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Old Trafford 'war' ends in draw
26/11/2006 20:28 - (SA)
Robert Millward
Manchester - Ricardo Carvalho headed in an equaliser in the 69th minute on Sunday to help Chelsea earn a 1-1 draw with Manchester United and keep the defending champions within three points of the Red Devils at the top of the Premier League.
Louis Saha gave United the lead in the 29th minute before 75 948 fans at Old Trafford, but Carvalho's header levelled the score to give each team one point.
United leads the league with 35 points, followed by Chelsea with 32. Bolton, which beat Arsenal 3-1 Saturday, is in third place with 24 points.
Cristiano Ronaldo had an early chance to score, but his dipping, 30m free kick was pushed over the bar by Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini.
Still, United took the lead when Ryan Giggs fed the ball through to Wayne Rooney from inside his own half and the England striker quickly passed to Saha. The France striker pushed the ball to his left and guided a low, left-footed shot that flicked off the inside of the post.
Chelsea nearly equalised before halftime but United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar blocked a powerful 20m shot from Geremi and then dived to his right to hold a low drive from Frank Lampard.
It should have been 2-0 four minutes after halftime, however, when Rooney got past Didier Drogba on the left and both Saha and Ronaldo failed to turn his cross home from close range.
Deflected the ball
Instead it was 1-1 in the 69th when Michael Essien's shot was deflected for a corner on the right and Lampard's floated cross was firmly met by Carvalho at the far post. Saha tried to clear it with his head but instead deflected the ball into the roof of the net.
Also on Sunday, Portsmouth missed a chance to move into third place after losing to Newcastle 1-0.
Antoine Sibierski scored the lone goal in the 69th minute for Newcastle's first win in 10 league games. Portsmouth stayed fourth.
Tottenham beat Wigan 3-1 with goals from Jermain Defoe, Dimitar Berbatov and Aaron Lennon. Henri Camara had given Wigan the lead in the 25th minute.
On Saturday, Arsenal slipped to sixth with its surprise loss at Bolton.
Also Saturday, it was it was: Liverpool 1, Manchester City 0; Charlton 1, Everton 1; Aston Villa 1, Middlesbrough 1; Fulham 0, Reading 1; and West Ham 1, Sheffield United 0.
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