D Monday, January 18, 2010 SPORT 27 SOCCER PREMIER LEAGUE Cesc takes leading role to spoil Coyles return Samba deflects pressure off Sam as Rovers find a winning formula Captains role: Nelsen seals a vital victory yesterday Sir Alex Ferguson is hoping a mixture of the old and the new can combine to produce another successful Manchester United title challenge. For much of the season United have appeared below their best and it was the same again on Saturday as they laboured for more than an hour against Burnley. But, eventually, Dimitar Berbatov made the breakthrough, setting Fergusons side on their way to a 3-0 win with further goals from Wayne rooney and new boy Mame Biram Diouf. The game marked a return to action for Edwin van der Sar, who broke two fingers during a pre-season game in Munich, injured his knee against Everton in November and then saw his wife Annemarie suffer a stroke in their native Holland just before Christmas. But, fit and available after a weeks warm-weather training in Qatar, Ferguson had no hesitation in drafting the goalkeeper straight back in for only his eighth appearance of the season. Edwin was magnificent, said Ferguson. He was steady, his decision-making was great and so was his use of the ball. He is 39 and has 139 caps, two European Cup winners medals and has been in four European finals. You could go on about his experience and it shows. The Dutchman added: it has been hard, of course, but you have to keep going. My wife is back at home in Holland but hopefully soon everything will come back together and she will be over here again. Edwin the star for Ferguson Safe return: Van der Sar Edwins performance today was magnificent Fran-tastic: Merida fires home Arsenals second Picture: Action Images Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Lee, Muamba (McCann 61), Cohen (Gardner 80), Taylor, Klasnic (Elmander 80), K Davies. Booked: Robinson. Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Traore, Fabregas, Eastmond (Merida 63), Diaby, Rosicky (Clichy 74), Eduardo (Vela 84), Arshavin. Booked: Rosicky, Vermaelen. Att: 23,893. Ref: Phil Dowd MATCH FACTS BOLTON 0 ARSENAL 2 By Mark Curtis captain Ryan nelsen ensured Blackburns long-awaited return to winning ways with the second goal against Fulham at Ewood park. nelsen applied the lightest of touches to Benni Mccarthys second-half free-kick to give Sam allardyces side their first three-point haul since november. Fellow centre-back chris Samba had settled the home teams nerves with a fortuitous 25th-minute opener, deflecting home an attempted clearance by former Rover Damien Duff. it meant a winning gamble for under-pressure boss allardyce who dropped talisman David Dunn to the bench after the efforts of last thursdays defeat by aston Villa in the carling cup semi-final, first leg. allardyce said: the pressure is felt by all of us, no one more than the players and staff. We are more tense and nervous than anyone else and we have to accept that as a challenge. Fulham boss Roy Hodgson fears forward clint Dempsey could face a lengthy spell on the sidelines after limping off after the break. Hodgson said: clint will be scanned tomorrow but we feel it might be a posterior cruciate knee ligament which would be very bad for us and he would be out for a while. its a concern up front because with both he and Bobby [Zamora] out it makes us a bit weaker in that area than wed like to be. BLACKBURN 2 FULHAM 0 By Simon Kay Blackburn: Robinson, Chimbonda, Samba, Nelsen, Givet (Hoilett 58), Emerton (Salgado 83), Nzonzi, Reid (Andrews 70), Olsson, Kalinic, McCarthy. Booked: Samba. Fulham: Schwarzer, Kelly, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky (Kallio 46), Duff, Baird, Murphy, Gera, Johnson, Dempsey (Nevland 62). Booked: Baird, Nevland, Gera. Att: 21,287. Ref: Kevin Friend CESC FABrEgAS returned from injury to spoil new Bolton manager Owen Coyles homecoming as Arsenal took the points at the reebok Stadium. gunners captain Fabregas, who missed three matches with a hamstring injury, scored his tenth league goal of the season in the 28th minute after a neat one-two with Eduardo. His surging run then led to fellow Spaniard Fran Merida adding the second 12 minutes from time as former Bolton striker Coyles reign got off to a losing start. Arsenals victory lifted them to within three points of league leaders Chelsea and, with these two teams meeting in the return fixture at the Emirates on Wednesday, Arsene Wengers side could take over at the top this week. The gunners, with Fabregas at the heart of everything, had struggled to create a clear opportunity until they took the lead in the 28th minute. gretar Steinsson slipped on the edge of the penalty area to hand possession to Fabregas who quickly exchanged passes with Eduardo before slotting a low shot past Jussi Jaaskelainen. Arsenals 19-year-old midfielder Craig Eastmond, making his first Premier League start, almost doubled the lead four minutes later with a first-time shot from Fabregas corner, which Jaaskelainen saved on the line with his legs. And the excellent gunners captain should have had a penalty in the 33rd minute when he was caught by defender Zat Knight but referee Phil Dowd waved away the appeals. Bolton began the second half as they had the first, with both Matt Taylor and Tamir Cohen causing visiting keeper Manuel Almunia concern. Fabregas was initially quieter after the break but, when he did take control again, it set up the second goal 12 minutes from time. His run into the penalty area allowed Eduardo to cross from the left and substitute Merida side- footed home to clinch victory. Ear we go: Taylor clashes with Fabregas index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html