Manchester United Still On Top Premiere League

Mark Viduka scored in stoppage time to give Middlesbrough a 2-1 victory over defending English champion Chelsea, as Manchester United defeated Charlton 3-0 to top the Premiership standings.

Andrei Shevchenko's first league goal for Chelsea had given the Blues a first-half lead at the Riverside stadium. Emanuel Pogatetz tied the score with 10 minutes remaining before Australian striker Viduka claimed the winning goal. United has six points from two games compared with Chelsea's three.

Chelsea, bankrolled by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, is eyeing a third straight Premiership title after adding the likes of Shevchenko, Michael Ballack and Salomon Kalou to its all-star squad. Middlesbrough is being coached by Gareth Southgate after Steve McClaren left to become England manager.

In other matches, Martin O'Neill got his first win as Aston Villa coach in a 2-1 victory over newly-promoted Reading, Blackburn drew 1-1 with Everton, Fulham tied Bolton 1-1, while Manchester City and Portsmouth played out a goalless draw.

Shevchenko, a 30 million pounds ($56.8 million) signing from AC Milan, converted a 16th minute cross from England international Wayne Bridge to give Chelsea the lead. Pogatetz scored a close- range header and Viduka came off the bench to make it 2-1.

United, which defeated Fulham 5-1 in the season's opening weekend, went into the game without Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes, who were suspended after dismissals in a pre-season exhibition match.

Park Ji Sung missed a chance inside the penalty area before Ryan Giggs rattled a post with a free kick. Charlton goalkeeper Scott Carson tipped a curling Giggs effort around the post and Cristiano Ronaldo struck the crossbar just before half-time.

Three minutes after the break, Darren Fletcher gave United the lead with a right-foot shot past Carson. Louis Saha scored from 20 yards to double the lead before substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer rounded off the win.

In Birmingham, Reading took the lead through a Kevin Doyle header after three minutes. Juan Pablo Angel leveled the score from the penalty spot after Luke Moore had been brought down by Ibrahima Sonko, who was dismissed for the foul. Gareth Barry scored the winner in the 61st minute.

At Ewood Park, Tim Cahill tied the scores in the 84th minute after Benni McCarthy had given Blackburn the lead on his home debut. El-Hadji Diouf put Bolton ahead at Fulham before Jimmy Bullard leveled from the penalty spot in stoppage time.

Owen Hargreaves Wants To Manchester United Quickly

Calgary-raised midfielder Owen Hargreaves is continuing to press for a transfer from Bayern Munich to Manchester United.

But so far the German champion is resisting his attempts and has threatened to report United to FIFA if the English side doesn't back off. Hargreaves, 25, is under contract to Bayern through 2010. The Bild newspaper has reported that Hargreaves has been fined by Bayern general manager Uli Hoeness.

Hargreaves had been expected to talk to the media Wednesday but had little to say when he left Bayern's training facility.

"For the time being, I will not comment on this issue any more," said Hargreaves, according to sportinglife.com.

"I am still not 100 per cent and I am going home to get some rest."

Hargreaves was omitted from the Bayern squad for Sunday's 2-1 Bundesliga win over Bochum with the club saying the midfielder was suffering from flu. He also was missing from Bayern's 4-0 friendly loss to Barcelona on Tuesday.

AC Milan FC Wants Ronaldo

Real Madrid's president will meet AC Milan representatives Wednesday to discuss their interest in signing Ronaldo.

Ramon Calderon said Tuesday he didn't plan to sell the Brazilian striker even though Milan already has approached Ronaldo, who's recovering from a knee injury.

"We have to listen to the player's opinion and that of our training staff," Calderon told Cadena SER radio station Tuesday.

Calderon hinted he would welcome an exchange for Milan forward Kaka, a player he promised fans while campaigning for his position in July.

"Swapping Ronaldo for Kaka wouldn't be bad," Calderon said.

Madrid's new coach Fabio Capello said the interest in Ronaldo showed "he was still an interesting player."

The addition of Ruud van Nistelrooy to Madrid's roster could affect the playing time of Ronaldo, who spent five years in Milan with rival Inter before joining Madrid in 2002. Ronaldo has two years left on his contract.