Robin van Persie and Wayne Rooney were on target for Manchester United as the Premier League leaders swept aside Sunderland 3-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday to stay six points clear of champions Manchester City.
United were 2-0 up after 19 minutes, Van Persie opening the scoring with a left-foot finish from close range for his 12th league goal of the season and Tom Cleverley adding a quickfire second three minutes later.
England striker Rooney, who was a doubt due to midweek sickness, made it 3-0 with a 59th minute tap-in before substitute Fraizer Campbell pulled one back against his old club with a header four minutes after coming on. Manchester United now have 42 points to City’s 36, while European champions Chelsea, in Japan for yesterday’s Club World Cup final against Brazilian side Corinthians, remained third on 29 points with a game in hand.
Photo: AFP
City, beaten 3-2 by United in last weekend’s Manchester derby after an agonizing Van Persie stoppage-time winner, defeated Newcastle United 3-1 at St James’ Park earlier in the day to temporarily narrow the gap to three points.
The visitors were a goal up after 10 minutes when Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure split the Newcastle defense with a superb pass to Samir Nasri who rolled the ball back for forward Sergio Aguero to stroke home.
Javi Garcia headed the second after a corner in the 39th minute and Toure wrapped up the points late on after Demba Ba’s goal had briefly revived Newcastle’s hopes.
Elsewhere, Queens Park Rangers celebrated their first win of the season after beating west London rivals Fulham 2-1 thanks to two-goal Adel Taarabt to end a record run of 16 matches without a victory and move off the foot of the table.
The victory stopped QPR, still five points from safety, becoming the first top-flight team since Bolton Wanderers in 1902-1903 to fail to win any of their opening 17 games.
“It would have been a gross injustice if we hadn’t won today,” QPR manager Harry Redknapp told Sky Sports television after Mladen Petric set up a nervous finish with an 88th-minute goal for Fulham.
Aston Villa fans had plenty to cheer after a fighting 3-1 win at Liverpool moved them three points clear of the relegation zone and gave the Reds a reality check.
Christian Benteke scored in each half at Anfield with Andreas Weimann grabbing the other goal for Villa who were 2-0 up at halftime. Steven Gerrard headed an 87th-minute consolation for Liverpool.
Norwich City beat Wigan Athletic 2-1, while Stoke City and Everton drew 1-1.
Everton were lucky to end with 11 men after Marouane Fellaini headbutted Stoke captain Ryan Shawcross without the referee noticing in an incident that drew censure from his own manager, David Moyes.
“I’ve seen it, it’s a terrible thing to do and I expect him to be punished — it’s down to the FA. I’ve told him it’s not acceptable and whatever he gets, he and us deserve it,” Moyes told the BBC.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
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