PRIMIER LEAGUE
Having returned to their winning ways on the weekend, Manchester United can close to within four points of the Premier League title if they score a victory at West Ham United today.
United’s morale took a blow after last week’s defeat at home to Manchester City, but Sunday’s 2-0 success at Stoke City saw Alex Ferguson’s side re-establish a 15-point lead over their derby rivals.
It left them seven points from an unprecedented 20th English league crown and they could even capture the title as early as Sunday if City slip up against Wigan Athletic and Tottenham Hotspur this week.
However, before that can happen, United must prevail at Upton Park and the boisterous east London stadium has not always been a happy hunting ground for the men from Old Trafford.
United had title bids derailed there in both 1992 and 1995, with the latter in a game in which home goalkeeper Ludek Miklosko produced save after save to deny United the goal they needed to pip Blackburn Rovers to the Premier League trophy on the season’s final day.
More recently, United were given a searching examination in an FA Cup third-round game in January, when the visitors needed an injury-time goal from Robin van Persie to take the tie to a replay.
All in all, United have won on just three of their last seven visits to West Ham in all competitions, including a chastening 4-0 thrashing in a League Cup tie in November 2010.
At least Van Persie has recovered his scoring touch, having gone 10 games without a goal before finding the net from the penalty spot in the second half at Stoke.
Ferguson praised United for their “battling performance” at the Britannia Stadium and captain Nemanja Vidic believes a similar display will be required today.
“Now it’s West Ham and we have to play well again,” the Serbian told MUTV, United’s in-house television station. “They play in a similar style to Stoke — we’re going to have long balls and set-pieces to deal with.”
The game at Stoke saw Wayne Rooney deployed in a midfield role, but although his performance was praised by Ferguson, the England striker has hinted that he would prefer to return to a more advanced position at West Ham.
“I’ve played there [in midfield] a few times this season,” he said. “You have to think. As a center-forward, you want to be as close to goal as possible to try and score. In midfield, you have to hold yourself back at times and try and help the team keep the ball and move up the pitch.”
West Ham appear to have secured their top-flight status for next season with Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Southampton having taken them to within two points of the 40-point mark typically considered as a guarantee of survival.
Manager Sam Allardyce had previously refused to answer questions about his future at the club, but with the finishing line now in sight, he has revealed he is already making plans for next season.
“I wouldn’t be here if we weren’t playing in the Premier League next season,” he said. “[But] we are going to be safe and playing in the Premier League next season, so my planning will be done as quickly as possible and we’ll get on to the contract, which I’m sure I’m going to sign.”
Allardyce has several injury concerns in defense, with center-back James Tomkins having joined Winston Reid and George McCartney in the treatment room after limping off at Southampton.
Ryan Giggs and Tom Cleverley will hope to return to the United starting lineup after being rested at Stoke, while Ferguson must also decide whether to restore Rooney to his attacking line.
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