Manchester United relinquished their two-point lead in the Premier League on Tuesday by conceding a disputed late equalizer in a 1-1 draw at lowly Birmingham.
After seeing cross-town rivals Manchester City thrash struggling Aston Villa 4-0 thanks to a hat-trick by Mario Balotelli, United required a victory at St Andrews to ensure it would be clear at the top going into next year.
Top scorer Dimitar Berbatov’s 58th-minute strike broke the deadlock, but Lee Bowyer grabbed a dramatic leveler with a minute left in normal time, bundling home from close range after Birmingham substitute Nikola Zigic appeared to handle a deep cross into the box.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The two Manchester clubs are both on 38 points, although United have two games in hand. Arsenal, who visited Wigan yesterday, are third, three points behind having played the same number of games as United.
Tottenham beat Newcastle 2-0 to go provisionally fourth ahead of Chelsea.
As well as the handball appeal against Zigic, United also complained that the Serbia striker fouled Rio Ferdinand as he went up to challenge for Roger Johnson’s ball into the box. Bowyer could also have been marginally offside before sliding home his finish from close range.
United were lackluster in the first half at St Andrews as Birmingham suffocated the visitors with their high-tempo pressing game.
Wayne Rooney, still without a goal in open play this campaign, cut a frustrated figure stuck out on the left wing and the only real hint of a goal came when Ryan Giggs’ misdirected cross was touched on to the post by Birmingham goalkeeper Ben Foster.
The second half was a different story as United looked much more threatening. Three minutes after breaking the deadlock, the in-form Berbatov — who has a league-high 14 goals for the season — dragged a shot against the post from 20m.
Balotelli, who started in place of rested top scorer Carlos Tevez, converted penalties in the eighth and 55th minutes to open and round off the scoring in City’s convincing victory at Eastlands.
The Italy striker’s other goal came from a tap-in from close range in the 27th minute, after center back Joleon Lescott had made it 2-0 with a fine header from a corner in the 13th.
Reports in the British media suggested on Tuesday that Balotelli wants to leave City after failing to settle in Manchester following his £24 million (US$37 million) offseason move from European and Italian champion Inter.
The 20-year-old striker has been in and out of City’s starting lineup and had only scored twice in the league — both coming at West Bromwich Albion last month — before Villa’s welcoming defense arrived at the City of Manchester Stadium.
Tottenham had to grind out a win with 10 men for the second time in three days after Younes Kaboul was sent off in the 65th minute for an attempted head-butt on Cheick Tiote.
Aaron Lennon had given Spurs the lead in the 57th and Gareth Bale eased any nerves by scoring the second with a low shot in the 81st following a rapid counterattack.
Blackpool beat Sunderland 2-0 away, Blackburn won 3-1 at West Brom and Fulham defeated Stoke 2-0 away. Everton drew 1-1 at -second-bottom West Ham.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later