LONDON – American midfielder Clint Dempsey had two goals for Fulham in its 2-0 win against Stoke in the English Premier League and U.S. teammate Jonathan Spector scored for West Ham on Saturday.
Dempsey increased his tally for the season to nine goals, including eight in the league, by opening the scoring in the 33rd minute with a close-range finish and adding a second from the penalty spot in the 56th.
The penalty was awarded after Dempsey was fouled by Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross, who was shown a red card for denying the U.S. player a goal-scoring opportunity.
The win lifted Fulham four points ahead of the relegation zone. Spector's West Ham team remained at the bottom of the standings despite its 2-2 draw at Everton.
Spector scored his first goal in England's top division to give West Ham the lead but Everton equalized twice — the second coming through Marouane Fellaini in second-half stoppage time — to rescue a point.
Spector, who is playing out of position in midfield for West Ham, has scored twice in the League Cup and once in the FA Cup.
Former Bulgaria striker Dimitar Berbatov got his third hat trick of the season to guide unbeaten leader Manchester United to a 5-0 thrashing of Birmingham.
Berbatov, the league's leading scorer with 17 goals, became the first player to get three Premier League hat tricks in a season since Ruud van Nistelrooy did it for United in 2002-03.
Wingers Ryan Giggs and Nani were the other scorers for United, which hasn't lost in 22 league games this season.
United is two points above Arsenal, which routed Wigan 3-0 thanks to a hat trick by Netherlands striker Robin van Persie.
Arsenal is a point above Manchester City, which lost 1-0 to Aston Villa thanks to new signing Darren Bent's first-half winner.
City's fifth defeat of the season left the team three points behind United, which has two games in hand over its crosstown rival. Fourth-place Chelsea visits Bolton on Monday.
Kenny Dalglish claimed his first victory since returning as manager of Liverpool as the Reds earned a 3-0 win at Wolverhampton thanks to two goals from Fernando Torres and a sublime volley by midfielder Raul Meireles. The Wolves are tied with West Ham at 21 points.
England winger Aaron Lennon scored a last-minute equalizer for fifth-place Tottenham in a 1-1 draw at Newcastle and Sunderland beat Blackpool 2-1 to move a point behind the Spurs.
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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Lionel Messi scored his 33rd goal of the season, converting a first-half penalty kick as Barcelona beat Racing Santander 3-0 for its 14th straight Spanish league win, one shy of the record set by Real Madrid in 1960-61.
Pedro Rodriguez chested home a Messi lob pass in the second minute, Messi made it 2-0 in the 33rd with his 19th league goal and Andres Iniesta scored on a deflected shot in the 56th. After scoring, Messi lifted his jersey to reveal an undershirt with a handwritten message wishing his mother a happy birthday.
Barcelona matched its club record for consecutive league wins, set in 2005-06, and opened a seven-point lead over second-place Real Madrid, which hosts Mallorca on Sunday.
In other games, Luis Fabiano had a hat trick to lead Sevilla to a 4-1 win over Levante and Valencia defeated Mallaga 4-3.
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MILAN (AP) — Francesco Totti converted a penalty kick in the 22nd minute, and Simone Perrota added a goal in the 70th and Jeremy Menez scored in injury time to lead Roma over visiting Cagliari 3-0 in the Serie A.
Roma moved into second place, one point ahead of Napoli and three behind AC Milan, who both play Sunday.
Palermo beat Brescia 1-0 on Cesare Bovo's 86th-minute goal, and Parma defeated Catania on goals by Antonio Candreva and Sebastien Giovinco in Diego Simeone's first match as coach of the Sicilian club.
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BERLIN (AP) — Lukas Podolski scored twice to lift Cologne to a 3-0 win over visiting Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga.
Cologne was fourth from the bottom of the standings with one more point than St. Pauli, which occupies the relegation playoff place going into its game at Hoffenheim on Sunday.
Earlier, Mario Gomez had three goals in Bayern Munich's 5-1 win at home over Kaiserslautern. The Germany striker leads the league with 15 goals.
Netherlands winger Arjen Robben — making his first appearance at home in eight months after recovering from injury — opened the scoring at the end of the first half with his first of the season, with Thomas Mueller getting the other.
Munich climbed to third, 14 points behind leader Borussia Dortmund, which was held to a 1-1 draw by visiting Stuttgart.
Former Real Madrid striker Raul Gonzalez scored the only goal for Schalke in the 1-0 win at second-place Hannover, where he met a Lukas Schmitz cross in the penalty box in the first half.
Freiburg drew 1-1 with visiting Nuremberg in the other match.
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PARIS (AP) — Fifth-division side Chambery beat Brest 4-3 in a penalty shootout in the second round of the French Cup.
Brest looked set for victory when midfielder Bruno Grougi scored early in the second half of extra time, but with three minutes to go striker Malick Faye equalized for Chambery with his sixth goal of the cup campaign.
Bordeaux joined the list of first-division teams eliminated, losing 1-0 away to second-division strugglers Angers.
Second-division Boulogne-sur-Mer lost 1-0 at home to fourth-division Drancy in another upset.
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