New year, new Rooney as United march on - CNN International

(CNN) -- Wayne Rooney scored his first goal in open play since March last year to help Manchester United to a 2-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns on Saturday.

The striker scored after just three minutes heading home from a Patrice Evra cross to end his marathon goal drought.

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But United's lead didn't last long as James Morrison fired a spectacular 25-yard equalizer, volleying past Kuszczak into the top left corner after 14 minutes.

And West Brom should have taken the lead in the 62nd minute when referee Chris Foy awarded them a penalty when Rio Ferdinand brought down Jerome Thomas in the penalty area.

But Peter Odemwingie could only drag his spot kick wide of the Kuszczak's right post.

It was a miss that the Baggies were quickly made to pay for as Javier Hernandez (who came on for Dimitar Berbatov after 60 minutes) headed home unopposed from a Wayne Rooney corner with quarter of an hour remaining.

Manchester City kept up the pressure on United with a 1-0 win over Blackpool at Eastlands.

Adam Johnson's deflected shot found the net after 34 minutes.

City were the dominant side throughout but Carlos Tevez squandered a series of chances to put the game to bed, including a missed penalty in the first half.

The win puts City level on points with United on 41 points, but United have two games in hand over Roberto Mancini's men.

Gareth Bale scored his 11th goal of the season as Tottenham Hotspur proved too strong for London rivals Fulham at White Hart Lane.

Bale's header from a Rafael van der Vaart free-kick three minutes before half time proved decisive.

The 1-0 win lifts Spurs above Chelsea to fourth in the table with 36 points, but the Blues can regain fourth if they beat Aston Villa on Sunday.

Joe Cole's late winner at Anfield gave Roy Hodgson some temporary respite from his troubled tenure at Liverpool as the Reds overcame Bolton Wanderers 2-1.

Kevin Davies headed Bolton into a 1-0 lead just before half-time, but back came Liverpool as Fernando Torres netted after receiving an exquisite through ball from Steven Gerrard in the 49th minute.

Liverpool then proceeded to dominate the second half but had to wait until the second minute of injury time before Joe Cole -- who replaced David Ngog in the 82nd minute -- tapped in to score -- from what looked like an offside position -- his first Premier League goal since joining from Chelsea in the summer.

Liverpool move up to ninth place with 25 points while Bolton slip to seventh.

West Ham hauled themselves off the bottom of the table with a 2-0 win over Wolves at Upton Park.

Wolves defender Ronald Zubar bundled the ball into his own net in the 51st minute to hand the Hammers the lead, and striker Freddie Sears made sure of the three points for Avram Grant's men 11 minutes from time with a low drive past Hennessey in the Wolves goal.

The victory lifts West Ham to 15th in the table with 20 points.

Everton's poor season continues as they lost 2-0 away to Stoke City.

Kenwyne Jones put Stoke ahead midway through the first half when he headed a Matthew Etherington cross past Tim Howard.

Stoke's double their advantage in the 69th minute when Phil Jagielka contrived to score an own goal.

Everton remain just three points above the relegation zone on 22 points, while Stoke move up to eighth with 27 points from 20 games.

Sunderland moved up to sixth place after a convincing 3-0 win over Blackburn Rovers.

Two first half goals from Danny Welbeck (11 minutes) and Darren Bent eight minutes later confirmed the home side's dominance in the first half.

Asamoah Gyan made sure with a third goal a minute from the end of the game to give Steve Bruce's men their sixth home win of the season.