( CNN ) Manchester United and skipper Wayne Rooney significantly boosted its own chances and delivered a probable knockout blow to Tottenham Hotspur 's hopes of Champions League qualification with 3-0 home win Sunday . First half goals from Marouane Fellaini , Michael Carrick and Rooney effectively ended the EPL match as a contest , with the win leaving United in fourth spot , but only two points adrift of second-placed Manchester City . Tottenham is seventh , six points adrift of the top four . Rooney 's third after another piece of disastrous defending from the visitors led to an impromptu and topical goal celebration , which was certainly the main talking point . A national newspaper had posted a video on on social media Sunday which appeared to show Rooney being felled by fellow EPL footballer and former United teammate Phil Bardsley as both donned boxing gloves for a `` friendly '' fight in his kitchen . After he had converted following a mistake by Nabil Bentaleb , Rooney threw a few mock punches then keeled over backwards on to the Old Trafford turf . Tottenham 's players and fans were probably the only people not to see the funny side , but the joke was on them , having gone into the match seeking a third straight away win at United and five games unbeaten against the Red Devils . From United first significant attack on nine minutes , an unmarked Fellaini was found by Carrick and the Belgian international beat Hugo Lloris with a low shot . Fellaini caused chaos in the Tottenham defense for the second with Carrick left free to head home from distance . Rooney 's emphatic strike after Bentaleb gifted him possession , proved the icing on the cake . The victory eases the pressure on manager Louis Van Gaal and his expensively assembled side after some lackluster recent performances and last Monday 's disappointing FA Cup exit to Arsenal . It meant Tottenham , off the back of two straight wins and with Harry Kane in top form , was favored going into the crucial match , but the young striker barely had a glimpse of goal , until having his side 's first shot on target after fully 88 minutes as United dominated . Earlier , Chelsea extended its lead at the top of the EPL to six points but was held 1-1 at home to Southampton in another less than convincing performance from Jose Mourinho 's team . Off the back of a disappointing Champions League exit to Paris Saint Germain , Chelsea again struggled to find its best form at Stamford Bridge despite going in front from Diego Costa 's 18th league goal . Dusan Tasic equalized from the spot for the Saints after Nemanja Matic was adjudged to have fouled Sadio Mane , with Chelsea protests waved away . Chelsea found Fraser Forster hard to beat and the visiting goalkeeper made fine saves from Oscar , Eden Hazard and Juan Cuadrado to deny the leaders three points . However , it has a commanding lead plus a game in hand over chasing Manchester City , which lost 1-0 to Burnley Saturday , in a severe blow to hopes of retaining the title . In Sunday 's other EPL clash , Everton eased its relegation fears with a 3-0 win over Newcastle , who had Fabricio Coloccini sent off for a foul on Aaron Lennon , who is on loan at Goodison from Tottenham . In La Liga , Gareth Bale snapped a recent lean spell of scoring form with both goals as Real Madrid beat Levante 2-0 in the Bernabeu . The record signing struck first in the 17th minute when Cristiano Ronaldo 's acrobatic effort was cleared off the line and the Welshman scored the rebound . The same combination was at work for the second in the 40th minute with Ronaldo 's strike helped into the visiting net by Bale . Ronaldo might have added to the tally and missed several opportunities but Real was never threatened by Levante and eased to the three points . It leaves them a point adrift of Barcelona ahead of next weekend 's El Clasico , which could go a long way to determining the title race .
Manchester United thrashes Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 . The win was United's first in the Premier League since October and their third straight away from home this season. Chelsea held 1-1 at home but extends EPL lead at top to six points . Gareth Bale scores twice as Real Madrid keeps pace in La Liga .