Manchester United left it late to close the gap on leaders Chelsea as Park Ji-Sung’s stoppage-time strike clinched a dramatic 2-1 win over Wolves at Old Trafford yesterday.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side moved within two points of Chelsea thanks to Park’s heroics on a miserable day for United midfielder Owen Hargreaves, whose comeback from a long injury absence lasted less than six minutes.

South Korea midfielder Park gave United the lead just before the break when he latched onto Darren Fletcher’s pass and fired home.

Former United trainee Sylvan Ebanks-Blake stunned Old Trafford when he equalised in the 66th minute with his first contribution after coming off the bench, pouncing on a poor shot from Nenad Milijas and driving past Edwin van der Sar.

But Park stole the show with a fine individual effort in the last seconds.

While United were celebrating, there was despair for Hargreaves as the United midfielder limped off with a hamstring injury just six minutes into his first start for over two years following recurring knee problems.

“It was a long struggle,” Ferguson told MUTV. “Given the changes I had to make, trying to get the continuity of performance was difficult.

“Some players played with touches of flu and others with diarrhoea, so we’ve done really well to get a result.”

Chelsea can reopen their five-point advantage with a win at Liverpool today, while Arsenal would go back above United if they defeat Newcastle.

Bolton brought Tottenham back down to earth after their Champions League heroics as the hosts beat Harry Redknapp’s team 4-2 at the Reebok Stadium.

Just four days ago, Spurs were the toast of Europe after their Gareth Bale-inspired victory against holders Inter.

But Kevin Davies fired Bolton ahead from an offside position in the first half before Gretar Rafn Steinsson increased their lead after the interval.

Davies added a third from the penalty spot and, although Alan Hutton and Roman Pavlyuchenko struck for Tottenham to set up a nervous finish, Martin Petrov netted Bolton’s fourth.

“The goals we shipped were poor goals but they weren’t going to stand off us and let us play. They worked their socks off and made it difficult for us,” Redknapp said.

Birmingham piled on the misery for West Ham co-owner David Gold as Alex McLeish’s side battled back for a 2-2 draw at St Andrew’s.

Gold was barred from the directors’ box after angering Birmingham supremo Carson Yeung with some controversial comments about the club he used to own with David Sullivan.

His bottom of the table team were cruising when Frederic Piquionne struck in the 48th minute before Valon Behrami netted 10 minutes later.

But Cameron Jerome got one back for Birmingham in the 64th minute and Liam Ridgewell equalised in the 73rd minute after Rob Green parried Sebastian Larsson’s free-kick.

Blackpool held

Everton’s Seamus Coleman returned to haunt Blackpool as he rescued a 2-2 draw at Bloomfield Road.

Ian Holloway’s hosts went ahead as Neal Eardley marked his 22nd birthday with a superb 10th minute free-kick.

Everton levelled when Australia midfielder Tim Cahill met Ayegbeni Yakubu’s cross in the 13th minute to head home his 50th Premier League goal.

David Vaughan’s deflected effort restored Blackpool’s lead in the 48th minute.

But Coleman, who helped Blackpool win promotion during a loan spell last season, equalised two minutes later when Matt Gilks’ allowed his shot to squirm into the net.

Fulham defender Brede Hangeland bagged a last-gasp equaliser as the Cottagers rescued a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa, who had taken the lead through Marc Albrighton.

Results

Premier League

Birmingham 2
Jerome 64; Ridgewell 73;
West Ham 2
Piquionne 48; Behrami 58;

HT: 0-0. Att: 26,474.

Blackburn 2
Pedersen 58; Roberts 67;
Wigan 1
N’Zogbia 74;

HT: 0-0. Att: 24,413.

Blackpool 2
Eardley 10; Vaughan 48;
Everton 2
Cahill 13; Coleman 50;

HT: 1-1. Att: 16,094.

Bolton 4
Davies 31, 76 pen; Steinsson 56; Petrov 90;
Tottenham 2
Hutton 79; Pavlyuchenko 87;

HT: 1-0. Att: 20,255.

Fulham 1
Hangeland 90;
Aston Villa 1
Albrighton 41;

HT: 0-1. Att: 23,654.

Man. United 2
Park 45, 90;
Wolves 1
Ebanks-Blake 66;

HT: 1-0. Att: 75,285

Sunderland 2
Gyan 9, 86;
Stoke 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 36,541.
Red card: Shawcross (St) 82.

Top Scorers

7 goals: Malouda (Chelsea), Nolan (Newcastle), Tevez (Man. City).
6 goals: Bent (Sunderland), Berbatov (Man. United); Drogba (Chelsea.
5 goals: Cahill (Everton), Carroll (Newcastle); Elmander (Bolton); Kalou (Chelsea).
4 goals: Davies (Bolton), Dempsey (Fulham), Nani (Man. United), Nasri (Arsenal), Van der Vaart (Tottenham).

Next matches
Tuesday: 20.45 Stoke vs Birmingham. 21.00 Tottenham vs Sunderland.
Wednesday: 20.45 Aston Villa vs Blackpool; Chelsea vs Fulham; Newcastle vs Blackburn; West Ham vs West Brom; Wigan vs Liverpool. 21.00 Everton vs Bolton; Man. City vs Man. United; Wolves vs Arsenal.
Saturday: 13.45 Aston Villa vs Man. United. 16.00 Manchester City vs Birmingham; Newcastle United vs Fulham; Tottenham vs Blackburn; West Ham United vs Blackpool; Wigan vs West Brom; Wolves vs Bolton. 18.30 Stoke City vs Liverpool.
Sunday: 15.00 Everton vs Arsenal. 17.10 Chelsea vs Sunderland.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.