, Blackpool 0; Tranmere 3, Aidershot 0; Stockport 2, Chesterfield 0. SCOTTISH F.A. CUP Quarter-finals. — Aberdeen 0, Dundee United 0. Motherwell 0, Celtic 6. Replay: Rangers 2, Dundee 3. "SCOTTISH LEAGUE

Premier division. — St Mirren 1, Hearts 1 (postponed from January 21); Aberdeen v. Hearts, Dundee v. Motherwell, Hibernian v. St Johnstone, Rangers v. Dundee United, St Mirren v. Celtic, all postponed. Division one. — Airdrieonians 3, Kilmarnock 0; Ayr 3, Alloa 1; Clyde 3, Morton 2; Dumbarton 3, Meadowbank 0; Falkirk 0, Brechin 0; Hamilton 0, Clydebank 1; Raith 2, Partick 1.

Division two. — Berwick 2, Arbroath 0; Cowdenbeath 1, East Fife 5; Forfar 1, Albion 0; Montrose 0, East Stirling 1; Queen of the South 2, Queens Park 0; Stirling 1, Dumfermline 2; Stranraer 2, Stenhousemuir 0.