Manchester United proved again what can be achieved when you put your mind to it and go for goals. After trailing 2-0 to 10th place Tottenham at Old Trafford with 33 minutes to go, they banged in five goals to come out of it with a 5-2 win. It was eerily similar to a game a few years ago when Spurs had a 3-0 lead over United, only to have the red devils storm back in the second half and escape with a 5-3 win.

It was a huge three points for United in the English Premier League title race as Liverpool had beaten 17th place Hull 3-1 earlier and third-place Chelsea had taken care of eighth-spot West Ham 1-0 at Upton Park. Hull have only won one of their last 18 games and are dangerously close to the relegation zone now, just three points ahead of Middlesbrough (31 pts), who looked pretty bad in a 2-0 loss to fourth-place Arsenal in London on Sunday. Arsenal has now gone 20 games without a league defeat.

Meanwhile, bottom feeders West Brom managed to thump 15th place Sunderland 3-0 at home, while Blackburn gained a much needed three points with a 2-0 win over 11th place Wigan to jump into a 14th place tie with Portsmouth at 37 points each. Portsmouth plays the other relegation-zone team, Newcastle on Monday night in a huge game for both clubs. Wolverhampton Wanderers have clinched the Championship Division and will be back in the Premier next season. League One side Peterborough United clinched second place and have now earned promotion in two successive seasons. It will be their first time in the second tier of English football since 1994.

Off the pitch, West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola has signed a new contract that will keep him at the club until 2013. In my eyes this is too long a contract and it’s no wonder clubs are going into debt all over the place. If Zola does a brutal job a couple of years from now, West Ham will need to buy him out. There’s no reason to give managers contracts of over two years. On a sad note, the half brother of England and Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe died after being attacked in daylight on an east London street. DJ Jade Defoe, 26, died on April 24th from serious head injuries he received on April 20th afternoon in the Leytonstone district.

In Spain, La Liga leaders Barcelona dropped two important points in the title race with a 2-2 at Valencia on April 25th. Thierry Henry saved a point for Barcelona with his 17th of the season in the 86th minute.

Barcelona moved seven ahead of second place Real Madrid, who play at Sevilla today (April 26th). Barcelona leads with 82 points, Madrid has 75, Sevilla 57 and Valencia 56.

Deportivo La Coruna drew 1-1 at Malaga in a match holding European qualifying implications as both teams stayed in the race to clinch a spot in next season’s Europa League, the renamed UEFA Cup. Malaga occupies the final European place with 51 points, while Deportivo has 50 and Atletico Madrid 49.

Over in France, Bordeaux won the French League Cup for the third time after beating second-division Vannes 4-0. Bordeaux also won the League Cup in 2002 and 2007.

In Italy, Fiorentina beat AS Roma 4-1 to improve its chances of securing a Champions League spot for next season. The loss just about ends Roma’s hopes of qualifying for Europe’s premier club competition next season. Fiorentina moved ahead of Genoa into fourth place. In the other match yesterday, Udinese beat Chievo Verona 2-1.

Reigning German champions Bayern Munich lost 1-0 at home to Schalke, leaving Bayern in third place, three points behind leaders Vfl Wolfsburg, with five games to play.