A day of drama in the English Premier League produced 32 goals — including Wayne Rooney scoring from halfway — and a referee admitting he sent off the wrong player as Arsene Wenger’s 1,000th match ended in embarrassment at Chelsea on Saturday.
Andre Marriner dismissed Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs instead of teammate Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, whose diving save with his hand blocked the ball on the goal-line.
However, the 15th-minute sending off was hardly a turning point in the London derby, as Arsenal had already conceded twice inside seven minutes of Wenger’s landmark match.
And Arsenal crumbled further against the leaders after Eden Hazard converted the penalty-kick, dropping to fourth in the standings as their title rivals all won.
Manchester City climbed above Arsenal into third place with a 5-0 victory over Fulham, while second-place Liverpool won 6-3 at Cardiff.
That result leaves Chelsea four points ahead, having played one more than Liverpool and three more than City, who are six adrift.
Far from the title race is Manchester United, who remain seventh despite Rooney having scored twice — the first a volley from the halfway line — in a 2-0 victory at West Ham.
The bottom three remains unchanged with Fulham in last place behind Cardiff and Sunderland, who lost 2-0 at Norwich after conceding goals from Robert Snodgrass and Alexander Tettey. Hull surged eight points clear of danger after Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic clinched a 2-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion.
Everton moved ahead of Tottenham into fifth after Ross Barkley’s header secured a 3-2 victory over Swansea, and Newcastle climbed to eighth by defeating Crystal Palace 1-0 after Papiss Cisse scored in stoppage-time.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and