Ryan Giggs

London: Manchester United and Chelsea kept up the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal on Saturday with home wins over Derby County and Sunderland respectively.

United beat bottom-placed Derby County 4-1 at Old Trafford where Ryan Giggs scored a landmark 100th league goal, to move on to 36 points from 16 matches.

Chelsea beat Sunderland 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to climb on to 34 points from 16 matches. Arsenal, who play at Middlesbrough on Sunday, lead the table with 37 points from 15 games.

United were expected to coast to victory over a Derby side nailed to the bottom of the table with just one win from their opening 15 games and no goals away from home.

But although United dominated, they had to wait until the 40th minute to take the lead.

Derby keeper Stephen Bywater could only parry a Cristiano Ronaldo shot which fell to Giggs who tapped in his landmark goal.

Carlos Tevez scored two to put United 3-0 ahead before Steve Howard bagged Derby's first away goal of the season after 76 minutes.

Ronaldo completed the scoring with a last minute penalty for the home side.

Chelsea were also made to work harder against a struggling Sunderland.

Andriy Shevchenko, getting a rare start in the absence of injured Didier Drogba, headed Chelsea ahead after 23 minutes.

Everton maintained their recent good run with a 3-0 home win over Fulham at Goodison Park where Yakubu Aiyegbeni scored a second half hattrick to leave Fulham without an away win this season. (Reuters)