Date:02/03/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/02/stories/2008030260221900.htm

Sport - Football

Bendtner saves the day for Arsenal

LONDON: Arsenal scored a late goal to force a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa but saw its lead at the top of the Premier League cut to one point after Manchester United won 3-0 at Fulham on Saturday.

Substitute Nicklas Bendtner netted with seconds remaining to deny Villa victory and take Arsenal to 65 points, one more than United which stays second. Third-placed Chelsea won 4-0 at West Ham United despite having Frank Lampard, who scored the opening goal against his former side, sent off after 33 minutes. Chelsea has 58 points and a game in hand on the top two.

Birmingham City improved its chances of avoiding the drop with a 4-1 home win over League Cup winner Tottenham Hotspur thanks to a Mikael Forssell hat-trick.

Reading ended a run of eight successive league defeats with a 1-0 victory at Middlesbrough but stayed in the relegation zone along with Fulham and Derby County, which drew 0-0 at home to Sunderland, which ended a run of 10 successive away league defeats.

The results: Arsenal 1 (Bendtner 90) drew with Aston Villa 1 (Senderos 27-og); Birmingham 4 (Forssell 7, 59, 81, Larsson 55) bt Tottenham 1 (Jenas 90); Derby 0 drew with Sunderland 0; Fulham 0 lost to Manchester United 3 (Hargreaves 15, Park 44, Davies 72-og); Middlesbrough 0 lost to Reading 1 (Harper 90); Newcastle 0 lost to Blackburn 1 (Derbyshire 90); West Ham 0 lost to Chelsea 4 (Lampard 17-pen, J. Cole 20, Ballack 22, A.Cole 64). — Agencies