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 champion moved level on points with leader Manchester City Saturday. United had lost its 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 stays two points behind the leaders on 46. Luka Modric equalized for Tottenham after Steven Fletcher had given Wolves a surprise lead. City, which plays at bottom club Wigan Athletic Monday, retains 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), was frustrated in its quest for Champions League qualification when it drew 0-0 at home to Stoke City. 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. In Saturday's other games, newly promoted Norwich City dug out another vital win away from home with a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion. Aston Villa and Everton battled to a 1-1 draw at Villa Park. 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. “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 has been tipped as title contender after winning 14 of their previous 18 league matches to close in on the Manchester clubs but stumbled against Wolves. It fell behind midway through the first half when Fletcher headed the visitors into the lead from their first chance and ended up frustrated despite Modric equalizing 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.
