A Shot at the Top? United closes on Chelsea
Bolton, England (Sports Network) - Just when it looked as if Chelsea had the Premiership all sealed up, Manchester United brought the first place lead down to seven after a 2-1 win over Bolton Saturday.
Second place United has remained a threat in the Premiership for much of the season, but has reached its best spot to challenge Chelsea in weeks. The first place club was held scoreless in a 0-0 draw with Birmingham.
Louis Saha and Ruud van Nistelrooy put United on the board for the win. The Manchester club now has 72 points through 32 matches with a five-point lead for the second place spot.
Bolton was the first on the board, when Kevin Davies put the home team in the lead in the 26th minute. Davies pushed past the United defense and sent a shot past a diving Edwin Van Der Sar.
United provided an answer seven minutes later, when Saha netted the equalizer for the visitors. Saha curled a left-footed shot into the back of the Bolton net to set the game even.
The 1-1 draw remained locked until the 79th minute, when Saha and Nistelrooy combined to score the team's second goal of the day. Saha set up Nistelrooy for the goal that nearly ended Bolton's chances for the win.
Bolton couldn't manage the equalizer in the remaining 11 minutes, leaving Sir Alex Ferguson and the United squad with its 22nd win of the Premiership season.
For Bolton, the loss was the eighth of the season. The club sits in the league's seventh place spot with 48 points.
As for the other big Premiership game of the weekend, Chelsea was held scoreless by host Birmingham for just its fourth draw of the season. Jose Mourinho's squad was in dire need of a win, but could only manage the point for 79 on the season.
Also on Saturday; third place Liverpool kept pace with a 2-0 win over West Brom for its 20th league victory of the season.
Robbie Fowler opened the scoring in the seventh minute, and Djibril Cisse put the finishing touches on the game with a goal in the 28th minute.
The win gives Liverpool 67 points through 33 matches.
In other league play; Arsenal scored five against the Aston Villa defense for a 5-0 win; Everton and Sunderland finished in a 2-2 draw; Portsmouth continued its hot streak with a 3-1 over visiting Fulham; and Newcastle beat fourth place Tottenham, 3-1 to finish Saturday's schedule.
The Premiership resumes Sunday with two matches and finishes Monday with Blackburn hosting Wigan.
photo: Getty Images Sport
By: Michael Steele
Comments
Not gonna happen. As much as I want the blues to go down hard, they will not be caught.
Posted by: rhymes | April 3, 2006 11:14 AM
chelsea thinks they are better than they really are. united will catch them or united will win the title next year. arsenal has some younger players coming up to. this will be chelsea's last title for another 50 years
Posted by: ronaldinho | April 3, 2006 03:29 PM
Ronaldinho proved to be the worlds best player ever seen though he has not achieve alot in his career compared to players like maradona and pele.
Posted by: gyamfi | April 6, 2006 10:57 AM