Gunners in penalty farce
Premiership leaders Chelsea were the ones to benefit – on a day when they did not even play – as second-placed Tottenham drew 1-1 at Manchester United.
However, the talking point of the day was Arsenal midfielder Robert Pires’ arrogant attempt to pass a second-half penalty to captain and club record goalscorer Thierry Henry which backfired spectacularly when he fluffed the attempt and referee Alan Riley overturned the award.
Arsenal went on to win 1-0 thanks to an earlier spot-kick from Pires in the 61st minute when David James fouled Henry but it could have been costly had Darius Vassell’s header with 11 minutes remaining not been disallowed.
Manchester United scored their 999th Premier League goal in taking the lead against Tottenham but it came courtesy of a mistake from England goalkeeper Paul Robinson.
The Red Devils, in third place, capitalised when Robinson fumbled Ruud van Nistelrooy’s header from Paul Scholes’ free-kick and Mikael Silvestre dived in to put United ahead.
However, Jermaine Jenas’ 72nd-minute curling 20-yard free-kick proved good enough for a point.
Wigan’s incredible run in the Premiership continued as they beat Aston Villa 2-0.
Henri Camara’s 32nd-minute cross was turned into his own net by Hughes and eight minutes from time Alan Mahon drove home the Latics’ second.
Fulham pulled off a surprise at Craven Cottage with a 2-0 victory over Liverpool.
The visitors dominated possession without creating much and they were punished in the 30th minute when a lapse in defence saw Claus Jensen lift the ball over the backline and Collin John chested down and fired past Jose Reina.
Fulham lost goalkeeper Mark Crossley to injury on the hour but Cardiff’s on-loan goalkeeper Tony Warner kept out his former club, producing good saves from Luis Garcia and Sami Hyypia.
And Luis Boa-Morte finished things off by capitalising on a wide-open Liverpool defence by firing home left-footed in added time.
Birmingham’s troubles at the foot of the table deepened with a 2-0 defeat at Blackburn.
Paul Dickov opened the scoring with a 48th-minute penalty before substitute Craig Bellamy sealed victory eight minutes from time.
