West Bromwich hold United
London, Oct. 16: Manchester United squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with West Bromwich Albion as Sir Alex Ferguson’s decision to leave Wayne Rooney on the bench backfired on Saturday.
United looked to be cruising to victory after goals from Mexican international Javier Hernandez and Nani fired the Red Devils into a 2-0 lead after 25 minutes at Old Trafford. But West Bromwich Albion pulled a goal back on 50 minutes when Patrice Evra deflected a Chris Brunt free-kick into his own goal, before an Edwin van der Sar howler five minutes later gifted Somen Tchoyi an equaliser.
It was the third time this season United failed to take all three points after leading — but the major talking point of the day came with Ferguson’s decision to bench Rooney.
The draw means Chelsea can open up a seven-point lead over Manchester United later on Saturday if they defeat Aston Villa.
Elsewhere, Arsenal recovered from an early goal to reignite their league campaign with a 2-1 victory over Birmingham at the Emirates. Tottenham also came from behind to defeat Fulham 2-1 at Craven Cottage in controversial circumstances, with referee Mike Dean over-ruling his linesman to allow Tom Huddlestone’s 63rd minute winner.
Key results
Arsenal 2
(Nasri 41-pen, Chamakh 47)
Birmingham 1
(Zigic 33)
Bolton 2
(Lee 22, Klasnic 90)
Stoke City 1
(Delap 48)
Fulham 1
(Kamara 30)
Tottenham 2
(Pavlyuchenko 31,
Huddlestone 63)
Man United 2
(Hernandez 5, Nani 25)
West Brom 2
(Evra 50-og, Tchoyi 55)
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