Manchester United's grip on the English Premier League trophy tightened on Saturday as rivals Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Middlesbrough.
That left defending champions United, who claimed a hard-fought 1-0 win over bottom side Derby earlier in the day, at the top of the table on goal difference with a game in hand over their rivals.
It was the Gunners' fourth successive draw in the league but it could have been worse but for Kolo Toure's 86th-minute header, which cancelled out a first-half strike by Gunners old boy Jeremie Aliadiere.
Chelsea were also 1-0 winners, at relegation-threatened Sunderland, and are well-placed to challenge United in the title run-in.
Derby are on track to finish the season with the lowest points total of any side since the launch of the Premiership in 1992-1993.
But Paul Jewell's side nevertheless defied the champions for over an hour before the good fortune that had seen Cristiano Ronaldo spurn a handful of chances finally deserted them.
Wayne Rooney, from what seemed to be an offside position, rolled the ball across goal for his prolific team-mate to notch his 31st goal of the season with a side-footed finish.
Arsenal went behind at the Emirates Stadium as a result of sloppy defending, Turkish striker Tuncay Sanli allowed to run unchecked on to Mark Schwarzer's forward punt before crossing for Aliadiere to finish.
But just as it seemed that Boro would win, Toure popped up in the box to power a Cesc Fabregas corner goalwards, the ball richocheting off Schwartzer and Andrew Taylor on its way to the back of the net.
John Terry's tenth-minute header from a corner, was enough to give Chelsea the points at the Stadium of Light.
Liverpool kept the pressure on Merseyside rivals Everton in the battle for fourth place by coming from behind to beat Reading 2-1.
Portsmouth leapfrogged Aston Villa to move into sixth place in the table with a 2-0 win at Fratton Park and youth team striker Fred Sears marked his West Ham debut with the winner as Alan Curbishley's side beat Blackburn 2-1 at Upton Park.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
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