Crisis-hit Arsenal’s woes worsened on Saturday as a desperate 3-0 defeat at Manchester City blew their chance to close the gap on the goal-starved English Premier League leaders Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United.
The imploding Gunners suffered their worst result of the season, as the top three were all held to goalless draws — Chelsea at home to Newcastle, Liverpool at home to Fulham and United away to Aston Villa.
Elsewhere, Portsmouth drew 2-2 with visitors Hull and Bolton grabbed a 3-1 win at Middlesbrough.
PHOTO: AFP
Arsenal are now in serious trouble, with dressing-room strife matched by dismal results on the pitch.
William Gallas, stripped of the Gunners captaincy having blasted his teammates in midweek for their lack of passion, was not even in the squad for the trip to face Manchester City at Eastlands.
And the damage worsened as Arsenal collapsed to their third defeat in four league games, leaving them 10 points off the pace in fifth place.
“There’s nothing to clarify,” Gunners boss Arsene Wenger said when asked about Gallas’ position, saying “of course” he had a future at the north London club.
City’s in-form midfielder Stephen Ireland took advantage of a dreadful Gael Clichy clearance to score in the 45th minute.
Brazil star Robinho scored a cheeky second in the 56th minute, chipping the ball over goalkeeper and stand-in captain Manuel Almunia.
Two minutes after coming on as a substitute, Daniel Sturridge earned and scored a 90th-minute penalty to complete Arsenal’s misery.
Chelsea had 25 shots at Stamford Bridge, but failed to score as their once imperious home form took another knock with a 0-0 draw against strugglers Newcastle United.
Meanwhile, Spain striker Fernando Torres returned to the Liverpool starting line-up, but took his failure to score at Anfield this season to a seventh straight game as his fledgling partnership with Robbie Keane once again failed to click against Fulham.
Manchester United remain third, eight points behind Chelsea and Liverpool, after their goalless draw with Aston Villa, a point behind them in fourth place.
United star Cristiano Ronaldo gesticulated to the taunting home fans as the Portugal winger limped off injured.
The visitors’ Wayne Rooney missed the best chance, firing over the crossbar from close range.
Hull City grabbed a last-gasp point to deny Portsmouth victory in a 2-2 draw at Fratton Park.
Peter Crouch gave Pompey the lead in the 20th minute. Hull defender Michael Turner equalized in the 54th minute with a header, before Pompey’s England right-back Glen Johnson scored a splendid goal nine minutes later. However, there was a dramatic finish as Portsmouth defender Noe Pamarot scored an own goal in the 89th minute.
Bolton Wanderers pulled themselves four points clear of the relegation zone with a 3-1 away win over Middlesbrough at the Riverside.
The Trotters’ Iceland defender Gretar Rafn Steinsson headed in Matthew Taylor’s free-kick in the eighth minute and then set up Taylor to score the second two minutes later. Emanuel Pogatetz gave Boro a lifeline with a goal in the 77th minute, but Swedish striker Johan Elmander sealed the points for Bolton just one minute later.
In a dire game at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke City defeated rock-bottom visitors West Bromwich Albion 1-0 thanks to Mamady Sidibe’s header six minutes from time.
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
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite