LONDON, 8 February 2004 — Manchester United blew a 3-0 halftime lead against Everton but snatched a 4-3 victory with a last-gasp winner by Ruud van Nistelrooy on a breathless day of action in the Premier League yesterday.
The Goodison Park success kept the champions two points behind leaders Arsenal, who won 3-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers to set a club record 23-game unbeaten start to the season.
There were also seven goals at White Hart Lane where Tottenham Hotspur emerged 4-3 winners over Portsmouth three days after they threw away a 3-0 lead to lose 4-3 to 10-man Manchester City in the FA Cup.
Liverpool twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle took advantage with a 3-1 home win over Leicester City.
Arsenal top the table on 58 points with Manchester United second on 56. Chelsea, who host Charlton Athletic on Sunday, are third on 49. Newcastle are up to fourth on 37, ahead of Charlton on goal difference. Liverpool are sixth on 35, the same as Fulham, who drew 0-0 at Southampton.
Leeds remain bottom on 17 after falling to their sixth successive league defeat, 2-0 at Aston Villa.
10-Man Werder Stretch Lead With Dramatic Win
In Berlin, Bundesliga leaders Werder Bremen showed their character by fighting their way to a dramatic 2-1 win at Borussia Moenchengladbach yesterday despite finishing with 10 men.
Defender and captain Frank Baumann hit the winner in the last minute for the northerners, who stretched their lead over second-placed VfB Stuttgart to seven points.
Czech striker Vaclav Sverkos opened the scoring for Moenchengladbach with a header in the 51st minute and the visitors responded three minutes later with a goal from close range by Croatian striker Ivan Klasnic.
Werder then had defender Mladen Krstajic sent off for a second booking in the 72nd minute but kept racing forward until Baumann gave them victory from inside the area.Stuttgart and champions Bayern Munich, lying third nine points back, will both be in action today. Stuttgart visit bottom club Hertha Berlin while Bayern entertain Hanover 96.
Fourth-placed Bayer Leverkusen dropped 10 points off the pace when they conceded their second successive defeat by losing 2-1 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt yesterday.
Borussia Dortmund restored pride with a convincing 4-2 win at VfL Wolfsburg, a week after losing 1-0 to Schalke 04 in a tense Ruhr Valley derby. The 1997 European champions, whose only reasonable goal left is a UEFA Cup berth, climb a place up to sixth, a spot below surprise package VfL Bochum, who managed a 1-1 draw at Hamburg SV. Four-times German champions Kaiserslautern left the relegation zone with a 1-0 victory over fellow strugglers Cologne under new coach Kurt Jara.
Kaiserslautern, who started the season with three points deducted for breaching licensing rules, are now fourth from bottom in the 18-strong table.
Celtic Break Hearts, Eye Rangers in Scottish Cup
In Glasgow, Celtic beat nine-man Hearts 3-0 yesterday to set up a likely home Scottish Cup quarterfinal clash with holders Rangers.
Stilian Petrov drilled the opener on three minutes before nailing a second 12 minutes before halftime, with teammate Henrik Larsson the provider for both goals.
Hearts were reduced to nine men in the closing minutes after Paul Hartley and Alan Maybury were sent off for late tackles on Neil Lennon. Larsson rounded off the scoring in injury time.
The draw for the last eight threw up the possibility of an ‘Old Firm’ derby at Celtic Park, providing Glasgow rivals Rangers win at Premier League Kilmarnock today.
Aberdeen booked their place in the quarters with a 2-0 win at Falkirk and will host the winners of today’s other fourth-round tie between non-league Spartans and Livingston.
Partick Thistle hammered Hamilton Academicals 5-1 to secure a home tie with Clyde or premier league rivals Dunfermline Athletic, a match that was abandoned after 57 minutes because of snow, with Dunfermline 2-1 ahead, on Saturday.
In the remaining quarterfinal last year’s beaten semifinalists, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Motherwell, will clash at Fir Park. Caledonian won 1-0 at St Mirren while Motherwell edged out first division side Queen of the South with a 3-2 win to secure another home game.
Japan Thrash Malaysia 4-0 in Friendly
In Kashima, Japan, a second-string Japan thrashed Malaysia 4-0 at home yesterday in the first of two warm-up matches before the start of their 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Japan were missing several Europe-based players, including Fulham’s Junichi Inamoto and Hidetoshi Nakata of Bologna, who will return for the Feb. 18 World Cup qualifier against Oman. Playmaker Mitsuo Ogasawara opened the scoring in freezing Kashima with a dipping shot from 25 meters after just 11 minutes to mark his first goal in 17 appearances for Japan.
Ogasawara turned provider for Japan’s second goal, crossing from the right for captain and defender Tsuneyasu Miyamoto to celebrate his 27th birthday with a brave diving header in the 38th minute — his first international goal in 27 games.
