LONDON (AP) ― Manchester United opened a 15-point lead in the English Premier League with nine games remaining, beating Reading 1-0 Saturday on a Wayne Rooney goal as second-place Manchester City lost 2-0 at Everton.

Rooney scored in the 21st minute on a shot that deflected off Alex Pearce, Rooney’s 12th league goal of the season and 16th overall. United (24-3-2) needs 13 points to clinch a record 20th English league title.

“We knew the three points was the most important thing today ― especially after City dropped three points,” Rooney said.

Sixth-place Everton defeated Manchester City (17-4-8) on Leon Osman’s bending, long-range goal in the 32nd minute and Nikica Jelavic’s goal in stoppage time.

The Toffees finished a man short after Steven Pienaar was ejected in the 61st for his second yellow card.

Everton goalkeeper Jan Mucha, starting because American Tim Howard is injured, made a succession of saves on Carlos Tevez, James Milner and Pablo Zabaleta.

Aston Villa climbed six points above the relegation zone with a 3-2 win over visiting Queens Park Rangers, getting a tie-breaking goal from Christian Benteke in the 81st.

Villa (7-14-9) is 17th, while Wigan (6-16-6) is 18th, one point ahead of Reading (5-17-8) and QPR (4-15-11).

Arsenal (14-7-8) pulled within two points of fourth-place Chelsea by winning 2-0 at Swansea on goals by Nacho Monreal and Gervinho. Southampton defeated visiting Liverpool 3-1.

Spain

Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Gonzalo Higuain scored during a seven-minute span in the second half as Real Madrid rallied to beat visiting Mallorca 5-2 in the Spanish league.

Higuain scored twice and Karim Benzema added a late goal for second-place Real Madrid (19-5-4), which closed within 10 points of Barcelona (23-2-2).

Ronaldo’s goal was his 27th in the league this season and 43rd overall.

Italy

Juventus extended its lead to 12 points, staying on track for a 29th Serie A title with a 2-0 win at Bologna.

Claudio Marchisio set up Mirko Vucinic’s goal in the 64th minute, and Vucinic fed Marchisio in the 74th for a goal that beat an offside trap.

Juventus (20-4-5) has 65 points.

Second-place Napoli (15-5-8) hosts Atalanta on Sunday while third-place AC Milan (15-7-6) is home against Palermo.

Germany

Bastian Schweinsteiger’s free-kick deflected off the back of Philipp Wollscheid’s shoulder for an own goal in the 87th minute, giving first-place Bayern Munich a 2-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.

Mario Gomez put Bayern ahead in the 37th minute, but Simon Rolfes tied the score in the 75th.

France

Second-place Lyon’s hopes of catching French league leader Paris Saint-Germain took a blow when it lost 4-1 at Bastia.