Liverpool suffered a shock 0 - 1 defeat against Wigan Athletic on Monday night to deal their quest for finishing fourth in the Premier League a mighty blow.
Hugo Rodallega bagged the only goal for the game for the Latics in the 35thminute when the Colombian forward steered Emmerson Boyce’s cross home from close range after Liverpool had conceded possession deep inside their own half.
The return of Glen Johnson as a second-half substitute was the only positive on a night to forget for the Reds at the DW Stadium.
The result leaves Liverpool sixth in the Barclays Premier League, a point behind top four rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, though both sides have games in hand on the Reds, as do seventh-placed Aston Villa.
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Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes joined an elite club after scoring his 100th Premier League goal against Wolverhampton.
The Manchester United midfielder chalked up the ton in style with an accomplished finish to give the champions a 1-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Although he is not one for personal glory, the former England international was still relieved to have reached the milestone, showing patience and composure to nip past Jody Craddock before drilling his shot into the far corner.
Once a prolific scorer, Scholes found the net for the 98th time in league combat at Sunderland in April last year.
It has taken 11 months to get the extra two, having been on 99 since his effort in the four-goal demolition of West Ham last December.
His latest strike promises to be one of the most important this season for Manchester United as it gave them a narrow victory at Wolves and took them back to the top of the Barclays Premier League.
Scholes said: “It was nice. I had a similar chance against West Ham a couple of weeks ago, but thankfully this time I managed to score.
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Manchester City defender Wayne Bridge will face John Terry for the first time time this Saturday at Stamford Bridge since the fall-out from Terry’s alleged affair with his ex-girlfriend. He has also stated that he does not wish to be chosen for the England World Cup squad.
Bridge released a statement through his lawyers on Thursday, confirming that he does not wish to be selected for Fabio Capello’s squad for this year’s World Cup in South Africa because his presence would be potentially “divisive”.
The former Chelsea left-back has been considering his international future since reports of Terry’s affair with his former partner Vanessa Perroncel, a French underwear model with whom he has a four-year-old child, first came to light.
Terry was stripped of the England captaincy by Capello as a result of the scandal and the Italian had thought Bridge would continue to play for his country.
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Chelsea’s lead at the top of the Premier League was cut to one point on Wednesday when they lost 2-1 at Everton with Louis Saha continuing his scoring jinx over them.
Second-placed Manchester United drew 1-1 at Aston Villa while Arsenal stayed in the hunt after beating Liverpool 1-0.
Saha, who scored against Chelsea in the FA Cup final last season and in the 3-3 draw against them in December, cancelled out Florent Malouda’s 17th minute opener for Chelsea with a header in the 33rd.
He then had a penalty saved by Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech on the stroke of halftime before scoring the winner after 75 minutes when he chested the ball down, turned and fired home.
That sent Chelsea to their first defeat in 11 matches and gave Everton manager David Moyes his first victory over the London side on the night he celebrated his 300th Premier League game.
Chelsea remain top with 58 points, but are just one point ahead of Manchester United, who drew at Villa despite playing for more than an hour with 10 men after Nani was sent off for a ragged two-footed challenge on Stilian Petrov.
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According to Cadena Ser Radio in Spain Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal captain and star midfielder, has struck a verbal agreement with Barcelona to join the Champions League Champions next season.
“There is a firm agreement between Barca and Cesc Fabregas even if it is only verbal,” the Spanish station reported without citing its sources.
“Several meetings have taken place and, following those meetings, Cesc told Barca that he wanted to rejoin them from next season,” it added.
Cadena Ser said the deal would be subject to agreeing a fee with Arsenal.
The reigning Spanish champions have neither confirmed nor denied the report.
Fabregas, a 22-year-old Spanish international, is Arsenal’s top scorer with 14 goals in all competitions this season and is under contract with the Gunners until 2014.
But his future has once again been the subject of much speculation this season and media reports have consistently linked him with a return to La Liga.
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Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard believes that the derby win over Everton over the weekend was just the right medicine to kick start their stuttering season.
The Reds won local bragging rights at Anfield on Saturday as Dirk Kuyt’s close-range header 10 minutes after half-time proved the difference.
Gerrard was happy with all three points and the team’s display, especially as Liverpool had to play most of the match with 10 men after the sending-off of Sotirios Kyrgiakos.
And with confidence high, the Liverpool skipper hopes his team can keep up the momentum and finish the campaign well.
“You always enjoy beating your local rivals but it was the way we did it that was really satisfying, particularly after losing a man after half an hour,” Gerrard said. “I thought we showed fantastic character, a great attitude and I also thought we played some decent stuff at times. I thought it was a fully deserved win.
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Chelsea are back at the top of the table and Arsenal are now nine points adrift from the top, thanks to Didier Drogba’s two goals last night in Chelsea’s 2 - 0 win over the Gunners.
The Ivory Coast forward scored both goals inside 23 minutes, and Chelsea then successfully contained Arsenal at Stamford Bridge despite the Gunners enjoying the majority of possession in the second half.
“Didier is in a good moment, he’s come back from the African Cup with fantastic motivation,” Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said.
“The game was not easy because Arsenal played fantastic attacking football. We deserved to win because you can’t speak about a match only about the possession. Maybe they did have more possession than us, but football is about attack—and defense.”
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Didier Drogba celebrated his return from the African Cup of Nations by scoring his 20th goal for Chelsea against Hull City last night, saving at least a point from the match.
Hull centre-back Steven Mouyokolo headed the Barclays Premier League strugglers in front, but Drogba, in his first Blues match for a month, snared a point for the table-toppers when he drilled home a contested free-kick just before the interval.
Hull started confidently, winning corners on the left and right inside two minutes.
Chelsea repelled them safely but Stephen Hunt’s delivery looked dangerous and the home side were assured in the opening minutes.
In the ninth minute Frank Lampard had the first chance of the match, capping a nice passing move with a swerving shot at goal. Boaz Myhill could only parry it to Nicolas Anelka 10 yards out but the Frenchman fluffed his finish.
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Manchester United humbled Arsenal yesterday by beating them 3 - 1 at the Emirates Stadium.
Naniforced Manuel Almunia to concede an own goal before setting up Wayne Rooney for a second. Park Ji-Sungscored early in the second half to end the game as a contest. Thomas Vermaelen volleyed home a consolation for Arsenal in the 80th minute.
Arsenal had started brightly, and Andrey Arshavin had an early opportunity. He broke down the left flank and burst into the left hand side of the penalty area. Cutting inside of Wes Brown, he aimed a shot for the far corner of the goal with his right foot, but it was loose and went wide.
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Chelsea beat Birmingham City 3 - 0 at Stamford Bridge to go to the top of the English Premier League again.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side brought an end to Birmingham’s 15-match unbeaten run thanks to an opening goal by Florent Malouda and a brace from Frank Lampard. The win put Chelsea one point clear of Manchester United at the top of the table with a match in hand on their rivals.
The home side went ahead in the fifth minute when Chelsea opened their account through Malouda. The goal was engineered by England midfielder Joe Cole, who burst into the City penalty area from the right flank before crossing for the unmarked Malouda to head past Joe Hart from six yards.
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