London, Apr 18 (IANS): Manchester United's march towards a 13th Barclays Premier League title received a minor setback as they were held to a 2-2 draw by West Ham United at Upton Park while Manchester City edged a narrow victory over Wigan Athletic.
Sir Alex Ferguson's side were hoping to leave the title race absolutely beyond doubt, but after making a sluggish start twice fell behind, Xinhua reported Thursday.
West Hamtook the lead through Ricardo Vaz Te in the 16th minute and Mohamed Diame, 10 minutes after the interval, while goals from Antonio Valencia (31st minute) and Robin Van Persie (58) brought the league leaders level. Despite laying siege to the Hammers' goal, the visitors were unable to produce a winner.
Unlike United,Manchester Cityscored the winner through Carlos Tevez seven minutes from the end to reduce the lead between the city rivals to 13 points. Roberto Mancini's side can move to within 10 points of United if they win their game in hand.
For Wigan, defeat leaves them in the relegation zone, three points from safety.
Meanwhile, John Terry scored in either half to help Chelsea run out 3-0 winners against Fulham after David Luiz 's spectacular long-range strike put the Blues up.
The victory ensured Chelsea's return to third place, a point above Arsenal, with a game in hand over the Gunners.
Results:
Wednesday:
Fulham 0 Chelsea 3 (Luiz 30, Terry 43, 71)
Manchester City 1 (Tevez 83) Wigan 0
West Ham 2 (Vaz Te 16, Diame 55) Manchester United 2 (Valencia 31, Van Persie 77)
Tuesday:
Arsenal 0 Everton 0