Aston Villa missed the chance to go second in the Premier League after being held to a goalless draw by Wigan on Saturday. Villa though stayed fourth and five points clear of Arsenal after the Gunners were also held to a 0-0 stalemate in a London derby at home to West Ham. Manchester United can stretch their lead at the top to five points if they beat Everton in Saturday's late kick-off.
If the English, European and world champions do win at Old Trafford that will add to the pressure on title rivals Chelsea and Liverpool, second and third respectively, ahead of their meeting at Anfield on Sunday. At the other end of the table, ten-man Stoke climbed out of the bottom three with a 1-0 win at home to cash-rich Manchester City.
James Beattie's header on the stroke of half-time secured the points for Tony Pulis's men after Rory Delap was sent-off at the Britannia Stadium following a clash with Shaun Wright-Phillips. Bolton Wanderers, who for the second time in a week threatened to throw away a 2-0 lead, moved further away from the relegation zone with a 3-2 win over fellow strugglers Tottenham. French defender Sebastien Puygrenier put the home side in front at the Reebok Stadium when he headed in Mark Davies's 31st minute free-kick.
Then Bolton doubled their lead in the 64th minute when striker Kevin Davies shot into the far coner from a Gary Cahill flick-on. However, that was merely the cue for Darren Bent to bring the Londoners back into the game. Pascal Chimbonda, in his first game for Spurs since returning from Wigan, cut the ball back for Bent to score from close range in the 73rd minute. Two minutes later the England striker was on target again when Wilson Palacios's shot was parried into his path by Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen.
Bolton, just as they'd been against Blackburn, now found themselves pegged back to 2-2. But there was still time for Davies to score his second goal three minutes from time when the forward headed in a Matt Taylor corner. West Brom remained bottom of the table despite twice coming from behind in a 2-2 draw with Hull City. Hull went ahead just before half-time when Bernard Mendy burst into the box and beat Baggies goalkeeper Scott Carson.
But Jay Simpson, on loan from Arsenal, drew the Baggies level with his first Premier League goal in the 53rd minute Mendy then set up Craig Fagan for Hull's second before West Brom equalised from the penalty spot through Chris Brunt after Robert Koren was brought down in the box by Kamil Zayatte. Middlesbrough and Blackburn also remained in the relegation zone after a goalless draw at the Riverside. Fulham piled the pressure on Portsmouth and their manager Tony Adams with a 3-1 win at Craven Cottage.
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