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Ferguson's men close the gap as leaders Chelsea are stunned by minnows Birmingham

Ferguson's men close the gap as leaders Chelsea are stunned by minnows Birmingham

Manchester United piled the pressure on Chelsea with a 2-0 win over nine-man Wigan, while the Premier League leaders crashed to a 1-0 defeat at Birmingham on Saturday.

Alex Ferguson's second-placed side are now level on points with Chelsea and only goal difference is keeping United behind the champions, who suffered their third defeat in four matches.

At St Andrew's, Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea, without injured England stars John Terry and Frank Lampard, fell behind in the 17th minute when Lee Bowyer produced a fine finish from Cameron Jerome's header to notch his first goal in nearly a year.

Patrice Evra of Manchester United heads the ball past Wigan's goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi to score the opening goal at Old Trafford on Saturday. PIC/Getty Images

The Blues laid seige to Birmingham's goal after that but couldn't find a way past England goalkeeper Ben Foster as their poor run continued.

u00a0Ancelotti said: "We played good football with good spirit and good attitude and made a lot of chances, but it is not enough as sometimes you need to be lucky. This is football."

At Old Trafford, United took the lead on the stroke of half-time when French left-back Patrice Evra headed in Park Ji-Sung's cross for his first Premier League goal in four years.

Mexico striker Javier Hernandez ensured United pushed home their numerical advantage when he headed home Rafael's cross in the 77th minute, while Wayne Rooney came on to make his long-awaited return from an ankle injury after his contract row.