Tim Howard made two standout saves as Manchester United opened up a three point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 victory at Bolton on Wednesday. Second place Arsenal was held 1-1 at Everton and Chelsea slipped back with a 1-0 loss at home to Liverpool.
Strikes by Paul Scholes and Ruud van Nistelrooy put the Reds in control at the Reebok Stadium and American 'keeper Howard kept out long range shots from Ivan Campo and Jay Jay Okocha. United now has 49 points from 20 games as it chases its ninth league title in 12 seasons.
"The defending has been a feature of our results this year and the goalkeeper keeps improving," said United manager Alex Ferguson. "We didn't expect him to perform the way he has been performing. The improvement he's shown has really struck us because we did feel that, at some point, he's going to need a break. But he's getting better and better."
PHOTO: AFP
Unbeaten Arsenal appeared well on course to stay within a point when Nigerian forward Nwankwo Kanu fired the Gunners ahead at Goodison Park. But the Toffees hit back with an equalizer from Canadian striker Tomasz Radzinski and Arsene Wenger's men are now three behind.
Bruno Cheyrou netted his first goal of the season as Liverpool ended a streak of seven Stamford Bridge losses in a row with a victory which moved Gerald Houllier's team up to fifth.
It was a third loss in five league games for Claudio Ranieri's expensively assembled team which is now seven points behind Manchester United at just past the halfway stage.
"I think today we lost but we didn't play so badly," Ranieri said. "Now we are becoming a team. In this period we have only only one way, to work hard."
In Wednesday's other games, fourth place Charlton gained a 1-1 tie at Manchester City, Newcastle edged next to last Leeds 1-0, Tottenham eased its relegation worries with a 4-1 beating of Birmingham City, last place Wolves held Blackburn 2-2, Middlesbrough edged Fulham 2-1 and Southampton-Leicester ended 0-0.
Scholes made it five goals in six games in the 24th minute as United gained its eighth win in a row. Wanderers' goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen did well to stop Van Nistelrooy scoring but the ball came clear to Scholes to prod home the rebound.
The same trio then combined in the 39th minute with Scholes beating the Wanderers offside trap, Giggs weaving round the 'keeper and lobbing the ball up for Van Nistelrooy to head into an empty net for his 17th of the season.
The points were already won by the time Youri Djorkaeff headed in a cross from Nigerian star Jay Jay Okocha with a minute to go.
"They were good results for us. It has been a good night's work," Ferguson said.
Cheyrou scored his second goal for the club in the 32nd minute after great work by Emile Heskey. The burly striker won the ball in the air and broke down the right before aiming a well-judged low cross for the Frenchman to steer home with his left foot.
Liverpool was forced to send on inexperienced goalkeeper Patrice Luzi for his Premier League debut for the injured Jerzy Dudek 13 minutes from the end, the Pole suffering an injury to a leg muscle. The 23-year-old Frenchman was beaten within a minute of entering the game as Adrian Mutu met a corner but headed against the near post.
Liverpool was down to 10 men three minutes from the end when Senegalese forward El Hadji Djouf was sent off for his second yellow card. But Houllier's men have now climbed four place in two weeks and had to shake off criticism from the shareholders at the club's annual general meeting on Monday.
"We've had a difficult week but this was an opportunity for the players to respond and we showed the critics were wrong," Houllier said.
"We're very united, sometimes we struggle but we have a good team spirit and it was a great game to show the talent, togetherness and determination of the team. We know every game is important to what we want to achieve this season. So this is a good omen for the future, it's come at a good time."
Arsenal squandered the lead at Goodison Park after taking the lead in the 29th minute. Thierry Henry was the provider with a low cross and Kanu slipped round goalkeeper Nigel Martyn to score his first league goal of the season.
But former Arsenal striker Francis Jeffers powered in an angled shot in the 75th minute and, with Gunners goalkeeper Jens Lehmann doing well to block the ball, it ran clear to Radzinski to fire into an empty net.
Alan Shearer's fourth minute strike at St. James' Park gave Newcastle the three points against a Leeds team still deep in trouble at next to last.
At the City of Manchester Stadium, Robbie Fowler fired City ahead in the 30th minute only for Paolo Di Canio to level six minutes from the end for Charlton. The Italian tapped in the rebound after his penalty had been saved by David Seaman and that makes it 13 games in a row since Kevin Keegan's men won.
Joseph-Desire Job gave Middlesbrough a 15th minute lead at the Riverside and Szilard Nemeth's first goal since October in the 67th put Steve McClaren's men in control before Barry Hayles replied for Fulham in the last seconds.
Stephane Dalmat scored twice in the first 24 minutes as Spurs shrugged off relegation worries against Birmingham. Simon Davies and Robbie Keane also netted against the Blues whose only reply was a Robbie Savage penalty.
Former Manchester United colleagues Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke scored the first and last goals of the 2-2 tie at Wolves which hit back with strikes by Paul Butler and Alex Rae.
Copa del Rey
Forward Roberto Cuevas scored a first-half equalizer Wednesday as second-division Eibar earned a 1-1 home draw with a below-strength Real Madrid in a first-leg match in the Copa del Rey's third round.
Spanish international Jose Maria "Guti" Gutierrez opened the scoring as Madrid obtained a result which should help it advance to the quarterfinals when the teams play next week's second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
In another match, Australian substitute John Aloisi scored a last-minute equalizer as Osasuna drew 2-2 at Valencia.
Elsewhere, Zaragoza topped Real Betis 3-1; Celta de Vigo edged Malaga 1-0; and Alaves drew 0-0 with Valladolid.
Already without injured David Beckham and flu victim Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid coach Carlos Queiroz rested the team's other stars and selected an unfamiliar lineup which included five reserve team players.
Eibar responded by pressurizing Madrid only to find goalkeeper Iker Casillas in impressive form.
Madrid, which has not won the Copa del Rey since 1993, scored from its first chance of the game when Guti struck from a pass by 18-year-old midfielder Juanfran Torres in the 36th minute.
Eibar drew level just before halftime as Cuevas headed past Casillas from Oscar Perez's corner.
The Basque team came close to winning the match when midfielder Francisco Jose Corredoira rattled the bar in the 80th minute with a long-range shot.
Osasuna, which reached the semifinals last season, maintained its hopes of repeating the feat by drawing on its visit to Valencia.
Forward Miguel Angel Angulo gave Valencia the lead in the 27th minute when he shot home after a mix-up in the Osasuna defense.
Valencia played the second half with 10 men when right back Curro Torres received a yellow card for a foul on Cameroon forward Pierre Webo just before the interval and was then ejected, apparently for protesting. Despite the numerical disadvantage, Spanish international midfielder Ruben Baraja doubled Valencia's lead with a 54th-minute penalty.
Osasuna reduced the deficit six minutes later when Webo, looking offside, turned a shot by Argentine midfielder Gerardo Rivero over the line.
Aloisi, who had replaced midfielder Cesar Palacios eight minutes earlier, pounced just before time to earn Osasuna a deserved draw.
Serbian and Montenegrin striker Goran Drulic scored twice as Zaragoza gained a convincing win over its fellow league struggler Betis.
Drulic opened the scoring in the 50th minute, although Betis' Spanish international winger Joaquin Sanchez leveled with a header six minutes later.
Zaragoza regained the lead through a fierce strike 10 minutes from time by midfielder Martin Vellisca, with Drulic striking again just before time.
Celta de Vigo, languishing in the relegation zone, relieved the pressure on its coach Miguel Angel Lotina with a narrow win in Malaga.
Brazilian midfielder Vagner scored the game's only goal with a lofted long-range shot in the 55th minute.
Second-division Alaves kept its hopes alive of progressing to the last eight of the competition with a goalless home draw with Valladolid.
Alaves survived the loss of its defender Juan Cruz Ochoa, who was dismissed midway through the second half.
On Tuesday, Atletico de Madrid drew 0-0 with Deportivo de La Coruna.
On Thursday, second-division leader Levante entertains off-form FC Barcelona and Villarreal plays Sevilla.
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