LONDON, 23 October 2005 — Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur missed the chance to slash Chelsea’s lead in the English Premier League when they drew 1-1 at Old Trafford yesterday.
Jermaine Jenas’ free kick for Spurs cancelled out Mikael Silvestre’s first-half opener and the result left champions Chelsea eight points clear of three clubs on 19 points before they play bottom club Everton today.
Charlton Athletic moved up to second with a 2-1 comeback win at Portsmouth, Spurs are third and promoted Wigan Athletic jumped to fourth after a 2-0 win at Aston Villa.
Arsenal kept in touch with a 1-0 home win over Manchester City. Robert Pires scored Arsenal’s winner with a penalty but wasted a second spotkick in bizarre circumstances.
European champions Liverpool lost more ground after a 2-0 defeat at Fulham and struggling Birmingham City were also beaten 2-0 at Blackburn Rovers.
At Old Trafford, French defender Silvestre put United in front following a fumble by Spurs’ England goalkeeper Paul Robinson after only seven minutes but the much-improved London side did not capitulate.
Jenas curled in a fine free kick to equalize 18 minutes from time and fellow midfielder Michael Carrick hit the bar with another free kick late on.
Charlton’s Danish forward Dennis Rommedahl smashed their winner into the roof of the net in the 77th minute at Fratton Park, as the Londoners roared back from a disappointing first half. Victory put them ahead of Spurs, who have played a game more, on goals scored.
Arsenal are seventh on 16 points from nine games but their win over sixth-placed City at Highbury will be remembered for the extraordinary incident involving Pires.
The French midfielder had already given Arsenal the lead with a 61st-minute penalty when they were awarded a second spotkick with quarter of an hour left.
In an apparent attempt to fool City goalkeeper David James, Pires tried to tap the spotkick to Thierry Henry but fluffed his touch and referee Mike Riley awarded City a free kick, apparently because the ball had not moved sufficiently off the spot. Second-half goals by strikers Paul Dickov, from a disputed penalty, and Craig Bellamy gave Blackburn a 2-0 win over Birmingham and increased the pressure on manager Steve Bruce.
Bayern Crush Duisburg
4-0 to Move Back to First
In Berlin, Bayern Munich crushed MSV Duisburg 4-0 yesterday to storm back on top of the Bundesliga just one week after the defending champions relinquished first place to Werder Bremen, who were held to a 0-0 draw at Hanover.
Brazil winger Ze Roberto scored a spectacular back-heel goal while Germany captain Michael Ballack and Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz each headed in crosses before Claudio Pizarro made it 4-0 to keep Bayern unbeaten in their new Allianz Arena.
It was the biggest victory of the season for Bayern, still in fine form after their 2-1 Champions League win over Juventus on Tuesday. Duisburg are in 17th place with just six points in 10 matches.
Bayern had slipped behind Bremen on goal difference last week after their 1-1 draw at third place Schalke 04. Schalke were held to a 0-0 draw at VfL Wolfsburg yesterday.
Bayern now lead the table with 25 points ahead of Bremen at 23 and Schalke with 20.
Injury Time Header Gives
Ascoli Point at Messina
In Milan, Gianluca Comotto headed an injury time equalizer to earn Ascoli a 1-1 draw at Messina in Serie A yesterday.
Messina went ahead in the 28th minute with a Riccardo Zampagna penalty after Maurizio Domizzi was ruled to have brought down Serbian striker Ivica Iliev.
Domizzi was sent off for a second bookable offence three minutes from the end but deep into injury time Comotto rose in the area to bullet home a header.
Messina are left in the relegation zone with four points, all from draws, after eight games while promoted Ascoli are on 10 points.
Leaders Lyon Continue
to Blaze Trail
In Paris, Olympique Lyon’s excellent start to the season continued with a 4-0 rout of bottom-of-the-table Metz yesterday.
The four-times champions, unbeaten after 12 matches in Ligue 1, have 30 points and lead joint second-placed Paris St Germain and Girondins Bordeaux by 10.
The Parisians are at home to promoted Nancy later while Bordeaux travel to Toulouse.
Hosts Metz, on four points, have not won a game this season and went behind after 23 minutes.
Norway striker John Carew outpaced the defense and fired into the top left corner of Gregory Wimbee’s net. Brazilian midfielder Juninho latched on to a Jeremie Berthod cross 13 minutes later to make it 2-0.
France winger Sylvain Wiltord added a third goal before the interval with a powerful header.
Six minutes into the second half, French international Florent Malouda rubbed salt into the Metz wounds when he netted a fourth from close range.
