Pep cools on Wilshere bid
BOLTON closed the gap at the top of the League One table to four points after a 2-0 victory at SHREWSBURY.
Mark Beevers headed the visitors in front six minutes into the second half, with Adam Le Fondre netting from close range in the 65th minute to secure a fifth straight win.
League leaders SHEFFIELD UNITED saw their advantage at the top of the table cut after OLDHAM held them to a 1-1 draw at Boundary Park.
Tope Obadeyi put the Latics in front just before half-time, but the Blades were level early in the second half when Jay O’Shea drilled in a low shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Third-placed FLEETWOOD could only manage a goalless draw at BURY, while bottom club COVENTRY snatched a late 1-0 win over BRISTOL ROVERS at Ricoh Arena thanks to a goal from George Thomas with only 10 minutes left.
SOUTHEND moved up into the play-off places after a 2-0 victory at AFC WIMBLEDON. Goals from Nile Ranger and Simon Cox saw Phil Brown’s men deservedly record their third win on the trot.
MILLWALL, though, saw their top-six hopes dented with a 1-0 defeat at SWINDON, where midfielder Conor Thomas scored a dramatic winner deep into stoppage time to boost the Robins’ survival hopes.
ROCHDALE kept up their late playoff push with a 3-1 win at struggling CHESTERFIELD. Ian Henderson, Callum Camps and Jamie Allen bagging their goals.
PORT VALE drew 0-0 with MK DONS, while substitute Junior Morias cracked home a 25-yard effort in stoppage time to earn PETERBOROUGH a 1-0 win at GILLINGHAM.
There was no such drama at Sixfields, though, where NORTHAMPTON and OXFORD played out a goalless draw. THE fast, frantic Premier League seems cruel to veterans, let alone aged newcomers. While other thirty-somethings have declined, the 35-year-old Ibrahimovic has arrived, scored 26 goals in all competitions, barely missed a game and won a trophy almost single-handed. United’s target man, talisman and top scorer has proved plenty of people wrong and Jose Mourinho right for signing him. THE Belgian swept the board with the individual honours two years ago and could get more goals this season than back then. Like Chelsea, he has returned to his best following a dismal campaign, and his stunning solo strike against Arsenal may be the defining moment of this season. It was an intoxicating blend of pace, skill and ambition. LAST season’s Young Player of the Year should be in contention for the overall awards now. While Harry Kane has kept on scoring, Alli’s transformation into the country’s most prolific midfielder makes him Tottenham’s star man. He can frighten even the best. Chelsea have only lost one league game since September, thanks to two goals from the irrepressible Alli. NO defensive midfielder has won the PFA Player of the Year since Roy Keane in 2000 but the catalytic Kante has made his mark on Chelsea, as he did on Leicester last season. He tackles, intercepts and makes others play better. Rarely scores, but has two goals against Manchester United. LIVERPOOL have arguably played the most exciting, most exhilarating football. They have tormented the top teams and, from his scoring debut against Arsenal, Mane has been at the heart of it. The electric winger has a brace against Tottenham, another goal against Arsenal and a Merseyside derby winner to his name. How Liverpool missed him in January. ARSENAL’S decline makes Sanchez an outsider but it’s a sign of his excellence that, even in a troubled season, no-one’s been involved in more Premier League goals. The Chilean has scored 18, created nine more and delivered one of the great hat-tricks, at West Ham in December. If he leaves England, it could be as one of the best players never voted Footballer of the Year.