LONDON, 19 September 2004 — Champions Arsenal dropped their first points of the season when a late Henrik Pedersen equalizer earned Bolton Wanderers a 2-2 draw at Highbury yesterday. The Danish substitute poked the ball home after 85 minutes to deny Arsene Wenger’s team their sixth win in six Premier League games.
Arsenal, who nonetheless extended their unbeaten record to 46 league matches, led through a first-half effort by Thierry Henry. Tunisian defender Radhi Jaidi leveled with a header on the hour but Robert Pires quickly put Arsenal back in front.
The draw meant Arsenal have 16 points, three clear of second-placed Chelsea who entertain Tottenham Hotspur today. Improved Bolton are third on 11 points.
Only two fine interceptions by Jaidi prevented the visitors falling behind before Henry ruthlessly dispatched his fifth league goal of the season in the 31st minute.
Bolton looked unlikely to equalize until Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann flapped weakly at a 63rd-minute corner and Jaidi headed in his first goal in English football.
The Highbury home fans were silent for only three minutes. Ljungberg deftly slipped his marker on the right and crossed for Pires who scuffed the ball fortuitously past Jaaskelainen. Bolton refused to buckle and when Les Ferdinand flicked on a long clearance, fellow substitute Pedersen showed fine opportunism to beat Lehmann and earn a superb point for Sam Allardyce’s team.
Meanwhile, Wigan Athletic continued to set the pace in English football’s second division with a 4-0 thrashing of Sheffield United. Doubles from Nathan Ellington and Jason Roberts sealed the points for unbeaten Wigan who lead the table with 19 points, one ahead of Reading who beat Gillingham 3-1 with a Dave Kitson hat trick.
Stoke City are third, also on 18 points, after being held 0-0 at home by Nottingham Forest. Ipswich and West Ham United are fourth and fifth respectively, a further point behind, after sharing the points in a 1-1 draw at Upton Park where West Ham’s Teddy Sheringham missed a penalty. Sunderland moved into sixth place with a 3-1 victory over Preston North End.
Bayern Earn Last-Gasp Draw Against Dortmund
Last gasp goals from Brazilian defender Lucio and Dutch striker Roy Makaay earned Bayern Munich a dramatic 2-2 draw at Borussia Dortmund. A headed goal from Lucio in the 88th minute was followed by another from Makaay two minutes into extra time to leave a shocked Dortmund ruing a lost opportunity to beat their arch rivals from the south.
A superb strike from Dortmund’s Brazilian striker Ewerthon, who took the ball in his own half before running through the Bayern defense and slotting past Oliver Kahn in the 44th minute, underlined Dortmund’s superiority over a weak Bayern for most of the match.
The Brazilian followed up with a second-half penalty after Bayern defender Thomas Linke brought down Czech Republic striker Jan Koller in the penalty area. But Bayern grew stronger toward the closing moments and Lucio’s clenched fist salute after his goal showed that Munich were not prepared to accept defeat. Makaay’s strike rubbed in the message.
Elsewhere VfL Wolfsburg found themselves at the top of the Bundesliga, at least for a day, following their 2-1 win at Hansa Rostock. They lead the table with 12 points, two ahead of VfB Stuttgart who play at Hertha Berlin today.
Bayer Leverkusen came back down to earth after their 3-0 Champion’s League triumph over Real Madrid earlier in the week, needing to fight back for a 2-2 draw with Nuremberg, while champions Werder Bremen trounced Hanover 96 3-0 to move up to third place in the league. Hamburg SV’s 2-1 defeat by Kaiserslautern failed to take off the pressure from beleaguered coach Klaus Toppmoeller. Schalke 04 followed the loss of coach Jupp Heynckes earlier in the week by beating Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-2 in an entertaining match, while Bundesliga newcomers Arminia Bielefeld and FSV Mainz fought out a 1-1 draw.
