Manchester United gave Sir Alex Ferguson the perfect anniversary president on Saturday as they moved three points clear of Chelsea at the top of the English Premiership with a convincing 3-0 win over Portsmouth.
Louis Saha, Cristiano Ronaldo and Nemanja Vidic scored United's goals to move them on to 28 points, three better than Chelsea, who were to play at Tottenham Hotspur yesterday.
Ferguson celebrates his 20th anniversary as United manager today and the Scot said he was delighted with the first three months of the season.
PHOTO: AP
"We have had a fantastic start," he said. "Historically, we don't always have good starts. We have made one this year and we need to take advantage of it."
"I have to be honest and say there is a confidence about the place that suggests we are now in a position to pull out all the stops and go for it," he said.
Saha put United ahead on four minutes with a penalty after Dejan Stefanovic had tripped Wayne Rooney and Ronaldo then rifled in a free kick to make it 2-0 after just 10 minutes.
Defender Vidic completed the scoring with the third on 66 minutes, heading past David James, who prevented a heavier defeat with a good display.
Third-placed Bolton Wanderers suffered a shock defeat when they were beaten 1-0 at home by Wigan Athletic, while Dirk Kuyt scored twice as Liverpool beat Reading 2-0.
Fulham edged out Everton 1-0 at Craven Cottage, while Charlton heaped more pressure on Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce after a 1-0 win over his side.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
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Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB