London - Manchester United scored in injury time to scrape a 2-2 draw with Sunderland at Old Trafford on Saturday, sending them a point clear at the top of the English Premier League. Kenwyne Jones's second-half header looked to have given Sunderland a stunning win but a Patrice Evra shot was deflected in off Anton Ferdinand to give United a share of the points.
Sir Alex Ferguson's side are now one point clear of Chelsea, who host Liverpool on Sunday.
Cash-strapped Portsmouth earned their first points of the season with a fine 1-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
But their victory was overshadowed by events at Old Trafford, where United were well off the pace and nearly paid the price of defeat thanks to a bold display from Sunderland.
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson made a host of changes and they backfired as his side were sloppy on the ball throughout.
Sunderland were far from overawed and they were ahead on seven minutes thanks to a superb finish from Darren Bent.
United could not string more than two passes together but the deficit remained just one to half-time, at which Ferguson brought on Anderson to replace the ineffective Paul Scholes.
United were better in the second half and equalized six minutes into the second half thanks to a superb volley from Dimitar Berbatov.
But Sunderland went ahead again seven minutes later when Jones outjumped Ben Foster to head into an empty net.
Sunderland looked like they would hold on but after Kieran Richardson was sent off for a second yellow card, they were under huge pressure and Evra's shot was deflected past Craig Gordon to salvage a draw.
At Wolves, Hassan Yebda, on loan from Benfica, headed the only goal of the game for Portsmouth after 19 minutes and Paul Hart's men hung on for a crucial win, with goalkeeper David James making several superb saves.
The result was not quite enough to lift them off the bottom of the table though as they remain one point behind West Ham United, who take on Fulham on Sunday.
But the points were a massive relief for Hart, whose side went into the game having not been paid for last week amid uncertainty surrounding the new ownership of the club.
Hart said the payments would be honoured on Monday and that new owner Sulaiman Al-Fahim plans to put 150 million pounds (238 million dollars) into the club.
"It was a great win," Hart said. "We have played better over the past month. We played well in the first half and defended tremendously in the second half.
"The whole group have been tremendous. Everyone knows our problems and what we have been through the last six months.
"These players have had everything thrown at them but they have stayed strong. They are a great bunch of lads, they show great spirit and they have never wavered.
"Yes, we got a few breaks today. We have earned it and some of the defending was excellent."
Tottenham Hotspur moved above Liverpool into third place after a hard-fought 2-2 draw at Bolton Wanderers, twice coming from behind to secure a point.
Ricardo Gardner (4) and Kevin Davies (69) each put Bolton ahead but Nico Kranjcar (34) and Vedran Corluka (73) salvaged a point for the London side.
The draw was enough to put Harry Redknapp's team one point ahead of Liverpool, who play at second-placed Chelsea on Sunday.
In Saturday's other games, Burnley made it four home wins out of four with a 2-1 victory over Birmingham thanks to goals from Steven Fletcher and Andre Bikey. Sebastian Larsson got a late consolation effort for Birmingham.
Hull moved out of the bottom three after a 2-1 win over Wigan Athletic with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Geovanni scoring the goals for the home side.
