… United draw level with City; Tottenham held by Wolves
LONDON, England (Reuters) – Evergreen Paul Scholes marked his return to Premier League duty with the first goal for Manchester United in a 3-0 home win against Bolton Wanderers as the champions moved level on points with leaders Manchester City yesterday. United had lost their previous two league games and there were some jitters when Wayne Rooney’s early penalty was saved but Scholes’ effort at the end of the first half was followed by goals from Danny Welbeck and Michael Carrick.
Tottenham Hotspur squandered the chance to make it a three-way tie at the top when they could only draw 1-1 at home to lowly Wolverhampton Wanderers. The north London club stay two points behind the leaders on 46.
Luka Modric equalised for Tottenham after Steven Fletcher had given Wolves a surprise lead.
City, who play at bottom club Wigan Athletic tomorrow, retain top spot from United on goal difference.
Frank Lampard scored the winner for fourth-placed Chelsea (40 points) in a 1-0 defeat of Sunderland but Liverpool, in sixth (35), were frustrated in their quest for Champions League qualification when they drew 0-0 at home to Stoke City.
Arsenal, who are fifth, travel to Swansea City today.
At the bottom, Blackburn Rovers climbed out of the relegation zone with a 3-1 victory at home to Fulham despite playing more than half the match with 10 men after Aiyegbeni Yakubu was given a red card for a rash tackle.
The 37-year-old Scholes, who provided one of the season’s most unexpected turns when he came out of retirement to play in the FA Cup win against Man City last week, scored in first-half stoppage time – his first goal since August 2010.
Former England midfielder Scholes, who announced he was hanging up his boots at the end of last season when he managed just one goal, was on hand to turn in Rooney’s cross to break the deadlock.

GOAL INSTINCT
“It was a bit of a surprise to see (Scholes) pop up at the back post, because at his age and just having come back,” manager Alex Ferguson told Sky Sports.
“We had asked him to control the midfield but he has an instinct and always had the instinct for a goal and that could be an important one for us.”
Even after Scholes had given them the lead Bolton occasionally threatened to draw level but United eventually eased to victory and heap some pressure on City’s trip to Wigan.
Welbeck made it 2-0 when he poked the ball past Adam Bogdan from Rooney’s pass, although the striker appeared to hurt his knee in the process of scoring his eighth goal of the season and was substituted. Carrick’s cool finish wrapped up the points.
Tottenham have been tipped as title contenders after winning 14 of their previous 18 league matches to close in on the Manchester clubs but stumbled against Wolves.
They fell behind midway the first half when Fletcher headed the visitors into the lead from their first chance and ended up frustrated despite Modric equalising with a rasping shot just after halftime.
“All these games are difficult to win,” Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, whose side facing a testing month ahead starting with an away trip to Man City next week, told Sky Sports.
“Wolves were dangerous on the break. There are no easy games in this division but when you don’t get the win you have to make sure you don’t get beat. It’s a point.”
Chelsea halted Sunderland’s revival under manager Martin O’Neill when Lampard’s bundled early goal after Fernando Torres’s volley crashed against the bar earned the home side victory.
Michael Essien made his first appearance for Chelsea for six months following a knee injury when he came off the bench late on as Sunderland pressed for an equaliser.
(Editing by Mark Meadows and Alison Wildey)