Nani and Owen salvage draw for Man United


LONDON, (Reuters)
– A sensational solo goal by  Portuguese winger Luis Nani and a Michael Owen header salvaged a 2-2 draw for Manchester United against Bolton Wanderers in a lively Premier League derby yesterday.

Aston Villa moved into fifth spot when Emile Heskey’s late header earned them a 2-1 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers in Gerard Houllier’s first league match in charge of the midlands club while Stoke City won 2-1 at Newcastle United to move out of  the bottom three after trailing at halftime.

Nani’s audacious dribble from the halfway line cancelled out  an early goal by defender Zat Knight and, after Martin Petrov  had restored Bolton’s lead, Owen came off the bench to rescue  Alex Ferguson’s side with his 200th goal in English football.

United’s third consecutive away draw of the season meant  they missed the chance to take full advantage of Chelsea’s 1-0  defeat at Manchester City on Saturday and Arsenal’s surprising  3-2 home loss to West Bromwich Albion.

Champions Chelsea have 15 points from six games with United  on 12. Arsenal and City have 11 points with Villa on 10.
United’s struggle completed an unpredictable weekend in  England’s top flight and left Ferguson frustrated.

United have dominated near neighbours Bolton in recent  years, winning 10 of their last 11 meetings, but they were  rocked after six minutes when Knight shot past Edwin van der Sar  from close range.

The visitors were level after 23 minutes when Nani took  possession near the halfway line and set off towards Bolton’s  goal. After ghosting past three defenders, the Portuguese winger  angled a shot past Jussi Jaaskelainen.

Wayne Rooney, playing his first away game since revelations  about his private life were plastered across the tabloids,  endured another quiet match and was substituted after the break  by Federico Macheda, suffering a slight ankle knock.

The England striker has managed just one goal for United  since March and that came from the penalty spot against West Ham  United this month.

Bolton regained the lead in the 67th minute with a sweeping  move which ended with Johan Elmander feeding former Manchester  City player Petrov to fire in a shot that deflected off Darren  Fletcher and inside the post.

Elmander wasted a glorious chance to make it 3-1 and Bolton  paid the price when Nani’s teasing free kick was glanced in by  Owen for his first league goal of the season to reach a notable  career landmark.

“Scoring has always been a part of my career, and it’s  always nice to score goals, but it’s tinged with disappointment  at not getting the win,” Owen said.

Houllier, who witnessed many of Owen’s goals while manager of Liverpool, was full of praise for the often maligned Heskey, another player who thrived under him at Anfield.

Heskey’s thumping header from Ashley Young’s cross after 88 minutes gave Villa the points after Villa had seen an early lead given to them by Stewart Downing cancelled out by Matt Jarvis.