MANUTD BEATS ARSENAL 2-1

Manchester United gets better of Arsenal, 2-1

Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves celebrates after scoring against Arsenal on Sunday during an English Premier League game at Old Trafford Stadium.
The third-place Gunners' chances of winning the English Premier League title are all but ended with loss. Owen Hargreaves is difference-maker with free kick goal that curled just inside left post.


An astonishing free kick goal by Canadian-born midfielder OwenHargreaves earned English Premier League leader Manchester United a 2-1 victory over Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday, all but mathematically ending the third-place Gunners' chances of winning the title.Hargreaves' goal, which curled just inside the left post, came 18 minutes from the end of a pulsating match that saw Arsenal take the lead on a goal by EmmanuelAdebayor only for Cristiano Ronaldo to tie it with a penalty kick for his 38th goal of an extraordinary season.But it was former Bayern Munich player Hargreaves who got the postgame plaudits with a shot that was struck so well that it left Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, Germany's No. 1, frozen and helpless on his line.The goal was the 100th in 50 games in all competitions this season for Manchester United, and Alex Ferguson, the team's manager, was almost ready to celebrate.

"If we win the next two games, we are champions," Ferguson said.

Arsenal Coach Arsene Wenger was ready to concede that his team, now nine points behind United with only four games to play, has dropped out of the running."We have to accept we will not win the title, and that is difficult to swallow because I don't feel there is a difference in quality between us and Chelsea and Manchester United," Wenger said.


It was the second time in a week that Hargreaves had produced something special.

Manchester United's game-winning goal in Wednesday night's European Champions League quarterfinal victory over AS Roma was scored on a diving header by Argentina's Carlos Tevez, but it was only made possible by a perfect cross from Hargreaves.Afterward, praise came from the master of the perfect cross.

"It was a great goal," David Beckham said, "but I was more interested in the cross. I've played with Owen before and I've always said that he was one of the best. Even when he was getting all the criticism [while] playing for England, I've always been a big fan of his because I know what sort of player he is and how hard he works on his game."Now that he's at a club like Manchester United, he's going to move forward, he's going to become a great player."

The only Premier League team that now has a chance of catching Manchester United is second-place Chelsea, which needs to defeat Wigan on Monday to close to within three points of United.Unless Chelsea or Manchester United slips up before then, the title probably will be decided April 26 when United visits Stamford Bridge.Even a Chelsea victory that day might not be enough, however, because of the far superior goal difference free-flowing Manchester United has piled up.