Rooney goal secures victory for United

(CNN) -- Champions Manchester United took closer order in the English title race with a comfortable 2-0 win over Blackburn, secured by a clinical finish by Wayne Rooney in the second half at Ewood Park.

Wes Brown put United ahead just after the half hour mark with Rooney, a big injury doubt before Saturday night's match, sealing the three points.

Earlier, United's big rivals Arsenal needed a last-minute equalizer from Cesc Fabregas to salvage a point at Sunderland in a 1-1 draw.

Leaders Chelsea are at home to Aston Villa and second-placed Liverpool visit Manchester City on Sunday.

The pair are both on 14 points with Arsenal a point adrift having played a game more. United are sixth on 11 points from six games after their fourth straight win in all competitions.

Brown scored the third goal of his league career in controversial circumstances as he converted from a Rooney cross from the left, but Rovers goalkeeper Jason Brown appeared to be impeded by United's Nemanja Vidic.

Watching England manager Fabio Capello would have been impressed by Rooney's contribution as he proved his fitness ahead of World Cup qualifiers next week.

Rooney injured his ankle in the Champions League match against Aalborg in midweek and was expected to sit the match out.

United's close season signing Dimitar Berbatov also impressed and set up a number of chances with clever passes.

Cristiano Ronaldo missed a second half opportunity after being played in by the Bulgarian, but made amends as he charged down the flank to cut back for Rooney to score in the 64th minute.

"We had a difficult start to the season, four hard away games are out of the way and we're still in a decent position, so we've got to take confidence from those games," Rooney told the Press Association.

"We had a job to do and played really well and deserved the win. We moved the ball well at times, were confident, and getting the goal in the first half made us pass a lot more freely, and we knew we would get chances in second half."

Arsenal missed the chance to go top by winning at the Stadium of Light and fell behind when Grant Leadbitter scored an 86th-minute goal for Sunderland, two minutes after replacing veteran Dwight Yorke.

Arsenal lost 2-1 at home to Hull last weekend and seemed set for a second defeat to lesser opposition.

But Fabregas salvaged a draw with an impressive header. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger thought they should have taken the lead earlier when Theo Walcott cut the ball back for Robin van Persie to score, but the match officials ruled the ball had gone out of play.

"It is frustrating because Sunderland never came out, they were happy with a 0-0 from the first moment," Wenger told Sky Sports television.

In other matches in a depleted Saturday fixture list, Middlesbrough won 1-0 at Wigan and West Bromwich beat visitors Fulham by the same scoreline.