London - Champions Manchester United closed the gap on leaders Liverpool at the top of the English Premier League after they beat Middlesbrough 1-0 on Monday night.

Dimitar Berbatov broke the deadlock after 67 minutes to seal victory and lift third-placed United to within seven points of the top, with two games still in hand over the leaders.

United have now won three of their past four league games by the same 1-0 scoreline. United play second-placed Chelsea in their next league match.

Cristiano Ronaldo missed a couple of good chances to open the scoring in the first half while Nemanja Vidic headed wide and Wayne Rooney forced a good save out of Ross Turnbull.

As the match wore on, Middlesbrough came into the match and Tuncay almost snatched the lead for Gareth Southgate's side but his header from Matthew Bates's cross flashed just past the post.

In the end, United's pressure told and after Middlesbrough failed to deal with a Michael Carrick cross, the ball fell to Berbatov, who poked the ball into the net.

United then poured forward in search of a second but Middlesbrough held out and Tuncay hit the post with an overhead kick in injury time, though it would not have stood because he was offside. (dpa)