PREMIER LEAGUE: Scholes' 100th Premier League goal sees United go top

PAUL Scholes's 100th Premier League goal saw Manchester United past a determined Wolverhampton Wanderers and moved the defending champions back to the top of the table.

CENTURION: Paul Scholes bags his 100th Premier League goal to send Manchester United to the top of the table (Getty Images)

Strugglers Wolves stood toe-to-toe with the Red Devils at Molineux but the 35-year old struck in the 73rd minute to end the home side's resistance.

With Chelsea in FA Cup action on Sunday, United knew the door was open for them to leapfrog their rivals into top spot.

But it was Wolves who made most of the running in the first hour of the match, hassling and frustrating an uncharacteristically timid United side who had lifted their first silverware of the season in the Carling Cup last Sunday.

Having picked up a knock on mid-week England duty, Wayne Rooney's absence from the United starting line up left a glaring gap in their frontline.

But captain Rio Ferdinand insisted the champions coped without the England striker.

"I don't think Wayne's absence made a difference," said Ferdinand, who was returning after two weeks on the sidelines with injury.

"Overall I think we deserved the win. We could've scored a couple more but we got one goal and it proved to be the winner.

"It's a difficult pitch at this time of the year and you've got to deal with it the best way you can."

The replacement trio of Nani, Antonio Valencia and Dimitar Berbatov had little effect up front and it was Wolves who looked most like scoring in the first half with Kevin Doyle and David Jones coming close before Stephen Ward put a free header straight into United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar's arms.

But the more chances which went begging for Mick McCarthy's men, the more it seemed they weren't destined to take the points and sure enough Scholes dealt Wolves the hammer blow.

Although Wolves had defended resolutely for the previous 70 minutes, the former England midfielder's goal came all too easily as Nani skipped inside from the right wing.

The Portuguese winger fed Scholes, who dodged an off-balance Jody Craddock and fired home across goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann.

Wolves stuck to their guns and could have equalised late on when Sam Vokes fired over with the goal gaping, but there was a sense it wasn't to be for the home side and United held on for the win.

Meanwhile, Arsenal moved level with on points with second-placed Chelsea as they beat Burnley 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium.

The Clarets looked like they might hang on for a vital point after David Nugent equalised Cesc Fabregas's first half strike.

But Theo Walcott, who answered his critics with a lively display on the Gunners' right wing, put the London side back ahead with a classy left-footed finish on the hour.

Nicklas Bendtner drew derision from the Emirates crowd after a glaring miss two minutes later and Burnley nearly made the Danish striker pay when the ball fell to Steven Thompson from a Clarets corner.

But the Scottish striker blazed over, a miss that summed up Burnley's frustration of late as the Premiership debutants slipped to their seventh defeat in eight league matches.

To rub salt into the wound, substitute Andrei Arshavin completed the win in the fourth minute of injury time, smashing into the far corner after cutting in from the flank.

In the only other Premiership match, ten-man Bolton Wanderers took a step closer to survival with a 2-1 defeat at fellow strugglers West Ham United.

Trotters captain Kevin Davies led by example at Upton Park, nodding his team into the lead in the tenth minute with a bullet header from Chung-Yong Lee's cross.

Jack Wilshere, on-loan from Arsenal, doubled the lead six minutes later, volleying home for his first career Premier League goal.

Tamir Cohen's 70th minute sending-off, courtesy of two yellow cards, let the Hammers back in but they could only muster one goal in response through Alessandro Diamanti and remain just three points clear of 18th placed Hull.