A "desperate and frustrated" Manchester United was held to a 1-1 draw by Everton on Sunday as it failed to win in the Premier League four days after its early Champions League exit.
Manchester United failed to take advantage of numerous chances at its Old Trafford stadium. The draw means Manchester United fell one place to third, behind Liverpool on goal difference and 12 points behind leader Chelsea.
"I think we got a bit anxious in the second half," Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said. "In fairness to the players, they were desperate to win it, they tried their best and put a lot of effort into it.
PHOTO: AP
"They [Everton] played much better in the second half in terms of counterattack and I think that just made us a bit more desperate and frustrated.''
Chelsea has 43 points, followed by Liverpool and Manchester United with 31. Tottenham and Bolton are tied with 27, one more than sixth-placed Arsenal.
Everton took the lead after seven minutes when James McFadden scored from a tight angle that Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar couldn't stop.
Manchester United leveled in the 15th, with Ryan Giggs running past the Everton defense to get on the end of a long Paul Scholes pass and score into the corner.
Wayne Rooney, leading the attack against his former club because Ruud van Nistelrooy was suspended, had several chances throughout. Everton goalkeeper Richard Wright needed to stretch to keep out his header and the England striker also headed the ball over the bar in the first half.
Rooney also had one of the last chances of the match but his free kick was pushed away by Wright.
"We had four or five clear chances and their goalkeeper's had an excellent day," Ferguson said. "That sometimes happens when goalkeepers come here, they get inspired.''
Man-of-the-match Phil Neville made his first trip to Old Trafford since moving to Everton at the beginning of the season and played against his brother, Gary.
"We took the game to Manchester United, in the end we were counterattacking and with a bit more quality we could have nicked it," Phil Neville said. "I'm so glad we put in a performance -- sometimes teams get here and are fearful."
Everton moved up two places to 15th with the draw.
Manchester United was eliminated from the Champions League after the group stage for the first time in 10 years when it lost 2-1 at Benfica. Manchester United won the competition in 1999 and Ferguson said the team had to "grit our teeth and get on with it."
"Whilst we bitterly regret our defeat in Lisbon, there is no time for recrimination," Ferguson wrote in the game's program.
Ferguson said Sunday's draw had hurt the club's chances of winning the English title.
"When you draw points, it's never a help to you," he said. "You've got to have a consistency that goes right through the season. Today was no doubt a setback but December's an interesting month because we can win them all, no question about that."
Manchester United plays Wigan on Wednesday, and also faces Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion, Birmingham and Bolton this month.
Peter Lovenkrands scored a hat trick for Rangers in a 3-2 win over Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premier League on Sunday -- its first win in 11 matches.
Lovenkrands scored in the 16th, 42nd and 72nd minutes. Kilmarnock had goals from Gary McDonald in the 61st and Kris Boyd in the 82nd.
The win came three days after Rangers manager Alex McLeish had been told he wouldn't be sacked. McLeish may have saved his job on Tuesday when Rangers became the first Scottish team to reach the final 16 of the Champions League, drawing 1-1 with Inter Milan.
However, the draw marked Rangers' 10th straight game without a victory -- the longest winless string in the club's history.
Celtic leads the standings with 44 points, followed by Hearts with 41, Hibernian with 34, Rangers with 27 and Kilmarnock with 26.
Goals by Sergio Ramos and Robinho gave Real Madrid its first win under new coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro as the Spanish powerhouse beat Malaga 2-0.
Malaga began the match positively, cheered on by a large crowd at the La Rosaleda Stadium where press reports said tickets had gone on sale from 90 euros to 200 euros. Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas was forced to save twice in the 23rd minute.
Madrid gained control after central defender Sergio Ramos rose to head in a goal from a corner taken by Zinedine Zidane in the 34th minute.
Robinho then deftly sidestepped a defender and hit a high shot between two others into the top of the goal in the 38th minute. He could have made it two in two minutes except for a fine save by Malaga goalkeeper Francesc Arnau.
Uruguay striker Richard Morales could have pulled one back for Malaga in the 90th, but for an athletic save by Casillas.
Pierre Achille Webo scored the goal that kept his team vying for league leadership with 34 points from 15 games as Osasuna beat Mallorca 1-0.
The Cameroon striker calmly lobbed into goal in the fifth minute at the El Sadar Stadium after Mallorca goalkeeper Toni Prats made a terrible clearance straight at Webo.
Osasuna leads the standings with 34 points from 15 games, although FC Barcelona can regain top spot on the same points but better goal average in a later match against eighth-place Sevilla. Real Madrid is third on 28 points.
David Trezeguet scored two goals and was involved in two others in Juventus' 4-0 win over Cagliari, stretching the Turin team's lead over Fiorentina and Inter Milan to 10 points in the Serie A.
The 14th victory in 15 matches -- a record in Italy's top league -- lifted Juve to 42 points. Inter Milan leapfrogged city rival AC Milan with a 3-2 win in a tense derby at San Siro, while the day before Fiorentina struggled to a 1-0 win over last-place Treviso.
Inter's Brazilian striker Adriano scored two goals, including the winner in injury time, and helped create another by Obafemi Martins for Inter's first derby win in four years.
AC Milan's second straight loss slipped it to fourth place with 31 points.
Adriano opened the scoring in the 23rd, converting a dubious penalty kick. Andriy Shevchenko also scored from the penalty spot to make it 1-1 in the 39th.
Martins put Inter in front in the 59th when he was quick to pounce on a ball lost by Milan's Brazilian goalkeeper Dida off a powerful free kick by Adriano.
Dutch defender Jaap Stam rallied Milan to 2-2 with a powerful header in the 83rd, but Adriano hit back late with a header off a corner kick, sparking celebrations for a long-awaited victory by Inter fans.
"We deserved to win ... now we must try to catch up Juventus, but it will be difficult," said Adriano, who improved his season total to eight goals.
AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti lamented the referee decisions and the traditional lapses of his defense on long crosses and corner kicks.
"The penalty against Milan was non existent, it was a gift ... we are in a difficult psycholigical situation, we must try to solve our problems," Ancelotti said.
Trezeguet scored his 13th goal of the season in the 54th minute after an assist from Nedved.
Trezeguet's diagonal shot hit the post and Cagliari defender Fabio Vignati deflected the rebound into his own net in the 69th.
Cagliari's eighth loss of the season leaves it close to the bottom with nine points.
Livorno beat Lazio 2-1 on a bizarre own goal by veteran goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi in the closing minutes.
Peruzzi deflected the ball into the net with his head after it had hit the post on a diagonal shot by striker Cristiano Lucarelli to lift Livorno into fifth place.
Also Sunday, Messina beat Chievo Verona 2-0, 10-man Reggina missed a penalty but still drew 1-1 at Ascoli and Palermo won 2-1 at AS Roma for its first win in the last six league matches.
Sampdoria scored a late equalizer in a 1-1 draw at Parma and Udinese, coming off elimination in the group stage of the Champions League, lost 2-1 at home to Lecce.
Oliver Kahn saved a penalty as league leader Bayern Munich took its eighth straight win at home 2-1 against last-place FC Kaiserslautern.
Miroslav Klose, still playing with a face mask over his broken cheekbone, led third-placed Bremen to a 4-1 rout of Cologne with his league-best 15th and 16th goals.
Bayern restored a four-point lead over Hamburg with Bremen six back and wrapped up the Bundesliga's "Winter Championship." After one more round, the Bundesliga will break for a month.
Bayern has yet to come away with less than a win in the league since Allianz Arena opened this season, but it was supposed to be easier against Kaiserslautern.
"At this time of the season, you just have to be happy you win these matches," Bayern coach Felix Magath said. "But if we had to step it up a gear we could, I think we have shown that in the past."
Despite Bayern's domination, the team needed Kahn to dive left in the 59th minute to hand away Erwin Skala's penalty attempt that would have leveled.
Bayern forward Roy Makaay's attempt from the spot was similar, but more precise, sliding just inside the left post, as Bayern went ahead in the 54th minute.
Michael Ballack put Bayern ahead in the 26th minute with a header before Boubacar Sanogo leveled for Kaiserslautern 12 minutes later, sidefooting in a combination that caught Bayern off guard.
Bremen erased a 1-0 lead for the fourth time this season as it generated its 45th goal in 16 matches.
After Imre Szabics put Cologne -- winless in 11 matches -- ahead in the 24th minute, Bremen stars Johan Micoud and Klose took over.
After a free kick by Bremen's Naldo leveled at 1-1, Micoud passed to Klose for the Frenchman's 10th assist this season. Micoud and Klose then added the final two goals.
"They believe in themselves and their abilities -- and then you have those kind of goals," Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf said of his players.
Striker Dirk Kuyt scored in the sixth minute and Feyenoord beat PSV Eindhoven 1-0 in the Eredivisie.
Feyenoord, AZ Alkmaar and PSV lead the standings with 35 points. AZ Alkmaar beat FC Twente 3-1 on Saturday.
Also, NEC Nijmegen continued its good form with a 1-0 win over Roda Kerkrade to move into fourth place on 27 points; while Ajax beat Vitesse Arnhem 2-0 to go into sixth place with 24 points.
At Rotterdam, Kuyt took advantage of a weak clearance by PSV goalkeeper Gomes to slot home.
Feyenoord dominated the match with darting runs from Salomon Kalou proving a handful to PSV.
Jefferson Farfan wasted four chances in the first half for PSV. The Peru forward failed to capitalize on a mix-up in the Feyenoord defense by shooting wide in the 26th minute.
Five minutes later, Farfan's weak header was cleared by Feyenoord defender Pascal Bosschaart.
"In the first half, we created a lot of chances," PSV coach Guus Hiddink said. "We also took control of the game, but we failed to score."
At Arnhem, captain Tomas Galasek scored a first-half penalty and Angelos Charisteas converted on a pass from Markus Rosenberg in the 75th.
Also Sunday, FC Utrecht played its first game since 26-year-old defender David di Tommaso died in his sleep on Nov. 28, losing 2-0 to FC Groningen; and RKC Waalwijk beat Sparta Rotterdam 3-2.
Former Swedish international Hakan Mild played his last game when IFK Goteborg lost 3-1 to Norway's Lyn in the Royal League.
Mild, a 33-year-old midfielder, played 458 games for Goteborg since 1987. He also had stints with Servette, Real Sociedad and Wimbledon.
In 1994, he was a member of the Swedish team that finished third in the World Cup in the US. He played 74 games for Sweden.
When Mild trotted off the field many of the 6,000 fans gave him a standing ovation, singing "We love you Hakan" and "Stand up for Hakan Mild."
"It was fantastic," said Mild, who will take an office job with the former two-time UEFA Cup champion.
Jo Tessem had two goals for Lyn. Stefan Gislason also scored for the Norwegians. Karl Svensson gave Goteborg an early lead.
Djurgarden of Stockholm, which was idle, leads Group 3 with six points on better goal difference than Lyn. Goteborg has four points and Aalborg of Denmark has one.
In Group 2, Espen Sogard scored a late goal to give Norway's Lillestrom a 1-0 away win over Brondby of Denmark.
Kalmar edged RL champion FC Copenhagen 1-0 at home in the other Group 3 match with Brazilian Cesar Santin getting the game-winner just before halftime.
Lillestrom tops the group with eight points, while Kalmar has five. Brondby and Copenhagen have two points each.
Start and Valerenga drew 3-3 in an all-Norwegian Group 1 game. Stefan Barlin had two goals for Start. Morten Berre also scored two for Valerenga. Glenn Andersen saved a point for Valerenga by getting the equalizer in the 89th minute.
Valerenga leads the group with five points, one ahead of Midtjylland of Denmark and Hammarby of Sweden, who meet today in Stockholm. Start has two points.
The Royal League involves the top four teams from Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
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