Manchester United alive with dead-ball options

Sir Alex Ferguson praised the set-piece ability of Cristiano Ronaldo and Owen Hargreaves as Manchester United closed in on their bid to retain the Barclays Premier League title.

Ronaldo equalised from a twice-taken penalty kick after Emmanuel Adebayor had put Arsenal ahead from close range early in the second half, then Hargreaves got the winner after 72 minutes with a superb free-kick from 20 yards.

Ferguson said: “The manner in which Ronaldo took the second penalty kick – it was only about six inches inside the post, low down, no goalkeeper in the world could have saved that. I thought Owen would take the free-kick – he is very good at those ones.”