A mixed weekend for Scholes, Henry, Keane and Hughes as they make their Premier League returns.
Red Devils back on track; Swans stun Gunners; Hughes opens with loss
It was a mixed weekend for Paul Scholes, Thierry Henry, Robbie Keane and Mark Hughes as they made their respective returns to Premier League action.
Manchester United hauled themselves level with table-topping Manchester City, Arsenal suffered yet more misery on the road, Aston Villa were held on home soil and Queens Park Rangers started life under their new boss with defeat on Tyneside.
Victory for Newcastle kept them in the top-four hunt, Tottenham missed the opportunity to keep pace with the leaders, Chelsea ground out a welcome three points, Norwich's fairytale run continued and Blackburn hauled themselves out of the drop zone.
With City not in action until Monday night,
Manchester United took the opportunity to
draw level with their arch-rivals at the Premier League summit. North West neighbours
Bolton were ruthlessly swept aside at Old Trafford, with a returning hero stealing the show at the Theatre of Dreams. Scholes, making his first top flight start since coming out of retirement, broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time with a trademark burst into the box that allowed him to convert a Wayne Rooney cross. Danny Welbeck poked home to double the Red Devils' lead after the interval, before Michael Carrick wrapped things up seven minutes from time as he found the corner from 20 yards.
Tottenham would have joined City and United in a three-way tie at the top had they been able to see off struggling
Wolves at White Hart Lane, but they were
surprisingly held to a 1-1 draw. The in-from Steven Fletcher put the visitors in front, bumping his transfer value up in the process. Luka Modric hauled Spurs level early in the second half, but they were unable to find a second. Harry Redknapp's side are now unbeaten in seven, and only two points off the pace, but they will feel that a golden opportunity to lay down a title marker has passed them by.
Chelsea are eight points adrift of the league leaders and are
clinging onto their top-four standing by their fingernails. They continue to occupy the final UEFA Champions League spot courtesy of a hard-fought 1-0 victory over rejuvenated
Sunderland. Frank Lampard offered another timely reminder to boss Andre Villas-Boas of his value as he grabbed the only goal of the game at Stamford Bridge. Both sides saw second-half penalty shouts fall on deaf ears, with Blues striker Fernando Torres enduring another of those afternoons where luck deserts him.
Liverpool slipped off the pace in the race for fourth spot after being held to a goalless draw by
Stoke. The Reds were unable to break down stubborn Potters resistance at Anfield, leaving them frustrated. Dirk Kuyt spurned the best of the hosts' opportunities, and the Dutchman was left cursing his misfortune at the final whistle. While Liverpool were undoubtedly hoping for better than a share of the spoils, a point apiece means Stoke remain handily placed inside the
