LONDON, 4 March 2007 — Substitute John O’Shea fired a stoppage time winner to give Manchester United a 1-0 victory at Liverpool and a 12-point lead at the top of the Premier League yesterday.
United hardly deserved a victory that came when Ireland defender O’Shea rifled home a loose ball in the area after a Cristiano Ronaldo free kick had been parried by Liverpool keeper Jose Reina.
Victory put United on 72 points, while second-placed Chelsea have 60 before the champions face Portsmouth in the day’s late kickoff. Chelsea also have a further game in hand.
Liverpool stay third on 53 points, but Arsenal closed to within a point with two games in hand after they finished a miserable week with a morale-boosting 2-1 win over Reading.
The northeast derby finished 0-0 between Newcastle United and Middlesbrough, Wigan Athletic’s revival continued with a 1-0 win at Manchester City while Watford let slip a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Charlton Athletic in a relegation dogfight. Up at the top, Manchester United were already down to 10 men when they scored after midfielder Paul Scholes was shown a straight red card four minutes from time after raising his hands at Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso.
He will now miss United’s next three domestic matches, starting with next Saturday’s FA Cup quarterfinal against Middlesbrough.
“Today’s a massive result for us,” United manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports News, pointing out that United had also scored their winner in the final two minutes of last Saturday’s match at Fulham.
Things have not gone well for Arsenal recently with three players — Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor and Ivorian defenders Emmanuel Eboue and Kolo Toure — getting banned after the ugly fracas in today’s League Cup final defeat by Chelsea. That loss completed a hat trick of setbacks with their Champions League reverse at PSV Eindhoven and FA Cup exit in midweek at Blackburn Rovers, making yesterday’s win all the more welcome for Arsene Wenger’s men.
Gilberto converted a 51st minute penalty and fellow Brazilian Julio Baptista hit the other before Arsenal’s Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas turned the ball into his own net in the 87th minute after a corner. Fulham drew 1-1 at home with Aston Villa and it was the same scoreline in Sheffield United’s home game with Everton.
Bayern Beat Hertha
to Revive Title Hopes
In Berlin, Bayern Munich tuned up for their Champions League showdown against Real Madrid next week and climbed back into Bundesliga title contention with a 3-2 victory at Hertha Berlin yesterday.
Hasan Salihamidzic, Lukas Podolski and Roy Makaay scored in front of a sell-out crowd of 75,400 at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium to end Bayern’s five-match away losing streak in the Bundesliga.
Their second straight victory lifted the defending champions to within six points of faltering leaders Schalke 04, who remain on 49 points after losing at home to Hamburg SV on Friday — their second straight defeat.
Striker Aaron Hunt scored a hat trick to lift Werder to a 3-0 win over VfL Bochum and from third to second place on 46 points. They moved in front of VfB Stuttgart, who were beaten 3-1 by Bayer Leverkusen.
German international Podolski, enjoying an upturn in form since the arrival of Hitzfeld, played a part in all three Bayern goals. He had spent much of the season on the bench under Hitzfeld’s predecessor Felix Magath. Hertha keeper Christian Fiedler just managed to get his hand to Podolski’s sharp header from a Willy Sagnol corner in the 30th minute but Salihamidzic was alert to tap in the rebound.
Celtic Edge Out Bottom
Club Dunfermline 2-1
In Glasgow, champions Celtic beat bottom club Dunfermline 2-1 yesterday with goals in each half from Kenny Miller and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
Celtic moved on to 74 points, 22 clear of rivals Rangers who play at Hibernian yesterday. Aberdeen remain third with 48 points thanks to a 2-1 win at Falkirk.
Miller drove home a fifth-minute shot from inside the box after Aiden McGeady ended a fine run with a neat pass into the Scotland striker’s path.
Vennegoor of Hesselink wrapped up the win by diverting a fierce volley from Thomas Gravesen beyond the keeper from three meters on 76 minutes.
Adam Hammill fired home a spectacular shot with a couple of minutes left for Dunfermline’s consolation.
Celtic manager Gordon Strachan said his team’s early play was the best they had produced at home this season.
“That was the best we have started a game here this season. The football was excellent today,” he told BBC Radio.
He added that the torrential rain caused problems saying: “It came down that badly I thought the referee might have abandoned the game, but thankfully it stopped.
“The players did really well in the conditions.”
