Arsenal moved a step closer to the Premier League title on Saturday, defeating Charlton 2-1 at Highbury behind two goals in the first four minutes by Frenchmen Robert Pires and Thierry Henry.
Chelsea moved into second place on goal-difference ahead of Manchester United, defeating Manchester City 1-0 on Eidur Gudjohnsen's goal in the 82nd.
PHOTO: AFP
Manchester United took a 1-0 lead over Fulham on Louis Saha's 14th-minute goal, but Luis Boa Morte equalized in the 64th for the 1-1 draw. It was Saha's first match at Fulham since the London club sold him in January for ?10.5 million (US$19.4 million).
Arsenal's Pires put the Gunners ahead after only 1 minute 33 seconds when he finished off a close-in ball delivered by Swedish attacking midfielder Freddie Ljungberg. It was his 50th goal for the club.
Two minutes later it was another all-French goal as captain Patrick Vieira sent a pass through to Henry, who scored a left-footed shot for 8m for his 25th this season.
Arsenal dominated the first half but almost lost control when Claus Jensen made it 2-1 in the 59th. Charlton pressed Arsenal and could have equalized in second-half injury time when substitute Jonatan Johansson struck the post with a shot.
"In the second half we dropped physically and Charlton came back into the game," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said. "Then we became a little bit edgy and nervous and you could see in the end we were even lucky because they hit the post."
Arsenal has 67 points followed by Chelsea (58), Man United (58), Newcastle (41), Charlton (40) and Liverpool (38). At the bottom, Leeds has 21 points topped by Leicester (23), Portsmouth (23) and Wolves (24).
Mancheser United manager Alex Ferguson lost a gamble when he benched American goalkeeper Tim Howard and top scorers Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Ryan Giggs. It was the first Premier League game Howard has missed this season.
Man United also played without suspended defender Gary Neville.
"It's an uphill fight. There's no question about," Ferguson said.
"But football is a funny game. There's every chance we could go on a run of victories. That what we need not."
Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri all but granted the championship to Arsenal.
"I think only Arsenal can lose the title," the Italian said.
Norwich stayed ahead in the first division with 63 points. West Brom stayed in second (60) despite a 1-0 loss at home against Rotherham. Wigan is in third with 57 followed by Ipswich (53), Millwall (53) and West Ham (52).
Spanish league
Sevilla held its crosstown rival Real Betis to a 1-1 draw in the Spanish league, despite playing the second half with 10 men following the 38th-minute ejection of striker Antonito Ramiro.
Former Spanish international Alfonso Perez gave Betis the lead from the penalty spot in the second minute of the game Saturday, while Sevilla defender Javi Navarro equalized with a chip 25 minutes later.
Betis coach Victor Fernandez acknowledged he was "a little disappointed" by his team's inability to make its numerical advantage pay, even though the draw lifted his team into sixth place and extended its unbeaten run to nine games.
"I wish Antonito hadn't been sent off because we only played better than Sevilla before his dismissal," Fernandez was quoted as saying by leading sports daily Marca on Sunday. "We didn't know how to read the second half."
The local derby between the teams from the Andalusian city proved characteristically tense, with 11 more players receiving yellow cards along with Sevilla coach Joaquin Caparros.
But, while a car outside Betis' stadium was set alight, there was no repetition of the widespread crowd trouble which marred last season's game.
Madrid tops the league with 56 points, while Valencia has 51. Deportivo de La Coruna is third with 50 points, followed by FC Barcelona with 43. Betis has 37 points and Sevilla is ninth with 35.
In another 26th-round game, Zaragoza boosted its hopes of avoiding relegation with a 2-1 win at Valladolid which left the home side nursing its fifth successive defeat.
"Now we're worse than we were a week ago," Valladolid's beleaguered coach Fernando Vazquez said. "We defeated ourselves and handed Zaragoza two goals."
Both teams are on 29 points, but Zaragoza rises to 14th place, while Valladolid drops a place below it.
Zaragoza midfielder David Generelo opened the scoring in the ninth minute, with Oscar Gonzalez equalizing in the 33rd minute from a cross by midfielder Chema Jimenez.
Valladolid had cause to rue the 75th-minute ejection of its Argentine defender Pablo Ricchetti when Argentine midfielder Luciano Galletti fired Zaragoza's winning goal seven minutes later.
Zaragoza's victory was the 600th in its first division history.
Bundesliga
Bayern Munich beat Wolfsburg 2-0 Saturday in a Bundesliga match that turned into a show of support for embattled goalkeeper Oliver Kahn.
Dutchman Roy Makaay rifled in a goal in the 11th minute -- his 21st in 31 games -- in front of 32,000 spectators at Munich's Olympiastadion, who dangled banners like "Ollie, we've forgotten Real!"
Kahn, one of the best goalkeepers in the world, was ridiculed across Europe after he let an easy Roberto Carlos free kick slip under his body Tuesday, allowing Madrid to escape with a 1-1 draw in a key Champions League showdown against Bayern.
Bastian Schweinsteiger made it 2-0 in the 76th minute, sidestepping a defender and stroking the ball inside the opposite post. Afterward, he charged down the field, shaking off his teammates, until he could hug Kahn.
"I'm happy for Kahn," Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said. "Fortunately, he made two or three sensational stops. He proved once again he's the best goalie in the world."
Kahn charged out in the 33rd minute, one of his strengths, and got a leg on Diego Klimowicz's short-range shot when the Wolfsburg forward was through. The Germany goalkeeper then dropped to his knees, shook his fists and screamed out his frustrating week.
Bayern reverted to its usual lethargic Bundesliga form after a superb match against Madrid, claiming tired legs, but the win was enough for the Bavarians to keep pace with Bundesliga frontrunner Werder Bremen.
Bremen remained seven points clear with another strong performance against Dortmund, ending Borussia's three-match winning streak with a 2-0 victory.
Worse for Dortmund, Czech midfield star Tomas Rosicky broke his arm during the match and was threatened with missing several weeks of action.
Brazilian forward Ailton continued his sensational scoring form with his 20th goal in 22 matches -- only German legend Gerd Mueller had a better scoring rate at this time of the season.
Italian league
Lowly Empoli got first-half goals from Antonio Busce and Emilson Cribari to stun Udinese 2-0 Saturday and revive its hopes of escaping relegation while dashing the chances of the losing side to reach fifth place in Italy's top league.
Midfielder Busce headed in the opening goal off a corner kick in the 23rd minute. Brazilian defender Cribari doubled the lead in the 41st, deflecting a powerful drive by teammate Antonio Di Natale off his head.
Udinese, the most consistent provincial team so far this season, never appeared in position to fight back as its best players -- Martin Jorgensen, Marek Jankulovski and David Marcelo Pizarro -- had unimpressive performances and were outpaced by the opponents at Empoli Carlo Castellani stadium.
Substitute Carsten Jancker has the best chance for the visiting team in the 84th, but his lob struck the crossbar.
Empoli's fifth win of the season lifted it to 20 points, two short of Siena and Reggina, which played to a 0-0 draw in the only other match of the day.
Dutch league
German striker Simon Cziommer scored twice Saturday as a fluent FC Twente Enschede hammered AZ Alkmaar 4-1, dampening AZ's stated ambition of pushing the top two in the Dutch premiership.
The Alkmaar side remains in third place with 49 points, seven behind second-place PSV Eindhoven, which now has a game in hand. Twente is sixth with 35 points, while Ajax leads with 55.
In-form SC Heerenveen jumped into fourth place after beating NEC Nijmegen 2-1, giving it nine points in eight days. Finn Mika Vayrynen, who shone against Ajax in midweek, netted the match-winner in the 77th minute.
AZ coach Co Adriaanse remained notably upbeat despite the score sheet.
French league
Leader Monaco came from behind to secure a 1-1 tie away to struggling Toulouse on Saturday and maintain its four point cushion over Lyon in the French first division.
Defender Gael Givet struck in the 73rd minute, after Sylvain Didot had opened the scoring for third-to-last Toulouse in the 47th.
Two-time defending champion Lyon was unable to capitalize on Monaco's slip, managing only a 1-1 tie after taking the lead.
Midfielder Vikash Dhorasoo opened the scoring for Lyon in the 34th, but striker Wagneau Eloi -- enjoying his third spell with the Northern French club -- rescued a point for Lens in the 70th minute.
For some, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the essential spearhead for Portugal’s FIFA World Cup bid, while others believe his presence would prevent Roberto Martinez’s strong side from flourishing. The debate around the five-time Ballon d’Or winner rages on, as it did at UEFA Euro 2024 and four years ago in Qatar — yet Ronaldo endures, ready to play in a record sixth World Cup. The 41-year-old remains a global superstar despite swapping the European elite for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, and is the leading men’s international goalscorer with 143 strikes. With 25 of those coming in 30 games under Martinez, the coach
Taiwanese tennis star Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles at the French Open, after she and German partner Mark Wallner defeated Slovenian Andreja Klepac and Briton Lloyd Glasspool in straight sets, despite temperatures exceeding 32°C in Paris, while Taiwan’s top men’s doubles player Ray Ho also reached the second round. Hsieh, who made it to the semi-finals in the mixed doubles at Roland Garros in 2024, and Wallner defeated Klepac and Glasspool 6-3, 7-5 in just more than an hour, converting three of five break points, while holding their opponents to just one conversion
FAST AND LOOSE: Despite command struggles, Ohtani has pitched his way out of trouble after falling behind in counts, which manager Roberts credited to his velocity Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday night tossed six innings of no-hit ball, gave himself an early lead with a home run and still was not satisfied with his performance. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ two-way superstar dropped some expletives that were picked up by the on-field mic as he struggled with his command in a 4-1 win over the Colorado Rockies. He struck out seven, walked four and gave up an earned run in the fourth inning while visibly fuming on the mound. Ohtani (5-2) earned his third consecutive victory. “Just command was off, and I just felt like I was battling the lack of
Taiwanese sprinter Chen Yi-cen on Friday won the silver medal in the women’s 400m final at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong, with a time of 53.16 seconds. Chen, 15, was the youngest among the eight finalists, and her performance also met the qualifying standard of 53.50 seconds for the Nagoya Asian Games in Japan in September and October. Chen first made her mark at the National Games in Tainan in 2023, at the age of 13, winning the women’s 400m final in 55.55 seconds to become the youngest gold medalist in the history of the event. Meanwhile,
RSS