LONDON (AP):

Wayne Rooney scored a hat-trick as Manchester United beat bottom-place Portsmouth 4-1 yesterday to stay in touch with Chelsea in the Premier League title race.

By winning a second straight match for the first time in two months, defending champions United went two points behind leader Chelsea, which is at Arsenal today.

Manchester City slumped to a seventh successive draw after Hull held the big-spending club 1-1, while West Ham defeated Burnley 5-3 and Bolton remained in the relegation zone after drawing 1-1 at Fulham.

Avram Grant took charge of Portsmouth for the first time after being appointed manager following Paul Hart's dismissal. But Grant - whose first and last matches as Chelsea manager were losses to United - once again had the misfortune to face the 18-time English champions after 18 months away from management.

Grant's team got off to the worst possible start when Rooney tumbled in the penalty area following a clumsy challenge by Michael Brown. But after Rooney converted from the penalty kick in the 25th minute, Kevin-Prince Boateng levelled from the spot at the other end after Nemanja Vidic fouled Frederic Piquionne.

Rooney restored United's lead three minutes into the second half when he latched onto Ryan Giggs' pass. The England forward grabbed a third minutes later, when Piquionne was penalised for fouling Giggs and he slotted in the penalty kick.

And Giggs found time to score his 100th Premier League club on the eve of his 36th birthday to leave Pompey rooted to the bottom of the standings.

At Manchester City, not even the return of Brazil forward Robinho after three months on the sidelines could return Mark Hughes' side to winning ways.

Shaun Wright-Phillips had put big-spending City ahead on the stroke of half time with a 25-meter (yard) strike, but Jimmy Bullard levelled in the closing minutes from the penalty spot after Joleon Lescott was adjudged to have handled.

"Of course it is a disappointing run we're on, because we're failing to see out victories when we have the lead," Hughes said. "We're trying to get something started here but at times we look exactly what we are, a side that has been thrown together very quickly."

After being humiliated 9-1 by Spurs last weekend, Wigan rebounded at home to Sunderland courtesy of Hugo Rodallega's sixth goal of the season.

Sunderland striker Darren Bent, who is black, later said his mother was on the receiving end of racist comments.

"So we get beat by Wigan and to make matters worse my mum gets racially abused by a Sunderland fan," Bent wrote on Twitter. "I won't stand for that."

At Upton Park, West Ham boosted their relegation battle by winning for only the third time this season.