Javier Hernandez showed Manchester United don’t need to rely solely on Wayne Rooney as the Mexican forward’s brace clinched a crucial 2-1 win at Stoke City on Sunday.
Elsewhere, Arsenal moved into second place — five points behind leaders Chelsea — with a 3-0 victory at Manchester City, while Liverpool eased the pressure on Roy Hodgson with a 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers at Anfield.
Judging by the storm of controversy over Rooney’s contract row with United this week, it would be easy to believe Sir Alex Ferguson’s side are a one-man team.
PHOTO: EPA
Rooney eventually made a remarkable U-turn to commit his future to United by signing a new £150,000 (US$236,000) a week contract on Friday, just days after criticizing the club’s ambition and admitting he wanted to leave, but the England striker was absent against Stoke because of an ankle injury, reportedly celebrating his 25th birthday in Dubai, and his understudy Hernandez ensured he was not missed with a clinical display of finishing.
Hernandez put United in front in the 27th minute with a clever back-flicked header, before Stoke substitute Tuncay Sanli curled home an 81st-minute equalizer.
PREDATORY FINISH
PHOTO: REUTERS
United responded superbly to that setback and Hernandez sealed his side’s first away league win this season with a predatory finish in the 86th minute.
“When their goal went in, you start to say to yourself it is going to be one of those seasons, but Chicharito [Hernandez] came up with the winner,” Ferguson said.
“It is always tough at United. When your top players come toward the end of their contracts, you have to do something to get them a new one, but you have to deal with the agents of this world, which is difficult,” he said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“Hopefully, we can now kick on. We have some important games between now and Christmas time and we have to make our mark in the league now,” the Scot said.
While United got back in touch with Chelsea, their local rivals Manchester City were unable to recover from the early dismissal of Belgian defender Dedryck Boyata for a professional foul on Arsenal’s Marouane Chamakh at Eastlands.
Arsene Wenger’s side took full advantage as Samir Nasri exchanged passes with Andrey Arshavin in the 20th minute, before lifting his shot into the roof of the net.
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
Cesc Fabregas wasted a golden opportunity to extend Arsenal’s lead before halftime when he won a penalty after being fouled by Vincent Kompany. Fabregas took the spot-kick himself, but City goalkeeper Joe Hart made a fine save.
That miss made no difference as Alex Song flashed a powerful strike past Hart in the 66th minute, before substitute Nicklas Bendtner added the third in the closing moments.
“It is always a burden you have on your shoulders when you don’t do well against big teams,” Wenger said. “I’m confident this will give us even more confidence playing against the best teams.”
At Anfield, boss Roy Hodgson has been under the cosh, with stories circulating this week of dressing room unrest at his management style following the team’s worst start to a season since 1953.
He was able to celebrate a much-needed second league victory this season thanks to Fernando Torres’ second-half winner, but Liverpool remain in the relegation zone.
POWERED HOME
Hodgson’s side took the lead in the 48th minute when Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos powered home a header from Steven Gerrard’s corner.
Rovers were level two minutes later when Paul Konchesky’s clearance of an El-Hadji Diouf shot deflected back off Jamie Carragher and into his own net.
Spain striker Torres won it for Liverpool in the 53rd minute with a cool finish from Gerrard’s pass.
“It was a very deserved victory and one that was really needed,” Hodgson said.
“If we had come in at halftime several goals up, no one could have said a word, so I told them at the break they were going the right way and if they carried on they would be fine,” he 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