With a Goal, Scholes Puts United Back in the Hunt

With a Goal, Scholes Puts United Back in the Hunt

Paul Scholes scored his first goal since ending his short-lived retirement to help Manchester United to a 3-0 win over visiting Bolton in England’s Premier League on Saturday.
In the second match of his comeback, Scholes turned in Wayne Rooney’s cross in the 45th minute for his first goal since August 2010. It was Scholes’s 151st league goal, and it helped United pull two points ahead of third-place Tottenham, which tied, 1-1, with relegation-threatened Wolverhampton.

United trails the Manchester City on goal difference, although City can restore its three-point lead by beating Wigan on Monday.

Six months after ending a career during which he only played for United, the 37-year-old Scholes returned in last weekend’s F.A. Cup win at Manchester City. On Saturday, he became the oldest Englishman to score a league goal for United.

“It was a surprise to see him at the far post,” United Manager Alex Ferguson said of Scholes. “With his age and the fact he has just come back, we were looking for him to control central midfield, which he did.

“But he has the instinct. He always has had.”

Danny Welbeck made it 2-0 in the 74th minute from another assist by Rooney, and Michael Carrick completed the scoring with seven minutes remaining. Rooney had a first-half penalty kick saved by goalkeeper Adam Bogdan.

Tottenham dominated visiting Wolves at White Hart Lane but Steven Fletcher put the visitors ahead from a rebound in the 22nd minute after Spurs goalkeeper Brad Friedel parried Roger Johnson’s header from a corner. Emmanuel Adebayor had a goal disallowed for offside just before halftime before Luka Modric tied the score in the 51st.

City and United have 48 points, two more than Tottenham. Chelsea is another six points back in the final Champions League qualifying position after beating Sunderland, 1-0, on Frank Lampard’s goal.

“I’ve never said to anybody that we are going to win the league,” Tottenham Manager Harry Redknapp said. “I know where we are at, and if we can get a Champions League position again this season it will be great for us.”

Liverpool played a scoreless tie with visiting Stoke and could be four points behind fifth-place Arsenal if the Gunners win at Swansea on Sunday. Newcastle could replace Liverpool in sixth place if it beats visiting Queens Park Rangers.

Blackburn lifted itself out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 win over Fulham even though it played 67 minutes with 10 men, and the Los Angeles Galaxy teammates Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane faced each other in Everton’s 1-1 tie at Aston Villa. Donovan set up Darren Bent’s 69th-minute equalizer for Everton.

ROMA STOPPED BY RAIN Roma’s Serie A game at Catania was suspended midway through the second half because of heavy rain in the Sicilian city. The referee, Paolo Tagliavento, decided to bring a halt to the match 21 minutes after halftime with the score tied at 1-1. After waiting five minutes to see if the rain would ease up, the game was officially postponed. Similar weather is predicted for Sunday, when the rest of the Serie A schedule is to be played. The Roma-Catania match will be completed on Feb. 8 or 15, depending on whether Roma beats Juventus to qualify for the Italian Cup semifinals.

REAL MADRID ESCAPES The Spanish league leader Real Madrid survived a scare ahead of its Copa del Rey match against Barcelona this week as it came from behind to win, 2-1, at Mallorca. Madrid’s seventh straight away victory in league play extended its advantage over second-place Barcelona to eight points. Barcelona hosts Real Betis on Sunday.

PATO STAYING AT MILAN The A.C. Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi announced he had decided to keep striker Alexandre Pato at the club rather than sell him to Paris St.-Germain for a reported fee of $44 million. The decision seemingly puts the brakes on Milan’s bid to sign the disgruntled Manchester City striker Carlos Tévez. In a statement on Saturday, Berlusconi said of the overture for Pato, “The whole deal didn’t convince me, neither from a technical point nor from an economical one.”

JONES BACK WITH U.S. Schalke midfielder Jermaine Jones, who has been suspended for eight weeks by Germany’s federation, is joining the United States national team’s training camp ahead of exhibition games against Venezuela and Panama. Jones was suspended on Jan. 5 after the German federation concluded he intentionally stepped on an opponent’s foot during a match. He cannot appear in any competitive or exhibition matches for Schalke until March 1. The United States, mostly with players from Major League Soccer, is scheduled to play Venezuela on Saturday, then is at Panama four days later.

JOHN TO WEST HAM ON LOAN West Ham has signed the American defender George John on a two-month loan from Dallas of M.L.S. West Ham, a second-tier London club, said it obtained John, 24, “with a view to a permanent signing.”