- News>
- Football
Man U surges ahead as rivals Arsenal, Chelsea falter
London, Jan 09: Manchester United took full advantage of stumbles by title rivals Arsenal and Chelsea to pull further ahead at the top of the Premiership on a night which saw Liverpool`s season take a dramatic turn for the better.
London, Jan 09: Manchester United took full advantage of stumbles by title rivals Arsenal and Chelsea to pull further ahead at the top of the Premiership on a night which saw Liverpool's season take a dramatic turn for the better.
A 2-1 win over Bolton was enough to send United three points clear of Arsenal, who were held to a 1-1 draw at Everton.
Sir Alex Ferguson paid Bolton the compliment of fielding a near full strength side and the Manchester United manager's policy paid dividends in the form of first half goals from Paul Scholes and Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
But Bolton refused to lie down and their pressure ensured a tense finale after Youri Djorkaeff's header was deflected into the net by Gary Neville a minute from the end.
Arsenal looked to have weathered the worst of Everton's storm when Nigerian playmaker Nwankwo Kanu ran on to Thierry Henry's pass and skipped round Nigel Martyn to put them ahead, totally against the run of play, in the 29th minute.
But Everton's tenacity finally paid off with a quarter of an hour remaining when Canadian striker Thomasz Radzinski equalised.
Liverpool suffered the second half loss of goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek to injury and el Hadji Diouf to a controversial red card but still held out for a victory that may have fatally compromised Chelsea's title ambitions.
Bureau Report
A 2-1 win over Bolton was enough to send United three points clear of Arsenal, who were held to a 1-1 draw at Everton.
Sir Alex Ferguson paid Bolton the compliment of fielding a near full strength side and the Manchester United manager's policy paid dividends in the form of first half goals from Paul Scholes and Ruud Van Nistelrooy.
But Bolton refused to lie down and their pressure ensured a tense finale after Youri Djorkaeff's header was deflected into the net by Gary Neville a minute from the end.
Arsenal looked to have weathered the worst of Everton's storm when Nigerian playmaker Nwankwo Kanu ran on to Thierry Henry's pass and skipped round Nigel Martyn to put them ahead, totally against the run of play, in the 29th minute.
But Everton's tenacity finally paid off with a quarter of an hour remaining when Canadian striker Thomasz Radzinski equalised.
Liverpool suffered the second half loss of goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek to injury and el Hadji Diouf to a controversial red card but still held out for a victory that may have fatally compromised Chelsea's title ambitions.
Bureau Report