Martin O’Neill voiced his frustration after Aston Villa blew a golden opportunity to consolidate their place in the top four by failing to overcome a battling Fulham side.
But the Villa boss insisted his side had not “choked” against one of the Premier League’s minnows after taking four points from their previous matches, against Arsenal and Manchester United.
With none of the teams above them in action, Villa had the chance to leapfrog Manchester United into third place in the table, for 24 hours at least.
PHOTO: AP
O’Neill said: “It is disappointing, but I do not accept that we choked. Fulham were tough to break down. Every game is hard and we are not brilliant enough at the moment to steamroll teams, but we are doing fine.”
Villa’s goalkeeper Brad Friedel set a new Premier League record by making his 167th consecutive league appearance, overtaking the previous mark set by England No. 1 David James.
But Friedel’s teammates failed to ensure the landmark day ended on a high with Ashley Young, who shot wide from close range, and Stiliyan Petrov, who headed an equally good chance over the bar, squandering good chances, before Gareth Barry had a late effort brilliantly saved by Fulham’s Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
Elsewhere, the northeast derby between Middlesbrough and Newcastle United finished in a goalless stalemate.
Newcastle’s Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins came closest to breaking the deadlock in what was a sterile encounter, his first-half shot coming back off the crossbar.
The point was enough, however, for Newcastle to get out of the bottom three by leapfrogging local rivals Sunderland, who lost 4-1 and were booed off the pitch by their own supporters after a supine display against Bolton Wanderers at the Stadium of Light.
The afternoon started positively enough for the Black Cats, with Djibril Cisse latching on to a fine pass from fellow Frenchman Steed Malbranque to give them a 12th-minute lead.
But Bolton were quickly back on level terms thanks to Matt Taylor’s looping header and three minutes later Gary Cahill gave the visitors the lead.
Johan Elmander contrived to miss the target after going round Sunderland keeper Craig Gordon, but made amends by striking either side of halftime to wrap up a win that lifted Gary Megson’s men into the top half of the table.
“It is very hard to take,” said Sunderland boss Roy Keane, whose future had been the subject of much speculation even before this latest reverse. “After scoring we just stopped playing and individual mistakes are costing us badly.”
Marlon King’s fine strike on the turn in first-half stoppage time gave Hull City the lead at Stoke City.
But the home side rallied to claim a well-deserved point through Ricardo Fuller, who was pulled down in the box and got up to convert the resulting penalty 18 minutes from time.
Senegal striker Henri Camara followed up his winner against Everton last week with another goal for Wigan Athletic as Steve Bruce’s side came from behind to overcome bottom side West Bromwich Albion 2-1 at the JJB Stadium.
Ishmael Miller had given the Baggies the lead just after halftime after both Camara and Emile Heskey missed first-half chances for the home side.
But Camara made amends with an equalizer on the hour and Emmerson Boyce headed in a winner in the 87th minute from an in-swinging corner.
Boyce however had to share the post-match plaudits with goalkeeper Chris Kirkland, who was backed for an England recall by Bruce.
“We have to thank our goalkeeper — he was fantastic — and in my eyes is one of the best goalkeepers in the country, if not the best,” Bruce said.
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
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