Manchester United set a new Premier League record with an 11th consecutive clean sheet and maintained their grip on top place in the table with a 5-0 demolition of bottom side West Brom on Tuesday.
The stroll at The Hawthorns left United three points clear of Liverpool, who were to play at Wigan last night, and Aston Villa, who moved up to joint second place with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Portsmouth.
It was also a good night for Tottenham, 3-1 winners over fellow strugglers Stoke, and Sunderland, who beat Fulham 1-0.
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was delighted with what he described as a “ruthless” display that enabled his side to significantly improve their goal difference, which he feels could prove decisive in what is a very tight title battle.
“The scoreline was very important to us,” the Scot said after watching his side improve their goal difference to plus 29, the same mark as Chelsea and seven better than Liverpool. “Goal difference could play a part and over the years we have always had an advantage over our opponents, so it was a satisfying result in that respect.”
United wasted no time in seizing control of the match.
With 21 minutes gone, Dimitar Berbatov played a one-two with Michael Carrick before slotting the ball past Scott Carson for his 11th goal of the season.
The Baggies then had defender Paul Robinson sent off for what was — perhaps harshly — adjudged to be a dangerous challenge on Park Ji-sung before Carlos Tevez doubled United’s lead just before half-time, firing in from close range after Carson dropped a Ryan Giggs freekick.
A Giggs corner enabled Nemanja Vidic to head in United’s third on the hour mark and a Cristiano Ronaldo double rounded off a performance that enabled United to eclipse Chelsea’s Premier League clean sheet record.
Emile Heskey marked his debut for Aston Villa with the only goal of the game at Portsmouth as Martin O’Neill’s men again displayed their ability to grind out results in their pursuit of a top-four finish and a place in next season’s Champions League.
Heskey latched on to Gabriel Agbonlahor’s flick-on from goalkeeper Brad Friedel’s clearance and fired past David James from just outside the area to start paying back the £3.5 million (US$5 million) it cost Villa to sign him from Wigan.
Tottenham pulled three points clear of the relegation zone with a convincing 3-1 win over fellow strugglers Stoke at White Hart Lane.
Trinidad and Tobago star Kenwyne Jones celebrated signing a new long-term contract with Sunderland by scoring his side’s winner against Fulham, who are rapidly sliding towards trouble after a positive start to this season.
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AFP, BERLIN
Bayern Munich returned from their winter holidays looking as though they meant business judged by the way Jurgen Klinsmann’s men swept aside Vfb Stuttgart 5-1 on Tuesday. This last 16 German Cup tie was the reigning champions’ first official game of the year after a one-and-a half month lay-off, a training camp in the sunshine of Dubai and five friendly wins.
They were quickly into their stride though with Bastian Schweinsteiger starting the rout in the 14th minute.
Franck Ribery doubled up two minutes later and the France international then set up Luca Toni for Bayern’s third just before the break. Schweinsteiger got the second leg of his double from the penalty spot in the 53rd minute with Brazilian Ze Roberto completing a fine night for the visitors before the hour mark. This was Stuttgart’s first loss since Markus Babbel took over as coach in November.
Bayern’s league campaign resumes tomorrow with a trip to Hamburg, who earlier on Tuesday won their Cup tie against 1860 Munich 3-1, while Schalke 04 saw off minnows Poucet Iena 4-1.
Bundesliga winter champions Hoffenheim were eliminated in the previous round by Freiberg, who were defeated 3-1 by fellow second-division outfit Mainz.
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AFP, GLASGOW
Nacho Novo came in from the cold to fire a double as Rangers cruised into the Scottish League Cup final with a 3-0 win over Falkirk at Hampden on Tuesday.
The Spanish striker, making only his ninth start of the season, had Rangers ahead within 10 minutes and got his second just before the break.
A howler from Falkirk’s new Spanish keeper Dani Mallo with just two minutes remaining allowed Kris Boyd to roll home his 23rd goal of the season and send the Ibrox club into the final, where they await the winners of yesterday’s clash between Celtic and Dundee United.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but