10-man Man United clip Bolton 1-0

LONDON:

Manchester United moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League thanks to its late winner in a 1-0 victory against Bolton yesterday while second-place Arsenal only managed a 2-2 draw at West Bromwich Albion.

United were down to 10 men following Jonny Evans' sending off in the 76th minute when substitute Dimitar Berbatov capitalised on Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen's error to grab the winning goal in the 88th for his league-high 20th of the season.

Arsenal, who have a game in hand, scored twice in the final 20 minutes - through Andrey Arshavin and Robin van Persie - to claim a point at the Hawthorns but lost ground in their title challenge.

Fifth-place Tottenham's push for a top-four finish was held up by drawing 0-0 at home to West Ham, who climbed out of the relegation zone with the point.

Wigan won 2-1 at home to Birmingham, who dropped to second from bottom, but remained in last place by a point. Wolverhampton stayed in the relegation area despite their 1-0 victory at Midlands rival Aston Villa.

In a congested lower half of the table, three points separate the bottom eight teams.

United manager Alex Ferguson watched his side get out of jail from the stands, as he was serving the first match of a five-game touchline ban for criticising a referee earlier this month.

Evans, back in United's team after injury, was shown a straight red card for a studs-up challenge on Bolton midfielder Stuart Holden, who had to be carried off on a stretcher with a deep gash in his left knee.

Missed header

Matt Taylor then missed a close-range header that would have put the visitors in front and Berbatov made him pay, taking advantage of Jaaskelainen's inability to hold a long shot from Nani to slot the rebound into an empty net.

United avoided losing a third straight league game for the first time since December 2001.

"It wasn't a 100 per cent top performance today but we never gave in,'' Ferguson said. "That's the fantastic character of this club. There is no other club in the country that has got that character. We're fantastic at getting something out of a dead situation, a lost situation. We did that today, full marks to them.''

Arsenal gave renewed hope to Manchester City and Chelsea, who play each other at Stamford Bridge today of a second-place finish by dropping two more points in the title race.

Steven Reid and Peter Odemwingie scored either side of the break to give West Brom a two-goal lead, but Arshavin started Arsenal's comeback in the 70th minute and Van Persie equalised eight minutes later.

"I am disappointed we dropped two points, but it was psychologically important for the rest of the season to show character and not lose the game,'' Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.

City are five points behind Arsenal, with Chelsea a further two back. Tottenham are two points behind Chelsea.

Tottenham's disappointment at only drawing with West Ham would have been slightly tempered by the news hours after the final whistle that star winger Gareth Bale had signed a 4 1/2-year contract with the club.

Spurs were denied at White Hart Lane by the woodwork, some poor finishing by striker Jermain Defoe and some great goalkeeping by West Ham's Robert Green.

Matt Jarvis was Wolves' match winner at Villa Park and Maynor Figueroa's injury-time winner salvaged the crucial win for Wigan.

Liam Ridgewell had put Birmingham ahead in the sixth but Tom Cleverley equalised in the 25th.

Seamus Coleman and Louis Saha scored to ensure that David Moyes began his 10th year as Everton manager the same way he started his first: by beating Fulham.

• English Football Results

Premier League: Aston Villa 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1; Blackburn 2 Blackpool 2; Everton 2 Fulham 1; Manchester United 1 Bolton 0; Stoke 4 Newcastle 0; Tottenham 0 West Ham 0; West Bromwich Albion 2 Arsenal 2; Wigan 2 Birmingham 1.

League Championship: Barnsley 0 Reading 1; Bristol City 2 Burnley 0; Crystal Palace 2 Derby 2; Doncaster 0 Queens Park Rangers 1; Hull 1 Norwich 1; Ipswich 2 Scunthorpe 0; Leicester 0 Portsmouth 1; Middlesbrough 2 Watford 1; Millwall 3 Cardiff 3; Preston 2 Coventry 1; Sheffield United 2 Leeds 0; Swansea 3 Nottingham Forest 2.

League One: Brentford 2 Leyton Orient 1; Carlisle 1 Bournemouth 0; Dagenham & Redbridge 2 Charlton 1; Exeter 2 Yeovil 3; Huddersfield 0 Swindon 0; Notts County 0 Bristol Rovers 1; Oldham 0 Brighton 1; Plymouth 0 Rochdale 1; Tranmere 1 Colchester 0; Walsall 5 Hartlepool 2; Southampton 2 Sheffield Wednesday 0.

League Two: Accrington Stanley 3 Port Vale 0; Aldershot 1 Stockport 0; Barnet 1 Morecambe 2; Bradford 1 Northampton 1; Burton Albion 1 Gillingham 1; Bury 2 Cheltenham 3; Macclesfield 3 Torquay 3; Oxford 2 Crewe 1; Shrewsbury 1 Wycombe 1; Stevenage 2 Lincoln City 1.

• Scottish Football results: Premier League

Dundee United 1 Inverness 0; Hamilton 0 St. Johnstone 0; Hearts 3 St. Mirren 2; Kilmarnock 3 Motherwell 1.

First Division: Dunfermline 4 Stirling 1; Falkirk 2 Dundee 2; Morton 0 Raith Rovers 0; Partick Thistle 0 Cowdenbeath 1; Ross County 1 Queen of South 2.

Second Division: Airdrie 2 Stenhousemuir 2; Alloa 2 Brechin 2; Dumbarton 4 East Fife 2; Forfar 0 Livingston 4; Peterhead 1 Ayr 2.

Third Division: Albion 1 Clyde 1; Annan Athletic 2 Montrose 1; Berwick 3 Queen's Park 1; East Stirling 2 Arbroath 5; Stranraer 1 Elgin 2.