Soccer:Wayne Rooney was left on the bench as Manchester United's Barclays Premier League title chances took yet another blow after they were held to a shock 2-2 draw against West Brom at Old Trafford. Alex Ferguson's side proved brittle in defence again as they let a 2-0 halftime lead slip to Roberto Di Matteo's high-flying Baggies.
Javier Hernandez was handed his second league start as Ferguson chose to leave Rooney on the bench after he contradicted his manager over an apparent ankle injury while on England duty in midweek.
The 24-year-old watched on as the Mexican forward pounced quickly to tap home after Scott Carson spilled Nani’s fifth minute free-kick.
The Portuguese made no mistake from 12 yards to give United a 2-0 half time lead but the Baggies, who had beaten Arsenal at the Emirates last month, hit back with two quickfire second half goals.
First Chris Brunt’s free kick went in off Patrice Evra before Somen Tchoyi tapped in from six yards after Edwin van der Saar dropped a Brunt cross under no pressure.
The result means the Red Devils stay in third but could find themselves one place lower if Manchester City beat Blackpool tomorrow.
“It is an inexplicable result and obviously frustrating,” said Ferguson, who also confirmed Ryan Giggs is set for an extended spell on the sidelines after suffering another setback on his comeback after a fortnight out. “I suppose there are two ways of looking at it. If we were in the middle of the league we could say we were still undefeated. For us it is not good enough.”
Nicolas Anelka was denied a dramatic late winner by the woodwork as Aston Villamaintained their impressive home record with a 0-0 draw against table-toppers Chelsea.
Anelka could have earned the Blues only a second league win in their last 12 visits to Villa Park but his header from Ashley Cole's header bounced up and against the crossbar in the last minute of normal time.
Arsenalare now their nearest challengers but they had to come from behind to get back to winning ways with a 2-1 victory over Birminghamat the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners looked to be heading towards a damaging third successive defeat when Nikola Zigic gave Birmingham a shock lead with a 33rd-minute header.
But Samir Nasri’s controversial penalty, which came after Marouane Chamakh went down under little pressure from Scott Dann, and a strike from the Moroccan hitman, sealed the victory which moves Arsene Wenger’s side into second.
Jack Wilshere was dismissed for a straight red at the death.
Arsene Wenger admitted the youngster deserved the dismissal but insisted it there was no malice in the tackle.
“He mistimed his tackled and got a red card, which he deserved,” said the Arsenal manager. “Jack has acknowledged he deserved it, but he did not spend his whole game trying to kick people, he was one of the best players on the pitch today.
“It was more of frustration and did not want to hurt the player, but we do not complain about the red card.”
Mark Noble saved Robert Green's blushes as he scored a second-half penalty to salvage a 1-1 draw for West Hamagainst relegation rivals Wolvesat Molineux.
Green, who was recalled by England manager Fabio Capello last week, had shown signs of recovery from his horrendous blunder at the World Cup in the Hammers’ previous two matches, but his failure to clear a routine corner handed Matt Jarvis an easy tap-in to put Mick McCarthy’s side ahead.
Noble then levelled from the spot after Kevin Foley fouled Victor Obinna in the Wolves box to ensure that rock bottom Hammers remain level on points with the Midlanders.
Tom Huddlestone's controversial second-half strike ended Fulham's unbeaten record as Tottenhamran out 2-1 winners at Craven Cottage.
Roman Pavlyuchenko tapped in to restore parity in the 31st minute after Diomansy Kamara’s first of the season had put Fulham ahead just seconds earlier.
Fulham pushed for a winner but the game was decided by Huddlestone’s 30-yard strike, which the Cottagers disputed after William Gallas appeared to be in an offside position as the ball went in.
A Fabricio Coloccini goal deep into injury time gave Newcastlea 2-2 draw against Wiganat St James' Park.
Charles N’Zogbia, who joined the Latics from Newcastle last year, headed Wigan ahead in the 22nd minute before he slammed a left-foot screamer past Tim Krul to make it 2-0 a minute later.
Substitute Shola Ameobi scored his first league goal of the season to put Chris Hughton’s side back in it before Argentina centre half Coloccini snatched a point right at the end.
Substitute Ivan Klasnic's strike two minutes into injury time gave Boltona 2-1 win over Stokeat the Reebok Stadium.
Rory Delap’s first goal in over a year had looked to have given Stoke a creditable 1-1 draw after Lee Chung-yong’s 25-yard strike put Trotters ahead.
But Klasnic tapped in from six yards before being sent off for a second yellow card in the dying seconds.