Manchester City beat crosstown rival Manchester United 3-1 on Saturday in the English Premier League, while Liverpool cut the gap on the Red Devils to one point with a 1-0 win over Tottenham.
Manchester City led 2-0 at halftime through goals from Trevor Sinclair and Darius Vassell in the 145th derby between the teams. Manchester United finished with 10 men when Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off with red card in the 66th minute.
Chelsea, which plays last-place Sunderland today, leads the league with 58 points, with Manchester United on 45 points in second place. Liverpool's win -- off Harry Kewell's first goal for the club since December 2004 -- gives it 44 points, four more than fourth-place Tottenham.
PHOTO: AP
Thierry Henry scored a hat trick for Arsenal in a 7-0 win over Middlesbrough. Arsenal is fifth with 38 points.
In Saturday's other matches, it was: Aston Villa 1, West Ham 2; Charlton 2, Birmingham 0; Fulham 1, Newcastle 0; Portsmouth 0, Everton 1; and Blackburn 0, Bolton 0. Today, Wigan plays West Bromwich Albion.
At the City of Manchester Stadium, Sinclair scored in the 32nd minute. City goalkeeper David James denied Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney before Vassell made it 2-0 in the 39th. The fringe England international eluded marker Mikael Silvestre in the box and scored into an empty net.
PHOTO: EPA
"To go and face a Manchester United side with the array of talent that they've got, having only picked up one point out of 12 [in December] and being a little bit low on confidence ... to put a performance on like that, I think they deserved it," Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce said.
"We looked like the team that was up for a derby match, up for a scrap and we took our chances when they came."
Ronaldo was given a straight red card after jumping into a tackle on former Manchester United striker Andy Cole. While he didn't make contact, he was sent off for intent.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was angry at referee Steve Bennett.
"It was more rash than vicious," Ferguson said. "He didn't touch the player, in fact he didn't get anywhere near him, yet the referee decided it was a red card. Maybe he should look at it again."
Pearce said he also didn't think the ``poor challenge'' warranted a sending off.
Both clubs fielded new signings. Albert Riera, on loan from Espanyol, made his first start for City, and Patrice Evra was named at left back for Manchester United. Evra only lasted until halftime -- when he was substituted for striker Alan Smith.
"Maybe it was a bit of a gamble playing Patrice," Ferguson said. "I am not singling anyone out. The defending was poor and that is what has cost us the game."
United scored in the 76th minute when Ruud van Nistelrooy chested forward a cross from Ryan Giggs, then swiveled to score past James.
Manchester City substitute Robbie Fowler made it 3-1 in second-half injury time with a powerful diagonal kick.
At Highbury, Henry scored in the 20th, 30th and 68th minutes. Philippe Senderos, Robert Pires, Gilberto Silva and Alexander Hleb also scored. Henry's third goal equaled Cliff Bastin's Arsenal record of 150 goals scored in league matches.
The win equaled the best-ever victory for manager Arsene Wenger since he took charge in September 1996. Arsenal beat Everton 7-0 in the league in May last year.
"We gave a good unity in the way we defended, we remained collective the whole game, didn't complicate the game, didn't become arrogant or flashy," Wenger said.
Middlesbrough had Brazilian midfielder Doriva sent off in the 73rd minute on a second yellow card.
"This is a big lesson, a big experience for them," Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren said of his youthful side. "This will make them better players in the future but at the moment it hurts. We took a beating today."
Liverpool won its eighth straight home match with Kewell's 59th-minute volley.
"It was good for Harry to score a goal like that and in front of the Kop, considering all the problems he has had over the past season or so," Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez said.
Tottenham's Paul Stalteri was sent off in the 87th minute for tripping Kewell. Tottenham had plenty of possession but rarely troubled Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina.
In the Football League Championship, leader Reading beat Coventry 2-0 and Sheffield United drew 1-1 with Ipswich. Reading has 72 points, with Sheffield United on 63 and Leeds with 51.
Roy Keane won his first match with Celtic, helping the league leaders beat Kilmarnock 4-2.
Keane played in central defense rather than the midfield role he had at Manchester United. His first match in Scotland last week was a rare loss as Celtic was eliminated from the Scottish Cup by Clyde.
Shunsuke Nakamura and Shaun Maloney scored a goal each to give Celtic a 2-0 lead, but Kilmarnock leveled when Steven Naismith converted a penalty and Danny Invincibile added another.
Stephen McManus and Maciej Zurawski scored late goals for Celtic.
Hearts beat Dunfermline 4-1. Michal Pospisil scored two goals and Steven Pressley and Rudolf Skacel added one each.
Celtic leads the league with 54 points, followed by Hearts with 47 points, Hibernian with 38 and Rangers with 34.
Also Saturday, Aberdeen beat Hibernian 2-1 and Inverness topped Livingston 3-0.
Today, Motherwell hosts Rangers and Dundee United plays Falkirk.
Substitute Mario Regueiro opened the scoring and striker David Villa bagged his 11th goal of the season for third-place Valencia to beat second-place Osasuna 2-0.
The victory by Quique Sanchez Flores' team at its Mestalla stadium extended its undefeated streak to eight games, and cut the gap on its rival to three points.
Osasuna's defeat was its first in the league since Oct. 22, when it lost 3-0 at Barcelona and then embarked on a 10-game unbeaten run. One more undefeated game would have equaled the club record from 1990-1991.
FC Barcelona leads the league with 43 points, while Osasuna has 39. Valencia has 36, Deportivo La Coruna 32, and Villarreal 31.
In Saturday's other game, midfielder Jesus "Capi" Capitan scored and Real Betis edged Atletico Madrid 1-0 to move out of the relegation zone.
Today, Barcelona aims to gain its 17th straight victory in all competitions when it hosts lowly Athletic Bilbao, while sixth-place Real Madrid entertains seventh-place Sevilla.
Aimo Diana scored and forced an own-goal for Sampdoria to beat Lecce 3-0 in Serie A.
Striker Fabio Bazzani, who returned from a long injury absence a few weeks ago, added another goal in the second half for his first of the season.
Sampdoria's win at Lecce Via Del Mare stadium, following two draws and two losses, lifted it to 28 points in seventh place ahead of today's matches.
Also on Saturday, Messina held Palermo to 0-0 in the Sicilian Derby that left both sides in the lower half of the table.
It was Palermo's first point following three straight losses.
Wycombe midfielder Mark Philo has died in a car accident, the English League Two club said Saturday.
Philo was involved in a car crash early Saturday morning and died in the hospital in the afternoon.
"Wycombe Wanderers would like to take this opportunity to express their deepest sympathies to Mark's family, his friends and those who were fortunate enough to meet him," Wycombe said in a statement. "An exciting prospect in the game at just 21 years of age, Mark will be sorely missed."
Wycombe beat Notts County 2-0 on Saturday, but manager John Gorman didn't tell his players about the accident until after the match.
"It is absolutely devastating, he was a fantastic kid and at 21 was at the start of his career, he lived for football and always had a smile on his face," Gorman said.
Philo joined Wycombe as a 15-year-old trainee and had played six games for the club since making his senior debut in 2003-2004 season.
Thierry Henry talks
Arsenal captain Thierry Henry has begun talking to his club about a contract extension.
The Frenchman, who equaled Cliff Bastin's club record of 150 league goals with a hat trick in Arsenal's 7-0 rout of Middlesbrough on Saturday, said talks had begun earlier this week.
"I have spoken briefly with the board and the manager in the last week," Henry said. "But we still have things to discuss.
"I just hope all the discussions I have with the board and with the manager show the club can match my sporting ambitions. ... Whether the deal will be signed in the next few days, weeks, months, I really don't know -- it depends how it goes."
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev was the only athlete to “beat” a world record on Sunday at the Enhanced Games, winning the men’s 50m freestyle at the divisive competition where athletes were free to take performance-enhancing substances. His time of 20.81 seconds — which is not considered official — came in the final event of the night in Las Vegas, sparing the blushes of organizers who made claims that multiple world records would be surpassed due to a sophisticated doping regime. Gkolomeev, who was wearing a synthetic “supersuit” long banned at events such as the Olympics, outpaced Australia’s Cameron McEvoy’s 20.88 set in
VICTORY ABROAD: The team took home a fistful of medals and secured spots for the autumn’s Asian Games, scheduled for September in Nagoya Taiwan’s women’s team captured the overall title at the Asian Taekwondo Championships in Mongolia on Sunday, finishing with two golds, one silver and one bronze medal. The strong showing, led by gold medalists Wang Chieh-ling and Chang Jui-en secured the full quota of available spots for Taiwan at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, in September. Wang opened Taiwan’s medal run by winning gold in the women’s under-46kg class on Thursday, the first day of competition. Liu Yu-yun later earned a silver in the under-49kg class. On the final day on Sunday, Chang won Taiwan’s second gold medal in the under-62kg event, and
The manager of the Yomiuri Giants, one of Japan’s most popular baseball teams, resigned yesterday after he was arrested for allegedly physically attacking his teenage daughter. Shinnosuke Abe allegedly grabbed the 18-year-old and forced her to the floor at their home in central Tokyo on Monday evening, reported national broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News, citing unnamed police sources. “Leaving like this really means I’m causing you a lot of trouble, and I feel truly sorry about that,” Abe told a hastily arranged news conference, his eyes red with tears. The former star catcher, who is among baseball-obsessed Japan’s most recognized sports figures,
Taiwanese tennis star Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the second round of the mixed doubles at the French Open, after she and German partner Mark Wallner defeated Slovenian Andreja Klepac and Briton Lloyd Glasspool in straight sets, despite temperatures exceeding 32°C in Paris, while Taiwan’s top men’s doubles player Ray Ho also reached the second round. Hsieh, who made it to the semi-finals in the mixed doubles at Roland Garros in 2024, and Wallner defeated Klepac and Glasspool 6-3, 7-5 in just more than an hour, converting three of five break points, while holding their opponents to just one conversion
RSS