Van Nistelrooy strike keeps title race alive

Jose Mourinho may be reluctant to acknowledge as much, but the Premiership title contest could well be back on. Manchester United evidently believe so after coming from behind to climb within seven points of Chelsea.  touchline prowl betrayed his anxiety as United strained every sinew for a late winner. The United manager was positively apoplectic when substitute Ruud van Nistelrooy fell under a challenge from Tal Ben Haim and the referee was unmoved by cries for a penalty.

But Ferguson and his cohorts were jigging for joy 11 minutes from the end as his team sliced open the Bolton defence for Van Nistelrooy to secure United's eighth consecutive win. The Dutchman had again been left on the bench and Louis Saha again justified the decision with a glorious equaliser after Kevin Davies had given Bolton the lead against the run of play.

United ought to have spared themselves the late frenzy. Darren Fletcher and Wayne Rooney were thwarted by Jussi Jaaskelainen after 10 minutes and the England striker miscontrolled after Saha's dummy left him in the clear.

Jaaskelainen also made an excellent double save from Ryan Giggs and Rooney and the United players ribbed Rio Ferdinand for an air shot when he found himself in unfamiliar territory.

But Bolton went ahead in the 26th minute when Kevin Nolan played a short pass to Davies, who nutmegged the embarrassed Ferdinand and calmly placed the ball past Edwin van der Sar.

Bolton held the lead for barely six minutes. Mikael Silvestre, having one of his eccentric days defensively, advanced down the left to roll a return pass inside Joey O'Brien for Saha. The striker judged his run perfectly and, using the outside of his left foot, bent a shot around Jaaskelainen and just inside the far post.

Jay-Jay Okocha was a man on a mission in the second half, unleashing three shots from distance. Two fizzed wide but Van der Sar had to react smartly to beat away the pick of the trio.

The much-maligned Fletcher worked tirelessly to fill the gaps for United but was sacrificed just after the hour to make way for Van Nistelrooy. Giggs switched to midfield and Rooney to the left.

Just like a game of basketball, play moved swiftly from one end to the other. Cristiano Ronaldo delivered the centre that Van Nistelrooy attempted to meet when he collided with Ben Haim. Ferguson was still seething as Van Nistelrooy and Ronaldo created an opening for Saha which Jaaskelainen smothered.

Van Nistelrooy lobbed the ball over the bar and shot straight at the Bolton goalkeeper before registering his crucial, 150th goal for United.

10:14 - 2006-Apr-5 - post comment