Bolton 2 Manchester Utd 2:Manchester United failed to take maximum advantage of yesterday's defeats for Chelsea and Arsenal when they were forced to settle for a point at Bolton.
United twice found themselves behind, first to Zat Knight’s early flick and then to Martin Petrov’s second-half effort.
But Nani’s solo strike brought them level before the interval before substitute Michael Owen flicked home the winger’s free-kick to leave United three points adrift of leaders Chelsea.
United started with intent and the in-form Dimitar Berbatov fired wide from an acute angle when Ryan Giggs was screaming for a square ball into the penalty area.
Johan Elmander and Kevin Davies then combined to provide Lee Chung-yong with a shooting opportunity.
The South Korean’s effort flicked off Patrice Evra but from the corner Petrov picked out Knight at the far post after the Bolton defender had got in front of Jonny Evans.
Knight’s finish might not have exactly been orthodox, but with the back of his boot he propelled the ball into the corner of Edwin van der Sar’s net.
It was only Knight’s third goal in three years and it gave Bolton extra determination to repel United’s attempts to counter.
The one consolation for United was that they were creating chances at regular intervals.
Yet even they must have been amazed at the ease with which Nani darted straight through the heart of the Bolton defence before drilling a 20-yard shot beyond Jussi Jaaskelainen and into the bottom corner.
Already half-hearted claims for a penalty for handball against Evans were quietened by Phil Dowd awarding a free-kick to the visitors for a push by Kevin Davies on Nemanja Vidic.
Knight then did well to clear a Nani cross as he was facing his own goal and under pressure from Wayne Rooney.
The United striker has still not scored from open play this season but a 20-yard effort went whistling over as the visitors started to turn up the heat.
Vidic headed the last chance of the half wide when Giggs picked him out with a far-post corner.
Evra created an early opportunity in the second half for Rooney before the striker’s first-time effort bounced wide.
Petrov had the home supporters off their seats with a powerful drive from 25 yards, then Elmander half charged-down a Van der Sar clearance but United managed to get enough men back to defend the situation before Bolton could threaten.
Park Ji-sung replaced Giggs as Bolton were preparing to take a corner Vidic had conceded with his tackle on Elmander. It did not matter anyway as Davies’s header bounced harmlessly wide.
Ferguson introduced Federico Macheda for Rooney with half an hour remaining. As with the departure of Didier Drogba for Chelsea, it was a major surprise, even if Rooney’s contribution had not exactly been sparkling.
The move almost paid immediate dividends too as Macheda played an excellent return pass to Berbatov, whose first-time shot forced Jaaskelainen to fumble behind.
Instead, Bolton were the ones to strike through Petrov. Knowing how lethal the Bulgarian can be, United should really have kept a closer eye on Petrov when he latched on to the ball inside the area.
But he was allowed to beat Park before beating Van der Sar with a shot that flicked off John O’Shea.
Owen eventually replaced Darren Fletcher but the game should have been over when Elmander muscled his way past Vidic only to balloon his shot high over the bar with just Van der Sar to beat.
It proved to be a costly miss as Owen equalised on United’s next attack, getting in front of the Bolton defence at the near post to flick Nani’s free-kick into the far corner.
Paul Scholes was booked for a foul on Davies before Nani rocketed a shot just wide with 12 minutes remaining.
Vidic was booked for clattering into Lee from behind, then Elmander was just wide with an angled effort from 10 yards.
United had one last chance when they were given a free-kick deep into stoppage time, but Nani wasted it.