Manchester United took a huge step towards retaining their Premier League title on Saturday, beating West Ham United 4-1 despite playing more than half the match with lOmen.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice at Old Trafford and Carlos Tevez and Michael Carrick netted against their old club as Manchester United moved to 84 points with one match to play, if the leaders win at Wigan Athletic on May 11 they will be champions of England for the 17th time.

Second-placed Chelsea, who visit Newcastle United on Monday, have 81 points but a vastly inferior goal difference.

At the other end of the table Bolton Wanderers virtually guaranteed their safety while Fulham continued their revival to earn a

fighting chance of avoiding the drop.

Bolton beat Sunderland 2-0 at the Reebok Stadium, El Hadji Dioufs effort and an own goal by Daryl Murphy giving them 36 points ahead of their game at Chelsea next week.

Wanderers remain 16th, three points clear of Fulham after Roy Hodgson's men overcame relegation rivals Birmingham City 2-0 at Craven Cottage to rise from 19th to 17th.

Goals from Brian McBride and Erik Nevland helped Fulham climb above Birmingham and Reading, who dropped into the relegation zone after losing 1-0 at home to Tottenham Hotspur in their sixth successive match without a goal.

Robbie Keane scaled Spurs's win with his 23rd goal of the season after 16 minutes.

Reading have 33 points, one ahead of Birmingham. Reading's final match is at Derby next week while Birmingham are at home to

Blackbum Rovers.

"That was an important game today and I'm very pleased because there was a bit of tiredness in the second half," Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports News.

"The plan in the second half was to kill the game off and get the fourth goal and we did that It's been a great day for us, we have a big chance (of the title)."

If Chelsea are beaten on Monday, the title will be United's unless Ferguson's team lose at Wigan and Chelsea beat Bolton with a winning margin well into double figures.

Aston Villa's hopes of pipping Everton for fifth place and an automatic spot in next season's UEFA Cup were hit by a 2-0 defeat by Wigan, Antonio Valencia scoring twice.

Blackbum beat relegated Derby County 3-1 to extend the bottom team's run without a league victory to 31 matches.