United needed a point to regain the Premier League trophy from Chelsea, but were up against a Rovers side keen to rubber-stamp their top-flight future and only a disputed 73rd-minute spot-kick secured them the draw they wanted. Both sides had chances to score early on before goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak's flapping led to Brett Emerton's volleyed opener for the hosts after 20 minutes. United were seriously up against it - Martin Olsson hit the woodwork with a header for Blackburn - and struggled to recover until the flashpoint with 20 minutes left. When Javier Hernandez was put through on goal, Rovers keeper Paul Robinson rushed out and the Mexican managed to knock the ball out of harm's way before going down after contact. After consulting his assistant, Phil Dowd awarded the penalty and Rooney powered home the kick with Robinson diving the wrong way. In the relegation fight, an exhilarating clash at Bloomfield Road saw third-bottom Blackpool beat Bolton 4-3 to boost their survival hopes. Kevin Davies rifled Bolton ahead in the sixth but three minutes later the fighting Seasiders were level through DJ Campbell. Jason Puncheon put Blackpool in front and after Matthew Taylor made it 2-2, Campbell scored again to complete a thrilling first half. It was 3-3 early in the second half when Lee Chung-yong got to the byline and, with goalkeeper Matthew Gilks committed, centred for Daniel Sturridge to head home. But a typically sweeping Tangerines move saw Charlie Adam fire his side ahead with another great finish in the 63rd minute to give Ian Holloway's side a real chance of survival heading into the final game. Wolves produced arguably their performance of the season to win 3-1 at Sunderland and climb above Birmingham into 16th. Centre-half Jody Craddock showed excellent technique in the 22nd minute to steer the ball home with a first-time shot at the far post from Stephen Hunt's left-wing cross. Sunderland deservedly equalised through Stephane Sessegnon's acrobatic volley in the 34th minute but early in the second half Wolves were back in front. After being thrown on by Mick McCarthy at the resumption, Matt Jarvis bombed down the right before standing up a perfectly-weighted cross for Steven Fletcher to head home. With 12 minutes remaining George Elokobi headed a third to wrap up what could prove to be a defining victory for Wolves. Youssouf Mulumbu's goal gave West Brom a 1-0 win at home to Everton, the midfielder putting the Baggies ahead with a close-range left-footed strike after typically incisive work from Peter Odemwingie on the right. Everton's cause was not helped by a harsh red card for Diniyar Bilyaletdinov late on.
