Manchester United fluff their lines at Bolton

Bolton 2 Manchester United 2. This was Manchester United's big chance to put Chelsea and Arsenal under pressure but they blew it, being held to a 2-2 draw away at Bolton.

With both London clubs losing on Saturday United knew a win at the Reebok Stadium would send them into second place, above the Gunners and just one point shy of the reigning champions. But it wasn't to be and United got what they deserved according to their manager Alex Ferguson, who said that the weekend's results illustrate what a tough league it is: "Teams drop points when we don't expect them. Away from home we've scored seven goals and only got three points, it's a very difficult league... Bolton were a real handful and our chances were reduced but we must take credit for coming back again, it shows a bit of character. I think a lot of teams coming here will find it very difficult. I thought it was a fair result."

Manchester United arrived at the Reebok Stadium in good heart (minus Rio Ferdinand who continues to struggle with his fitness), having beaten Bolton in 10 of their last 11 meetings, but it took the hosts just six minutes to show their visitors that they were in for a torrid afternoon. From a Martin Petrov corner, defender Zat Knight shrugged off the attentions of United's Jonny Evans and flicked the ball past Edwin van der Sar for the opening goal.

Chances were then created at either end with Johan Elmander just failing to latch on to a Kevin Davies pass and Darren Fletcher forcing Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen to produce a sharp save. But Jaaskelainen couldn't prevent Nani levelling the scores on 23 minutes after the Portuguese midfielder finished off a mazy run by drilling the ball into the Bolton net from 15 yards.

With Wayne Rooney once again looking like the shadow of the player who tormented opposition defences last season, Ferguson decided to replace the England striker with Federico Macheda on the hour mark, but just six minutes later Bolton were in front again thanks to a Martin Petrov strike that deflected off Fletcher and past van der Sar.

Fletcher was soon dragged off in favour of Michael Owen and the 30-year-old – who scored twice in the midweek Carling Cup win over Scunthorpe – soon had the ball in the net for United's second equaliser. He met Nani's free-kick with a well-judged header that salvaged a point for his side but still leaves United without an away win this season in the league.

"It's always a tough place to come but we created enough chances and dominated most of the game but we're disappointed to only get a point," said Owen, whose goal was the 200th of his career in English club football. "With the results this weekend it was an opportunity to close that gap at the top but it wasn't to be and we have to focus on our next game now. We were helped with a few nice results yesterday but when you don't capitalise fully it's disappointing. It's a long season and we'll bounce back."

But United will have to do so without Ryan Giggs, the Welshman limped off in the second-half with a hamstring injury that Ferguson says will sideline him for a fortnight. ·