Poor defending may have cost Manchester United the Premier League title as Middlebrough defeated the Red Devils 3-2 on Wednesday, leaving the defending champions five points behind Arsenal.
Joseph-Desire Job notched 'Boro's winner in the 80th before a stunned sellout at Old Trafford, driving home a shot from 15m to break a 2-2 tie and send Manchester United to its fifth league loss of the season.
Manchester United needed a rally to get back into the match after Brazilian striker Juninho scored two rare headers late in the first half to make it 2-0, again exposing Man United's vulnerability following defender Rio Ferdinand's eight-month ban for missing a drug test.
PHOTO: AP
Ruud Van Nistelrooy saved Manchester United with a first-half injury time goal and Ryan Giggs made it 2-2 in the 63rd. Diego Forlan hit the bar in the final seconds as Manchester United tried to salvage the draw.
Manchester United has now given up eight goals in the last three matches.
With 13 matches remaining, Arsenal leads the Premier League with 61 points followed by Manchester United (56), Chelsea (55). Liverpool (38) and Newcastle (38).
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson tried to sound optimistic about catching Arsenal.
"We've been here before but we don't enjoy that," Ferguson said. "We don't think it's a healthy position to be in. There's plenty of time to do something about it and we will. Hopefully we can do that."
"The disappointing thing was the soft goals we let in," Ferguson added.
Arsenal defeated Southampton 2-0 on Tuesday with the 100th and 101st goals by Thierry Henry. In other Premier League games Tuesday, Leeds escaped last place by beating Wolves 4-1, and Leicester was held 1-1 at home by Bolton.
The loss is sure to further unsettle Ferguson, who is caught up in a legal battle with Man United's biggest shareholders, Irish racehorse magnates John Magnier and J.P. McManus.
The two boosted their share in the club on Wednesday to bring ownership from 25.5 percent to 28.89 percent, increasing speculation they are planning a takeover.
Magnier and McManus are in a bitter dispute with Ferguson over lucrative studs rights to champion thoroughbred Rock of Gibraltar. They have also questioned club finances and proceeds from transfer deals.
Speaking in Wednesday's game program, Ferguson termed the dispute with the two Irishmen ``off-field nonsense.''
Chelsea picked up three points to keep pace with Arsenal and close in on Man United, taking a 2-0 victory at Portsmouth. Scott Parker scored in the 17th and substitute Hernan Crespo got the second-half clincher.
Newcastle was held to a 1-1 draw at Blackburn. Craig Bellamy gave the Magpies a 1-0 lead in the 52nd but Jonathan Stead equalized in the 85th. It was Stead's second goal in two game for Blackburn.
Liverpool took a 2-1 victory at Anfield over Man City with Steven Gerrard getting the winner in the 51st. Michael Owen gave Liverpool a 1-0 lead after three minutes with Shaun Wright-Phillips equalizing in the 50th.
Aston Villa won 2-1 at Fulham on Darius Vassell's winner in the 32nd. Luis Boa Morte scored for Fulham after just a minute with Juan Pablo Angel equalizing in the 13th. Fulham played with 10 men after the 75th when defender Carlos Bocanegra was sent off on a red card.
Damien Johnson, Stan Lazaridis and Mikael Forssell scored in Birmingham City's 3-0 win over Everton. At Charlton, Tottenham won 4-2. Simon Davies, Jermain Defoe Ledley King and Johnnie Jackson scored for Spurs.
In a fourth-round FA Cup match, first-division Millwall eliminated non-league Telford 2-0.
Scottish Premier League
League-leading Celtic and No. 2 Rangers picked up victories Wednesday in the Scottish Premier League.
Celtic won 4-1 at Dunfermline and improved to 67 points, 11 ahead of Rangers. Rangers won 2-0 against Kilmarnock
Henrik Larsson scored two goals for Celtic and Alan Thompson and Stanislav Varga added the others. Hamed Namouchi and Craig Moore scored for Rangers.
Celtic manager Martin O'Neill complained about the synthetic surface at Dunfermline, which became slick in freezing weather.
"It was like an absolute ice rink at the end. We've had to completely adjust to a different kind of football," O'Neill said.
"I was obviously pleased to win the game and pleased that I am not coming up with sour grapes. But that's not football as we know it and the pitch was like an ice rink.
"I'm afraid that I disagree with the pitch and I thought it became rather dangerous."
DUTCH LEAGUE
Surprising AZ Alkmaar humbled Feyenoord 3-0 Wednesday to move into third place in the Dutch premiership behind Ajax and PSV Eindhoven. The loss effectively ended Feyenoord's hopes of competing for the league's two Champions League berths.
Feyenoord remains on 38 points, one point behind AZ but eight adrift of second-place PSV, which has a game in hand. Ajax leads with 49 points and two games in hand.
In a game billed as the third-place playoff, former Ajax coach Co Adriaanse's lively AZ lineup asserted its ability to disturb Feyenoord's passing patterns and create plenty of chances.
Kenneth Perez's 23rd-minute opener admittedly had a tinge of luck about it as a deflection off Kees van Wonderen was the main reason the shot beat Patrick Lodewijks in the Feyenoord goal.
But Ali Elkhattabi's diving header in the second minute after the break exposed Feyenoord's defensive weakness after Barry van Galen's deftly weighted cross left Lodewijks stranded. The AZ forward went to 14 for the season, only one behind league leading marksman Mateja Kezman of PSV.
And Elkhattabi's pace in the box induced Feyenoord defender Gill Swerts to trip him from behind in the 67th minute. Denny Landzaat dummied Lodewijks before rolling the resulting penalty gently into the corner.
AZ's Belgian forward Stein Huysegems scorned two inviting early opportunities coming in from the left and Van Galen beat the offside trap before Patrick Paauwe saved Feyenoord's blushes with a last-ditch tackle.
Feyenoord initially threatened only at dead ball situations, but as the first half drew to a close Van Wonderen dropped a lob onto the topside of the bar and Thomas Buffel wasted two chances.
Also, Willem II Tilburg rose to fifth with a 2-2 draw at FC Utrecht and Roda JC climbed to seventh with a 4-1 victory over RBC Roosendaal.
RKC Waalwijk played a goalless draw with SC Heerenveen and ADO The Hague pulled itself out of the relegation zone by downing FC Groningen 3-1.
ITALIAN CUP
Lazio gave European champion and Serie A leader AC Milan a thorough 4-0 thrashing Wednesday to reach the finals of the Italian Cup.
Adding to a 2-1 first-leg advantage, Lazio was powered by two goals from midfielder Stefano Fiore and one each from Cesar and Fabio Liverani at the capital's Stadio Olimpico.
After the four first-half goals, Milan midfielder Cristian Brocchi received a red card for protesting a call to referee Pierluigi Collina, leaving Milan -- which won the Italian Cup last season -- with only 10 men for the final 33 minutes.
"Against a good team, one goal can change the match, so we did well to start like we did," said Lazio coach Roberto Mancini.
Besides its impressive league performance, Milan has qualified for the second round of the Champions League.
Cesar, a Brazilian who normally plays as a defender or midfielder, lined up in attack and put Lazio in front 11 minutes in. Liverani faked a shot and passed to Cesar, who beat Milan's charging goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.
In the 16th, Liverani did shoot and scored from near the same spot as Cesar -- from a slight angle 7m out on the left flank.
After a momentary lull, Lazio resumed its offensive onslaught with Fiore's first goal in the 36th.
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