Liverpool wins 3-0 at West Ham to keep pressure on Premier League leader Manchester United

Liverpool wins 3-0 to keep pressure on Man United

LONDON — Liverpool kept some pressure on Manchester United in the race for the Premier League title with a 3-0 win at West Ham on Saturday.

Steven Gerrard scored twice before a late goal by substitute Ryan Babel helped take Liverpool to 80 points, the same as the defending champions.

United, though, has played two fewer games than the Reds and faces visiting Manchester City on Sunday. Seven points from its last four matches would seal United’s third straight championship and extend Liverpool’s wait for the title to 20 years.

“We’ve got to do our job, which is to win our remaining games,” Gerrard said. “If they win their remaining games, fair play to them they deserve to win it.

“But we’ve got to keep the pressure on.”

Everton drew 0-0 with visiting Tottenham for goalkeeper Tim Howard to set a club record with a 16th Premier League shutout in a season.

“He is a fantastic ‘keeper,” Everton assistant manager Steve Round said, “but it has as much to do with the quality of our defense that we have kept so many clean sheets.”

Also Saturday, it was: Blackburn 2, Portsmouth 0; Bolton 0, Sunderland 0; Fulham 3, Aston Villa 1; Hull 1, Stole 2; West Bromwich Albion 3, Wigan 1.

MADRID (AP) — Valencia thumped defending champion Real Madrid 3-0 to give Barcelona the chance to win the Spanish league on Sunday.

Madrid’s defeat at Mestalla Stadium kept it seven points behind the leader, allowing Barcelona to be proclaimed champion for the 19th time if it beats Villarreal at Camp Nou.

In other games, third-place Sevilla topped Mallorca 3-1, while Athletic Bilbao edged lowly Real Betis 1-0.

Barcelona has 85 points, while Madrid stays with 78. Barcelona has four games remaining, Madrid has three. Sevilla follows with 63 and is well-positioned to be Spain’s third team to qualify for the Champions League group stages. Valencia is next with 59.

FRANKFURT (AP) — Mario Gomez scored all four goals for Stuttgart in a 4-1 win over Bundesliga leader Wolfsburg and defending champion Bayern Munich pulled even on points by winning 3-1 at Energie Cottbus.

Gomez scored 30 seconds into the game to set the tone and Wolfsburg never recovered in the first game since coach Felix Magath announced that he would be leaving for Schalke at the end of the season.

Wolfsburg and Bayern both now have 60 points, but Wolfsburg is ahead by two goals on goal difference.

With three games remaining, Hertha Berlin is only one point behind after beating Bochum 2-0 at home. Stuttgart, the 2007 champion, is fourth at 58.

Borussia Dortmund won its seventh straight by routing bottom-place Karlsruhe 4-0 and is fifth at 55. Hamburger SV, which also has 55, can move up if its wins Sunday at Werder Bremen.

MILAN (AP) — Sampdoria recorded a morale-boosting 5-0 win over Reggina ahead of its Italian Cup final against Lazio on Wednesday.

Lazio, meanwhile, lost 3-1 at home to Udinese and finished with 10 men after midfielder Cristian Brocchi was sent off with three minutes left.

The result puts Reggina on the brink of relegation. The southern club is in last place, four points from safety with only three matches remaining, and having played one match more than its rivals.

PARIS (AP) — Brazilian striker Eduardo scored twice to help second-division Guingamp rally past Rennes 2-1 in the French Cup final for its first title in club history.

Guingamp became the first second-division club since Le Havre in 1959 to win the cup trophy.

Eduardo scored the winning goal in the 82nd minute.

Guingamp is in 13th place in the second division, while Rennes is seventh in the French top-tier league and still chasing a European spot.

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Rangers went to top of the Scottish Premier League standings with three games remaining after a 1-0 win over defending champion and city rival Celtic.

Midfielder Steve Davis scored in the 37th minute at Ibrox to move Rangers to 79 points, two more than Celtic, which is aiming for a fourth straight title.

Rangers is at Hibernian on Wednesday before hosting Aberdeen next weekend and finishing the league season at Dundee United on May 24.

It also plays Falkirk in the Scottish Cup final the following weekend.