Van Der Sar's horror show

For the second time this season, Sir Alex Ferguson's men threw away a two-goal lead as they were forced to settle for their fifth draw of the season.

With Wayne Rooney left on the bench, Ferguson's decision to leave his star striker out was justified almost immediately when Javier Hernandez scored his first Premier League goal to put the home side ahead after five minutes.

Hernandez responded quickest after Scott Carson could only push away Nani's free-kick, and it was Nani who got his name on the scoresheet 20 minutes later as United looked to be on course for a comfortable victory. The Portuguese winger pounced when Nicky Shorey slipped on the ball, and after a slick one-two with Dimitar Berbatov, fired to ball into the net to double United's lead.

With Ferguson's men cruising at half-time, the Baggies refused to lie down and grabbed one back after the United defence failed to clear their lines from a cross, and Patrice Evra got the last touch under pressure from Somen Tchoyi.

And Tchoyi scored the equaliser after Van der Sar failed to hold on to a simple catch and Tchoyi was on call to tap the ball home from close range. Ferguson turned to Rooney as United desperately searched for a winner, but Roberto Martinez's side held firm and had a number of chances to steal a three points on the break.

Nicolas Anelka was denied a dramatic late winner by the woodwork as Aston Villa maintained their impressive home record against Chelsea.

Anelka could have earned the Blues only their second league win in the last 12 visits to Villa Park but his downward header from Ashley Cole's header bounced up and against the crossbar.

It would have been rough justice for Villa who had done enough to earn at least a share of the spoils - and should themselves have won the game in injury time as Nigel Reo-Coker shot wide when one-on-one with keeper Petr Cech.

Arsenal avoided a third straight defeat after coming from behind to beat Birmingham City 2-1 at Emirates Stadium. The Gunners went behind from a Nikola Zigic header, but Samir Nasri converted from the spot after Scott Dann was deemed to have fouled Marouane Chamakh, who scored his third goal of the season to seal three points for Arsene Wenger's men, who had Jack Wilshere sent off in the final minute for a wild challenge.

Tom Huddlestone scored a controversial winner as Tottenham Hotspur clinched a 2-1 away win at Fulham. Huddlestone's long range effort found its way into Mark Schwarzer's net, but although defender William Gallas failed to get a touch, the assistant referee signalled the defender had been offside position. However, referee Mike Dean overruled the linesman and awarded the goal.

Fulham had enjoyed much of the possession at Craven Cottage and went ahead through Diomansy Kamara on the half-hour mark. But the lead was short-lived as Roman Pavlyuchenko netted just a minute later after Rafael van der Vaart's delicate chip over the Schwarzer struck the crossbar.

Newcastle United left it late to snatch a 2-2 draw at home to Wigan Athletic. The Magpies looked to be on course for their third home defeat of the season after striker Charles N'Zogbia struck twice in as many minutes to sink his old club, but Fabricio Coloccini's header sealed a point after Shola Ameobi's header pulled one back for the home side.

Ivan Klasnic scored a last-gasp winner to clinch a 2-1 win for Bolton Wanderers against Stoke City before seeing red. Rory Delap looked to have salvaged a point for the Potters after scoring his first goal since January 2009 to cancel out Chung-Yong Lee's opener, but Klasnic came off the bench to snatch all three points before being shown two yellow cards in the space of a minute as Bolton ended the game with ten-men.

In the clash of the bottom two, Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw at Molineux. Matt Jarvis fired Wolves ahead after ten minutes when Rob Green failed to clear the ball, but Mark Noble equalised from the penalty spot after Kevin Foley had brought down Victor Obinna.

Source: espnsoccernet.com