Manchester United have retained their top position in the Premiership after a dramatic match at Old Trafford on April 5 that saw the scoreline swing several times. United opened the scoring in the 13th minute with Cristiano Ronaldo on target from an indirect free-kick inside the penalty area, but lost their grip and managed to fall behind after a 31st minute John Carew and a 58th minute Gabriel Agbonlahor goals.
United regrouped and pushed everything they had forward in attack to bridge the gap with Liverpool, who were two points ahead of them in the table, having won a day earlier against Fulham. Ronaldo then scored again in the 80th minute and debutant Federico Macheda scored a third in added time, insuring that Alex Ferguson's men would claim the three points and intensify the drama at the top of the Premiership.
The win put United back on the top of the table, a point clear of Liverpool and with a game in hand. After the match, Ferguson was quoted as saying by the United website: "The surge towards the end of every game at United is always great and you always hope you can get something out of it."
"It doesn't always happen, but the drive and determination to do so is always there. We were seven or eight players short against Villa, but you could see how the young lads were prepared to go right until the very end.
Regarding Macheda, Alex Ferguson said: "His whole contribution was fantastic from the minute he arrived. He made some penetrative runs and was a threat all the time; I actually thought he could have had a penalty when he went for header not long after he came on."
"I said 'well done' to him afterwards, but he'll need to keep his feet on the ground because he'll get a lot of publicity over the next few days and he'll need to handle that."
Arsenal cruised past Villarreal 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium to make it through 4-1 overall and set up a mouth-watering tie between the two Barclays Premier League sides.
Chelsea 4-3 Bolton Wanderers
Federico Macheda climbed off the bench to snatch victory for the second time in a week as Manchester United clawed their way back to the top of the Barclays Premier League table.
