Last-Gasp Scholes Winner Blows Title Race Wide Open

Tuesday, 27th April 2010 at 12:10pm

A 93rd minute header from Manchester United veteran Paul Scholes gave Sir Alex Ferguson's side a much needed win over their local rivals, just as it looked as though the defending champions were about to concede further ground to rivals Chelsea.

Rolling back the years, an unmarked Scholes arrived on cue to cap a fine display, placing his header into the bottom right corner to send the United bench into raptures of delight and to rob the City faithful and players of a well deserved point.

Despite Scholes' heroics, United still trailed Carlo Ancelotti's men by a point, having played a game more and were hoping for an inspired performance by a Spurs side fighting hard for fourth place and a place in next season's Champions League.

The prayers of those at Old Trafford were answered in style as Tottenham produced arguably their best performance of the season as they blew Chelsea off the field in the first 45 minutes and arguably could have inflicted a heavy defeat on the league leaders were it not for some wayward finishing, particularly from Roman Pavlyuchenko.

Paul Scholes

Goals from Jermaine Defoe and Gareth Bale gave Spurs a 2-0 half time lead and Chelsea's job was made virtually impossible when captain John Terry was sent off for two bookable offences.

The form of Terry, who looked desperately out of sorts, must be a concern for Ancelotti and the watching England manager Fabio Capello, as the former England skipper is seen as a key player for both club and country in the coming months.

A late Frank Lampard goal sent nerves around White Hart Lane jangling, but the home side held on for a deserved win.

With Chelsea going down to their North London rivals, Arsenal were suddenly handed a way back into the title race and looked keen to grasp their lifeline as they established a two-goal lead over Wigan the DW Stadium with goals from Walcott and Silvestre.

With time running out, Arsene Wenger's men appeared to be coasting to three points when the home side struck three times in the last 11 minutes to seal an astonishing victory.

Goals from Ben Watson, Titus Bramble and a memorable goal from Charles N'zogbia sent the DW Stadium into ecstasy and guaranteed Premier League football for Roberto Martinez's men next season.

At the bottom, Hull edged a point closer to West Ham in 17th thanks to a 0-0 draw away at Birmingham City, while Brian Laws' Burnley look unlikely to make up the four points that separates them from Zola's men with just three fixtures remaining.

In Europe, Real Madrid were able to cut Barcelona's lead at the top of La Liga to a single point after the defending champions could only draw with their local rivals Espanyol, while Madrid took three points after a 2-0 home win over Valencia.

Goals from Higuain and Ronaldo were enough for Pellegrino's men who bounced back from their defeat to Barcelona in el classic last week.

In Italy, Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan kept up the pressure on league leaders Roma thanks to a 2-0 home win against Juventus. Goals in the last 15 minutes from Maicon and Samuel Eto'o saw Inter home at the San Siro on Friday as they jumped ahead of Roma for 2 days until the team from the capital came from a goal down to beat city rivals Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico thanks to two second half goals from Vucinic.

In Germany, Bayern maintained their two-point lead over Schalke at the top of the Bundesliga thanks to a 7-0 thrashing of second-from-bottom Hannover 96.

In form winger Arjen Robben scored a hat trick as Bayern ran riot at the Allianz Arena. Second placed Schalke kept up the pressure on Germany's most successful team thanks to a 3-1 home win against Borussia Moenchengladbach.

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