O'Sullivan Makes It Nine Premier League Titles

Yesterday saw Ronnie O'Sullivan secure his ninth Premier League title in a rematch of last season's final against Shaun Murphy. Murhpy won the title 7-3 last season but failed to turn up as O'Sullivan thrashed Murphy 7-1. Murphy struggled from the off as he missed his opening long red which didn't amount to anything. Murphy then scored first but only managed eight before missing an elementary pink ball, this allowed O'Sullivan in and he cleared up to yellow to secure an 81-8 win with a break of 74. There was nothing Murphy could do in the second frame when O'Sullivan spotted a fantastic three ball plant in the cluster of reds, this allowed him to clear up to pink this time with another century break of 123 to add to his tournament tally. The third frame was where things got tense but O'Sullivan got away first with a break of 23, his break was ruined by what looked like an impossible plant shot. Murphy stole in and made a quick break of 29 before this time missing an easy red. This allowed Ronnie back in and took a break of 59 to win the frame 82-29 to take a 3-0 lead. The fourth frame was a very scrappy affair with both players missing shots and playing a decent defensive game. However O'Sullivan escaped the victor with a break of 35 to secure a 4-0 lead with an 84-32 frame win. It didn't get much better for Murphy as he kept missing chances and ended up losing the fifth frame 67-35. Murphy did, however, avoid the whitewash by winning the sixth frame again in a scrappy manner. The Mancunian to a break of 38 to win the frame 68-43. Murphy's chances of a comeback were all but over in the seventh frame when he missed another long red to put O'Sullivan back in control of the table. He secured a break of 68 to win 77-0 and became within one frame of winning the Premier League title. Which he did in the following leg after Murphy made 28 before missing another chance and the ruthless O'Sullivan made a final break of 83 to secure his ninth crown.

FA Cup 3rd Round Draw

It's that time of year again, where the big boys from the Premiership and Championship join the remaining smaller boys in the most prestigious domestic cup around. The FA Cup has reached the third round and the draw was made yesterday to determine who would play who on the weekend of 8th/9th January. Unusually there was only one all Premiership tie but there is still plenty to savour:
Burnley v Port Vale
Coventry v Crystal Palace
Bristol City v Sheffield Wednesday
Fulham received a home tie against fellow Londoners Peterborough while Wolves face an away trip against Doncaster. After their heroics to force a replay, FC United of Manchester could be rewarded with a home tie against last season's runners-up Portsmouth if FC United can beat Brighton.
Huddersfield v Dover
Crawley Town/Swindon v Derby
Struggling West Ham are still in the Carling Cup at the quarter final stage and would like a decent FA Cup run as well, they have been given a home tie against Barnsley. West Brom will have to travel to the Madejski to face Championship Reading. After beating Manchester United at Old Trafford at this stage last season, Leeds have been given a trip to The Emirates to face Arsenal. Gerard Houllier's FA Cup return will be at Bramall lane as Villa travel to Sheffield United. Manchester City also face an away trip to The Walkers Stadium to face Championship Leicester. The surprise success of Bolton under Owen Coyle get a home tie against non-league York City whereas Blackburn face Championship winning contenders QPR at Ewood Park.
Swansea v Colchester
Wycombe v Hereford/Lincoln
Non-league Stevenage get their dream tie against Premiership opposition as Newcastle will travel to Broadhall Way.
Burton Albion v Middlesbrough
Birmingham get a frosty tie away to Millwall whereas Premiership new boys Blackpool will be travelling to St.Mary's to face Southampton.
Watford v Hartlepool/Yeovil
Chelsea begin their quest to win the FA Cup for the third successive time with a home tie against Roy Keane's Ipswich. Sunderland will have to wait a little longer to find out who they will playing against as Notts County and Bournemouth have to play a replay. Everton get an away trip to Scunthorpe United whereas struggling Wigan face former Premiership opposition Hull at the KC Stadium. Stoke will welcome The Bluebirds Cardiff to the Britannia and Tottenahm will face either Charlton or Luton at White Hart Lane.
Preston v Nottingham Forest
Norwich v Droylden/Leyton Orient
Torquay v Carlisle
However all these 31 ties are to be completely eclipsed as Old Trafford will host one of the fiercest rivals in footballing history. Manchester United will take on the old enemy Liverpool in the tie of the round, and possibly the competition overall!

Liverpool Caught Cold While Chelsea Slide To Second

After the record goal scoring tally on Saturday Super Sunday only managed five goals to take the weekend's total to 41, which equals the record in a twenty team Premiership season. First to take to the freezing Sunday temperatures was Newcastle as they hosted the out of sorts Chelsea. The run of form looked set continue when Andy Carroll put the home side ahead after just six minutes. However Salomon Kalou managed to steady the Chelsea ship with an equaliser just before half-time. The score finished 1-1 which means Chelsea fail to win in three league games and slump to second for the first time since April.

The second game was at White Hart Lane as Martin Skrtel had an eventful game for visitors Liverpool again Tottenham. It was Skrtel who put Liverpool ahead three minutes before half-time when his initial header from a corner was blocked by teammate Ngog before landing at Skrtel's feet where he poked it past Gomes. After their comeback at Arsenal last week, Tottenham didn't panic and Martin Skrtel equalised for Tottenham after converting a cross into his own net after 65 minutes. Tottenham snatched the three points in injury time thanks to a counter attack that allowed Lennon through one-on-one with Reina and neatly converted it.

Premier League Snooker Semi-Finals

After ten arduous weeks, the top four players from the Premier League headed to the Potters Leisure Resort in Norfolk to contest the semi-finals.

The first semi-final saw Marco Fu take on Shaun Murphy, the format had changed to best of nine frames for the semi-finals. Fu was returning to England after winning the gold medal in the singles snooker tournament in the Asian Games and he looked to have carried on that momentum against the defending Premier League champion. Fu was the first to qualify for the semi-finals and won the frame of the semi-finals 83-0. Murphy potted the first balls of the second frame but missed a relatively easy blue after a break of just five. Fu wet up to the table and took 49 before hitting difficulties. However the Hong Kong man went onto take the frame 70-5. But that was the final time Fu managed to earn a point as Murphy revved up his engine and flew through the following five frames. Frame three saw the first century break of the night as Murphy hit 103 to win the frame 116-0. Murphy equalised in the fourth frame with a break of 81 with no reply before taking a break of 97 to win the fifth frame and take the lead in the semi-final. There was no let up in the sixth frame as Murphy racked up another break of 69 to win the frame 97-0 to take him to within one frame to seal a place in the final. He managed it in the seventh with a break of 68 to take the frame 72-0 and win the match 5-2.

The second semi-final saw league topper Ronnie O'Sullivan take on world number one Neil Robertson, who scraped into the semi-finals after a favour from O'Sullivan. However the Rocket wasn't in a favour giving mood despite missing an early easy pink. It lead to Robertson securing a break of 34 before a safety duel ensured. O'Sullivan came out of it victorious to make a break of 61 to win the frame 73-34. Roberston hit back straight away with a break of 65 to equalise the score after winning the second frame 91-8. The third frame was in another midst of a compelling safety duel which again O'Sullivan came out the victor to make a 82 break and re-take the lead after winning the frame 90-0. O'Sullivan then doubled his lead over Robertson with the second century of the night, eclipsing Murphy's 103 with a break of 139. Ronnie then made it back to back centuries with a break of 102 to almost book his place against Murphy in tonight's final. Which he managed to do after another tight frame which O'Sullivan managed to win 78-51, to make the final score 5-1 to O'Sullivan.

Record Day In The Premiership

Yesterday saw 36 goals in just eight Premiership games, a record amount on any one day in the Premiership. You know you're in for a treat when the weekend opener supplies six goals in possibly the coldest day of the year so far. The lunchtime kick-off was at Villa Park as Aston Villa hosted Arsenal, like last week Arsenal had a chance of going top with a win. In truth, it should have been all over in the first half as Villa didn't turn up and Arsenal took full advantage. It took 39 minutes before Arsenal finally broke the fragile defence with Arshavin scoring a delightful solo goal. They went in at half-time 2-0 ahead, although it could have been double that, Samir Nasri volleyed from a corner on the edge of the box to give Arsenal their second. Villa did emerge in the second half and it looked like a spot of deja vu for Arsenal when Ciaran Clark pulled one back for Villa just seven minutes from the restart. With the momentum Villa built up a head of steam but were caught by a sucker punch when Chamakh made it 3-1 just four minutes later. Villa still came back fighting and pulled another goal back when Dunne flicked a header from a corner onto the head of Ciaran Clark to get his second senior goal for Villa, with twenty minutes left on the clock. Villa couldn't find that elusive equaliser and Arsenal made sure of the points when Wilshere netted in injury time to put Arsenal top of the league.

In response to Arsenal's win, Manchester United sent out a statement with a 7-1 win over Blackburn to regain first place. Berbatov became only the fourth player in the Premiership to score five goals in a game and nearly hit the Premiership's first double hat-trick. The Bulgarian's first came just after the first minute before Park netted the second after 23 minutes. Berbatov grabbed his second just four minutes later as United went in at half-time 3-0 ahead. It took just two minutes into the second half for Berbatov to score his second hat-trick of the season and Nani added United's fifth a minute later. Berbatov's final two goals were scored within eight minutes of each other, after the 62nd and the 7oth minute. United failed to keep a clean sheet as Samba scored the smallest consolation seven minutes from time.

Bolton came from 2-0 behind to draw 2-2 at home to Blackpool. The Tangerines took the lead after 28 minutes when Ian Evatt scored his first Premiership goal. The in form Luke Varney doubled Blackpool's lead twelve minutes into the second half. However Blackpool's failure to keep clean sheets meant Bolton had a chance when substitute Martin Petrov pulled one back after 76 minutes. Then one of the best team goals of the season just before injury time meant that Bolton earned a point after Mark Davies rounded the move off.

There four goals, two red cards and an own goal as West Brom surprisingly beat Everton 4-1 at Goodison. Paul Scharner scored his first goal for West Brom after sixteen minutes to give the Baggies the lead. Chris Brunt scored a wonderful free-kick to double West Brom's lead tow minutes before the half hour mark. Tim Cahill scored another header three minutes before half-time to give Everton a decent chance in the second half. However Mikel Arteta was sent off thirteen minutes after the restart for stamping on Gonzalo Jara. West Brom took full advantage as Somen Tchoyi made it 3-1 after 76 minutes. A Sylvain Distin own goal ensured all three points for West Brom three minutes before the end. But there was still enough time for Yousuff Mulumbu to receive a second yellow card just two minutes later to level the team numbers.

Craven Cottage and The Britannia let the side down as both saw a 1-1 draw. Sebastien Larsson finished off a great Alexander Hleb run after twenty minutes to give the Birmingham the lead at Fulham. But Clint Dempsey earned Mark Hughes' side a point eight minutes into the second half. Stoke were much the better team in their game but it was visitors Manchester City who went in front after Micah Richards scored a striker's goal with nine minutes remaining. But a audacious back heel from Tuncay put Etherington one-on-one with Joe Hart and Stoke weren't going to be denied a point.

It's only November but the game between West Ham and Wigan was played as 'Save Our Season' day. Returning Valon Behrami put the Hammers ahead with nine minutes remaining of the first half. Victor Obinna then doubled the score eleven minutes into the second half in front of the celebrating Paolo Di Canio. Wigan had a chance to pull one back but Mauro Boselli took a poor penalty and it was easily saved by Rob Green. Scott Parker put the game beyond all doubt after 75 minutes but Wigan pulled one back when their best player of the game Tom Cleverley scored in the final five minutes.

The final five goals were at Molineux where Wolves beat Sunderland 3-2 in a very topsy turvy affair. All five goals were scored in the second half with Foley breaking the deadlock five minutes after the restart to give Wolves the lead. Darren Bent equalised for Sunderland after 67 minutes before Danny Welbeck gave Sunderland the lead ten minutes later. Stephen Hunt equalised for Wolves with nine minutes remaining before Sylvan Ebanks-Blake won the game just before injury time.

Champions League Round-Up 24/11/10

With the first half of the groups playing their penultimate group games yesterday, we saw more teams progress into the last 16 and not many places are left to be fought for in the last group game.
Group A: Inter Milan secured their place after beating FC Twente in the San Siro. A 55 minute goal from Esteban Cambiasso was enough to see Rafa Benitez's side edge past the Dutch side.

Tottenham became only the second team in the history of the Champions League to progress into the knockout rounds in their debut season, Shalke were the only previous team. They managed it with a 3-0 win over Werder Bremen. Younes Kaboul scored his second goal in as many matches after just six minutes. Luka Modric added the second just before half-time and Crouch scored the third eleven minutes from time. Gareth Bale also missed a penalty during the match.

Group B: Shalke also progressed after beating Lyon 3-0 in Germany. The former PSV boys were at it again with Farfan opening the scoring after 13 minutes. Huntelaar added the second seven minutes later before scoring his second just before second half injury time. Lyon are within touching distance of qualifying as they are three points ahead of Benfica.

Who missed their chance to level with Lyon after suffering a surprise 3-0 defeat away to Hapoel Tel-Aviv. Eran Zahavi put the Israelis ahead after 24 minutes. Douglas Da Silva got their second after 74 minutes before Zahavi scored his second goal in second half injury time.

Group C: After being denied a penalty in the opening three minutes, Manchester United beat Rangers with a penalty three minutes from the end when Naismith kicked Fabio in the head/chest area. Who else but the returning Wayne Rooney stepped up to take it and sent McGregor the wrong way to put United through and send Rangers home. United are still to concede in the group stage and no team has ever gone through the whole group stage without conceding.

Bursaspor scored their first goal of the competition but were beaten 6-1 by Valencia in the Mestalla. Valencia were 4-0 ahead at half-time, Juan Mata opened the scoring from the spot after 17 minutes. Roberto Soldado scored the second four minutes later with Artiz Aduriz grabbing the third on the half hour mark. Joaquin ended the first half rout with Valencia's fourth seven minutes later. It took just ten minutes into the second half before Soldado scored his second and Valencia's fifth. Bursaspor's first Champions League goal came from substitute Pablo Batalla after 69 minutes. Valencia substitute Alejandro Dominguez got the sixth after 78 minutes to ensure Valencia's qualification in style.

Group D: Rubin Kazan kept their qualification hopes alive with a 1-0 win against Copenhagen in Russia. The only goal came from Christian Noboa who converted from the penalty spot right on half-time. The win sees Rubin move to within a point of Copenhagen with the final group game left to play.

Barcelona secured their place into the last 16 with a 3-0 win over Panathinaikos. Pedro opened the scoring after 27 minutes. Lionel Messi was on the score sheet yet again, after 62 minutes before Pedro scored his second seven minutes later.

Champions League Round-Up 23/11/10

After a three week break Champions League returned as the second half of the groups played their penultimate group fixtures. We are now getting a clearer view on who is going to make it to the last 16 as groups are becoming all or nearly settled.

Group E: Roma came from two down to overcome Bayern Munich and almost guarantee their progression into the last 16 where Munich are already headed. Mario Gomez scored two goals in six minutes (33rd and 39th) to give last season's runners-up the lead at half-time. Marco Borriello pulled one back four minutes into the second half before two goals in the last ten minutes sealed the victory for Roma; first Daniele De Rossi equalised for Roma with nine minutes left before veteran substitute Totti scored three minutes later from the penalty spot.

FC Basle remain three points behind Roma and just about still in with a chance of stealing a place into the last 16 after beating Cluj 1-0 in Switzerland. Federico Almerares scored the only goal after fifteen minutes. Cluj were down to ten men in final couple of minutes when Felice Piccolo received a straight red.

Group F: Marseille all but sealed their place into the last 16 after beating Spartak Moscow 3-0 in Russia. After scoring against England last week, Valbuena opened the scoring after 18 minutes. Loic Remy doubled their lead nine minutes into the second half. Morais Welliton received a straight red for Spartak after 64 minutes and Marseille got their third just four minutes later from Brandao. Spartak remain just three points behind Marseille and could still clinch second from them in the remaining game.

Chelsea continued their 100% record, coming from behind to beat Zilina 2-1. Bello Babatounde gave the visitors the lead after nineteen minutes. Danny Sturridge equalised for Chelsea six minutes into the second half before Florent Malouda won the game four minutes from time.

Group G: Real Madrid secured their last 16 spot with an eventful 4-0 win against Ajax. Karim Benzema opened the scoring after 36 minutes and Alvaro Arbeloa made it 2-0 just before the break. Ronaldo made it three after 70 minutes before scoring his second of the night from the penalty spot with nine minutes left. The action didn't end there as Xabi Alonso was given a second yellow card three minutes from time and Madrid were down to nine men in injury time when Ramos also received a second yellow card.

AC Milan will join Real Madrid into the last 16 after beating Auxerre 2-0. Zlatan Ibrahimovic put the visitors ahead after 65 minutes before Ronaldinho came off the bench to settle the tie in injury time.

Group H: Arsenal squandered the opportunity to progress after a 2-0 defeat in Portugal against Braga. Two late goals from Matheus after 83 minutes and in second half injury time saw Braga go level on points with Arsenal going into the final group game.

Shakhtar Donetsk aren't completely safe despite beating Partizan Belgrade 3-0. Teras Stepanenko opened the scoring seven minutes into the second half before Jadson doubled their lead seven minutes later. Eduardo finished things off after 68 minutes to keep Shakhtar top of the group, but only three points ahead of Braga and Arsenal with Braga still to play Shakhtar Donetsk.

A Home Win, An Away Win and A Draw

After Saturday's Barclay's Premier League fixtures took place, there were still three that remained to be played. Two were played on the usual Super Sunday supplement and Monday Night Football returned to host the final Premiership fixture of the weekend.

Sunday's first installment saw Blackburn host Aston Villa at Ewood Park. The first half saw 45 minutes of two teams failing to keep the ball for too long. Aston Villa did look the better side for the opening fifteen minutes with Downing finding himself in acres of space down the right hand side. But Villa failed to find a decent last ball and Blackburn found it relatively easy to subdue any attacks. Blackburn grew into the game but didn't really test Friedel in a half that was dominated in the mid-field. It looked to be going in at half-time goalless until Warnock gave away a silly free-kick about 25 yards from goal down the right hand wing. Friedel had looked vulnerable at set pieces all half, with the referee helping him out a lot by giving free-kicks for obstruction against the veteran American. Morten Gamst Pedersen took the free-kick and found the top corner with Friedel coming off his line and failing to judge the flight of the ball, Blackburn went in 1-0 ahead at half-time. Villa came out in the second half looking for that equaliser but were vulnerable to the counter attack, which Blackburn failed to convert from. Ashley Young hit the post for Villa in their most dominant spell but were hit with a sucker punch shortly after. Villa failed to deal with a corner and a misguided shot was sent goal bound by the quick reactions of Pedersen and Villa were two behind after 66 minutes. Villa couldn't come back and Blackburn took the home victory.

The second installment was a grudge match between Mark Hughes' Fulham and his former employers Manchester City. It didn't start well for Hughes as City started the better team and found themselves ahead after just six minutes; Carlos Tevez benefited from slack defending before finding the net. It got worse for Fulham as City continued their dominance and scored a second thirteen minutes before half-time via Pablo Zabaleta. The points were all sealed just three minutes later when Yaya Toure rounded off a slick City move to make it 3-0 before half-time. It was then 4-0 just eleven minutes into the second half when Tevez grabbed his second goal but Fulham got a consolation from substitute Zoltan Gera twenty minutes from time.

Monday Night Football wen up North to the Stadium of Light as Sunderland hosted Everton. after beating Chelsea last week, Sunderland were brought back down to Earth when Tim Cahill scored after just six minutes. After scoring Sunderland's third last week, on loan Welbeck continued his goal scoring form when he equalised after 23 minutes. The Manchester United man then gave Sunderland the lead twenty minutes from time. But his brace wasn't enough to win the game as Mikel Arteta equalised for Everton with seven minutes remaining.

Barclay's Premiership Round-Up 20/11/10

All three of the title contenders played yesterday and all shuffled around in another day of shocks in the Premiership. As usual there were a whole host of goals and now there is a surprise fourth place sitter, for now. The lunch-time kick-off was the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham at The Emirates. Like some of the others it was possibly the biggest derby, in terms of positioning, in a long while. Arsenal knew that a win would take them top of the league with Chelsea to play later. That was certainly the motivation as they were much the better team in the first half and were a goal up just under ten minutes into the game, Samir Nasir rounding off another typical Arsenal passing move. They doubled their lead after 27 minutes after Fabregas launched a perfect long ball to the feet of the on-running Chamakh, who was in form after scoring for Morocco against Northern Ireland mid-week, Chamakh then rounded keeper Gomes with question marks over the Brazilian before scoring at a very tight angle. Tottenham knew they had to fight back in the second half and that's exactly what they did, Bale scored from a great counter attack after a flick through from Van Der Vaart five minutes into the second half. Van Der Vaart then levelled for Tottenham after is free-kick was stupidly handled by Fabregas in the box and the Dutchman converted the following penalty. With Tottenham level they had the momentum and they nicked the points five minutes from time when another Van Der Vaart free-kick was this time met by the glancing head of Younes Kaboul, which nestled neatly in the corner.

After Arsenal's defeat it gave Manchester United the chance to overtake Arsenal and move into second place. They were hosting Wigan, a team who have never beaten United in the league, but looked the better team in the first half. But the early pressure counted for nothing as Patrice Evra put United ahead on the stroke of half-time. It got worse for Wigan as fourteen minutes into the second half captain Alcaraz received a second yellow card and Wigan were down to ten. Just two minutes later Wigan were down to nine after vice-captain Rodallega dived in two-footed on Rafael and could have no complaints. Despite the two man advantage United could only score in the game that saw Rooney make his comeback appearance. However it was fellow substitute Hernandez who scored the second goal after 77 minutes with a nice diving header.

So far this season games involving Newcastle have produced quite a lot of goals, well there was another six at The Reebok as they travelled to Bolton. Bolton were awarded a penalty after just eighteen minutes when Kevin Nolan's return to The Reebok was marred by hand balling in the box, the penalty was converted by Kevin Davies. Bolton were 2-0 ahead at half-time when Lee doubled the score after 39 minutes. It didn't get any better for Newcastle in the second half as Johan Elmander scored a rare home goal five minutes after the restart. Andy Carroll pulled one back for Newcastle two minutes later but that was a good as it got. Elmander made it 4-1 after 72 minutes before being deliberately elbowed by Coloccini seven minutes later, the defender was rightly shown a red card. Bolton were awarded a second penalty in second half injury time which was again converted by Kevin Davies to finish the game off at 5-1. The win sees Bolton move temporarily into fourth place.

Blackpool continued their fine debut season in the Premiership with another win, this time at home to Wolves. Luke Varney opened the scoring after three minutes with a stunning strike from distance. Marlon Harewood doubled the lead just before half-time to make it 2-0. Wolves' consistent pressure in the second half was thwarted by a good display from Ali Al Habsi. But Wolves got one back four minutes before the end from Kevin Doyle.

There another two penalties at the Hawthornes as West Brom lost 3-0 to Stoke. Etherington converted the first penalty ten minutes into the second half to open the scoring. Walters then converted the second penalty five minutes from time before adding Stoke's third in injury time. The win puts Stoke into eighth place.

With Arsenal failing to overtake Chelsea earlier in the day, Chelsea could extend their lead over them with a win away to Birmingham. Only one goal settled the tie as Ben Foster put in a true number one England goalkeeping performance. Lee Bowyer scored the surprise winner after seventeen minutes to see Chelsea lose their third game in their last four. The result also means that Manchester United are level at the top of the Premiership but Chelsea remain first on goal difference.

The tea time kick-off was at Anfield as Liverpool took on the struggling West Ham. Glen Johnson was given far too much space from a corner to allow him to chest the ball down and find the bottom corner after eighteen minutes. Dirk Kuyt doubled Liverpool's advantage from the penalty spot nine minutes later. The points were all wrapped up after just 38 minutes when Maxi Rodriguez added a final third.

Premier League Snooker: Final Week

The final League games of the Snooker Premier League took place in Venue Cymru, Llandudno. With three players fighting for that final semi-final place and two of them competing, we were treated to a very nerve-racking night of snooker. The first match was between O'Sullivan and Selby, Selby just needed a point to be assured of that place regardless of the other result. If Selby won two frames he would automatically knock the Welshman Mark Williams out of the running and have to rely on Murphy to do enough to stop Robertson qualifying.

The first frame was really all about the blue ball, Selby was quickest out of the blocks and secured a 49-0 lead after two visits but missed a blue to go onto surely take the frame. O'Sullivan then came out and rushed onto 56 before missing that final blue, a few defensive shots came into play before Ronnie notched the blue and took the frame 67-49. Selby wasn't too deterred but still lost the second frame to make his chances of winning the match very slim, he lost the frame 68-43. Selby's chances of winning were all over in the third frame as after a break of 80, O'Sullivan claimed the third frame 87-12. This meant that Selby had to win at least two of the final three frames to be in with a chance of qualifying, the point meant that O'Sullivan would finish the league stage in first place. It should have been 4-0 but O'Sullivan missed an easy black which allowed Selby in with a chance, he forced a snooker that O'Sullivan couldn't escape. He argued with referee Paul Collier over the claim that the foul was a 'foul and a miss' which meant Selby could make O'Sullivan replay the snooker. After three failed genuine attempts at it he decided to make a statement by just hitting the cue ball into the nearest ball to incur more fouls, until conceding the frame at 48-79. As the fire was in his belly, O'Sullivan came back into the fifth frame with a century break of 116 to mean Selby had to win the final frame to knock Williams out of contention. O'Sullivan had glorious chances of winning the final frame early but didn't take them and Selby still required a snooker. He managed it before fouling himself and then a stroke of luck meant the snooker wasn't required when a double kiss from O'Sullivan saw the cue ball go into a pocket. It went down to the final black which O'Sullivan managed to pot and win the frame 66-59, to win the game 5-1 and eliminate Selby from the competition.

With that news it was a straight out contest between the watching Williams sat at home and Robertson. If Robertson beat Murphy he goes through, if he fails to beat Murphy Williams progresses. His preparation was ruined after train delays meant he nearly missed the match and Murphy latched onto it by winning the first frame 56-17. The second frame was a little edgy but Robertson was making long pots for the first time in a while, this lead to him winning the second frame 67-33. The Aussie gave himself every chance by taking a 2-1 lead with a century break of 116 to win with a whitewash. But after a foul in the fourth, Murphy was able to take a break of 98 to make it 2-2 and set up a very nervy finish for Robertson and Williams. Robertson kept himself in the competition with another century break, this time of 124. Meaning it was all down to the final frame, if Murphy won it Williams was through, if Robertson won it he was through. Robertson took a quick lead but missed a red which meant if Murphy cleared up he'd win by a solitary point. He started off with a fluked red which saw Robertson sink into his chair with a wry smile. But the clear-up was hampered by balls on the side cushion and Murphy was unable the take the final red from the cushion which allowed Robertson a chance. He took a very brave option and found a remarkable cross double which set him up for the win, 70-29, which puts him through to the semi-finals by a solitary frame. Here's the final league table:

1. O'Sullivan 9
2. Fu 8
3. Murphy 6
4. Robertson 5 (won 18 frames)
5. Williams 5 (won 17 frames)
6. Selby 5 (won 17 frames)
7. Ding 4

The semi-finals take place next Saturday with the final on the Sunday. O'Sullivan, who ultimately helped Robertson's qualification, will face the Aussie in the semi-finals. With Marco Fu returning form the Asian Games to take on Shaun Murphy.

Chelsea Suffer Remembrance Sunday Blues as Arsenal Gun Themselves Into Second

This week's Super Sunday was Remembrance Sunday as two Premiership grounds fell silent in honour before watching their soldiers combat in the war of the Premiership. The first battle was at Goodison Park where Everton took on Arsenal. 66/1 was the odds on Bacary Sagna scoring the opening goal, but that's exactly what happened after 36 minutes with Sagna blasting the ball into the roof of Everton's net. The half-time team talk didn't work for David Moyes as Arsenal started the second half stronger and a typical Arsenal was rounded off by captain Fabregas just three minutes after the restart. From there Everton came into the half and Fabianski had a masterclass in front of goal to deny Everton from scoring. Although Arsenal should have been down to ten men when Squillaci brought down Saha when he was last man, he escaped with a yellow card. However it didn't deter the Everton attack and they pulled one back just before injury time through Tim Cahill after Arsenal failed to deal with a corner. But Everton couldn't force an equaliser and Arsenal moved to second in the table.

Arsenal stayed two points behind leaders Chelsea, who suffered their first home defeat of the season and their worst home defeat for seven years against Sunderland. In truth, Chelsea weren't at the races with their makeshift midfield and defence but Petr Cech also displayed a goalkeeping masterclass to keep Sunderland at bay. Chelsea were also lucky not to be down to ten men when Ivanovic imitated Squillaci and also escaped with a yellow card. Sunderland got their reward however just before half-time when Nedum Onouha capitalised on slack defending and just waltzed into the box before firing past Cech. Chelsea didn't get any better in the second half and were two behind seven minutes after the restart when in form Gyan struck again. Sunderland rounded off the night with an Ashley Cole mistake, he played a through ball to opponent, and on loan from Manchester United, Danny Welbeck who beat Cech in the one-on-one situation to make 3-0 three minutes from time.

Full Formula 1 Standings

Drivers' Championship: 1. Vettel (Red Bull) 256, 2. Alonso (Ferrari) 254, 3. Webber (Red Bull), 242, 4. Hamilton (McLaren) 240, 5. Button (McLaren) 214, 6. Massa (Ferrari) 144, 7. Rosberg (Mercedes) 142, 8. Kubica (Renault) 136, 9. Schumacher (Mercedes) 72, 10. Barrichello (Williams) 47, 11. Sutil (Force India) 47, 12. Kobayashi (Sauber) 32, 13. Petrov (Renault) 27, 14. Hulkenberg (Williams) 22, 15. Liuzzi (Force India) 21, 16. Buemi (Toro Rosso) 8, 17. De La Rosa (Sauber) 6, 18. Heidfeld (Sauber) 6, 19. Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) 5. Those who scored no points: Kovalainen (Lotus), Trulli (Lotus), Senna (Hispania), Di Grassi (Virgin), Chandhok (Hispania), Glock (Virgin), Yamamoto (Hispania) and Klien (Hispania)

Constructors' Championship: 1. Red Bull 498, 2. McLaren 454, 3. Ferrari 398, 4. Mercedes 214, 5. Renault 163, 6. Williams 69, 7. Force India 68, 8. Sauber 44, 9. Toro Rosso 13. Those who scored no points: Lotus, Virgin and Hispania

Red Bull Celebrate Double Championship In Dubai

The curtain came down on the Formula 1 stage as the drivers headed for their final race of the season in beautiful Abu Dhabi. With four possible contenders still, mathematically, in with a chance of securing the Drivers' Championship everyone knew qualifying would play a crucial part. Vettel came out on top as he qualified for yet another Red Bull pole with Hamilton keeping his dreams alive in second. Championship leader Alonso was third with his biggest rival Webber stuck behind Button in fifth.

Crucially Vettel got a clean start in the race and kept his position whereas Alonso had moved down to fourth, which would have been enough to win him the Championship. Schumacher was made to spin by team mate Rosberg and Liuzzi crashed over the top of him to force the Safety Car. Many of the 'mid-fielders' took this opportunity to take their mandatory tyre change and it played a pivotal role in deciding the Championship winner. Racing resumed after six laps with the contenders all keeping their positions.

In a bid to unnerve Vettel, Webber blinked first and pitted around the twelfth lap. With Ferrari believing Webber was Alonso's biggest title threat they retorted and pitted Alonso a few laps later to emerge ahead of him. What Alonso didn't count on when re-emerging to the track in thirteenth was that he would be stuck behind a train of Petrov and Rosberg who had already pitted during the Safety Car. This blew the Championship wide open as Vettel was now suddenly looking likely to become Champion. Hamilton also failed in his pitting strategy as he became stuck behind Kubica who didn't pit until very late on. The other incidents were Glock suffering a gearbox failure that led him to crash on the 46th lap and Trulli's rear wing fell off on the penultimate lap. Alonso couldn't get past Petrov and Webber was behind Alonso which meant that Alonso couldn't accumulate enough points to win his third Drivers' Championship, meaning that Vettel lead from start to finish to become F1's youngest ever Drivers' Champion. Here's the race result in full:

1. Vettel (Red Bull), 2. Button (McLaren), 3. Hamilton (McLaren), 4. Rosberg (Mercedes), 5. Kubica (Renault), 6. Petrov (Renault), 7. Alonso (Ferrari), 8. Webber (Red Bull), 9. Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), 10. Massa (Ferrari), 11. Heidfeld (Sauber), 12. Barrichello (Williams), 13. Sutil (Force India), 14. Kobayashi (Sauber), 15. Buemi (Toro Rosso), 16. Hulkenberg (Williams), 17. Kovalainen (Lotus), 18. Di Grassi (Virgin), 19. Senna (Hispania), 20. Klien (Hispania), 21. Trulli (Lotus), Retired: Glock (Virgin), Schumacher (Mercedes), Liuzzi (Force India)

Barclay's Premier League Round-Up 13/11/10

As the grounds across fell silent in honour of our fallen soldiers throughout the years, the Premiership tried its hardest to give a Saturday worth of remembrance. The lunch-time game was between Aston Villa and Manchester United, the first half consisted of Berbatov missing another sitter in the opening exchanges with Villa growing into the half but neither team really created any meaningful chances. The second half was much better in comparison with both teams playing more attacking and Villa were very much on the front foot. They hit the cross bar and post in quick succession before a quick break saw Ashley Young brought down by Brown in the penalty area and was awarded the spot kick, Young converted it and Villa were finally ahead after 72 minutes. As Sir Alex Ferguson rung the changes, he may have regretted it at first when one of the subs Macheda gave the ball away cheaply in the Villa half. This resulted in another quick break by the youthful Villa and Albrighton was on hand to double Villa's lead four minutes after the penalty. With their unbeaten run looking in tatters United finally got themselves going and Macheda atoned for his error with a beautiful top corner goal with nine minutes left to play. With the youngsters becoming anxious as United pressed for an equaliser, United were getting themselves a couple of corners. The second corner didn't pose any threat initially but Nani kept the ball alive by swinging a cross back in and it was met by Vidic who scored the equaliser to keep United's unbeaten run in tact.

After a couple of poor results in the league recently, Tottenham came back into form with a good win over Blackburn. Gareth Bale returned to lethal goal scoring fashion when he opened the scoring after sixteen minutes. Pavlyuchenko made it 2-0 three minutes before half-time. Crouch then virtually ended the game after 69 minutes before Bale scored his second six minutes later. Blackburn had a little resurgence which resulted in captain Nelsen scoring with ten minutes left and Gael Givet grabbing a second in second half injury time.

There were another five goals at Molineux as Wolves entertained Bolton. Although Wolves got off to the worst possible start when Richard Stearman scored an own goal in the very first minute. There were then three goals in seven minutes as Elmander made it 2-0 after 62 minutes before Holden scored Bolton's third five minutes later. Wolves pulled one back two minutes later thanks to Kevin Foley before Wolves were back in the game when substitute Steven Fletcher scored after 77 minutes. Bolton hung onto the win however to leave Wolves in the relegation zone.

A seventieth minute goal from Victor Moses was enough for Wigan to beat West Brom at the DW Stadium. However the other three three o'clock kick-offs were goalless. Newcastle drew with Fulham, Ian Holloway made another eleven changes to his team against West Ham which couldn't bring a goal and Manchester City were booed off after another goalless draw, this time against Birmingham.

The tea time kick-off saw Liverpool's recent run of form end away to Stoke. Ricardo Fuller put Stoke ahead eleven minutes into the second half before there was an entertaining bout of second half injury time. Firstly Kenwyne Jones secured all three points after Gerrard gave the ball away then Lucas became the only player in the league to be sent off yesterday after receiving a second yellow card.

Premier League Snooker Week Nine

The penultimate week of the Snooker Premier League arrived at Grimsby as the three places to join Marco Fu in the finals week-end became hotly contested. Shaun Murphy was first up, playing his penultimate fixture against Williams who was playing his final match. If Murphy won he would need Ronnie O'Sullivan to win later to be guaranteed of qualifying whereas Williams would qualify if he won. The Welshman made a tactical error in the first frame that almost won it for him. He decided to concede a time foul consisting of five points to avoid wasting a time-out, it seemed to have been a good decision as he then raced to a break of 36. But he squandered the following shot and was left to rue the time foul as Murphy took the first frame 69-36. Murphy then went to double his lead with a whitewash of 101-o but he didn't make a century break. Williams also replied in the third frame with a whitewash of his own, he also required two visits to win the frame 84-0. As the tension rose and the wind whistled around the arena, the match became a lot more tentative and more snookers were applied. Murphy guaranteed himself a point after taking the fourth frame 69-58. The penultimate frame went to a black ball finish which Murphy fluked to make sure he was going to win the match. With the pressure off Williams restored a two frame deficit by winning the final frame 63-35. Murphy now sits on six points with Robertson his opponent next week whereas Williams anxiously sits on five points and has to hope results go his way to qualify.

After his win, Murphy watched intently on the other match of the night between O'Sullivan and Robertson, knowing that an O'Sullivan win would put them both through to finals week-end. Despite Ronnie and Robertson being arguably the best attacking players in the world the first frame had a six minute snooker rally. O'Sullivan emerged from it victorious by winning the frame 83-40. The second frame continued in the same vain as both players showed off their defensive skill. But when then chances arrived O'Sullivan capitalised the better as he also took the second frame with an 85-20 scoreline. The third frame was secured by O'Sullivan to guarantee himself at least a point when he took two visits to win it 128-0. The fourth frame was over before it started as O'Sullivan wasn't to be denied the victory and took the only the century break of the night of 130 to win the frame 134-0. Robertson then came into the game and restored some pride to give himself a possible chance to qualify next week by taking the final to frames. He won the fifth frame 64-32 and then took the final frame 79-59. With O'Sullivan now qualified on seven points, Robertson knows that a win next week against Murphy might not be enough to progress as he is on three points.

For Robertson to qualify next week he was to beat Murphy and hope that Selby loses to O'Sullivan. If Robertson wins 4-2 Selby has to lose 5-1 for the Aussie to progress, if he wins 5-1 then Selby has to lose 4-2 or worse and if Robertson secures another 6-0 whitewash then Selby just has to lose for Robertson to progress. All Selby needs to do next week is secure a point to be guaranteed that final place in finals week-end. As for Williams he can qualify if Robertson loses or draws and if Selby loses 6-0. If Selby loses 5-1 then he will go through on money won because frame wins would be equal between him and Williams.

Mid-Week Premiership

This week we were treated to a mid-week schedule of Barclay's Premier League action full it's usual good, bad and ugly sides to the beautiful game. Only two games took place Tuesday while the rest had a day extra to concentrate on their opponents. In most cases the games took a while to warm up in the cold November weather and the first game between Tottenham and Sunderland was no exception. With no goals in the first half, the deadlock was broken by Rafael Van Der Vaart after 64 minutes. However Tottenham's lead lasted only three minutes when Sunderland's record signing Asamoah Gyan struck goal again.

The other Tuesday fixture was at the Britannia stadium where Stoke hosted Birmingham. The only goal in the first half came in the minute before half-time via Robert Huth for Stoke. Ricardo Fuller then doubled Stoke's lead after 71 minutes before substitute Keith Fahey pulled one back for Birmingham. Birmingham were level after 76 minutes when Cameron Jerome equalised but Stoke weren't to be denied three points as Liam Lawrence won the game five minutes from time.

After beating Arsenal at the week-end, Newcastle then went onto lose to Blackburn at St. James' Park. Morten Gamst Pedersen scored his second goal in as many games to put Blackburn ahead after just three minutes. Destined for an England call-up, Andy Carroll scored yet again for Newcastle to equalise two minutes after half-time. Jason Roberts won the game for Blackburn eight minutes from time but the main talking point overall was Joey Barton. Behind the referee's back he punched Pedersen in the abdomen but escaped without punishment. However the FA rightly looked into it and given him a minimum three match ban.

Liverpool looked to carry on their momentum from their win over Chelsea when Torres scored again after seven minutes to give them the lead away to Wigan. However they couldn't hold on to it and Hugo Rodallega earned Wigan a point seven minutes into the second half.

Michael Essien had an eventful game for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Fulham were the visitors yesterday and lost the game to a solitary Essien goal after half an hour. But Essien was sent off in second half injury time after a terrible two footed lunge. Arsenal didn't lose any more ground to Chelsea as they also managed to win away to Wolves. Chamakh scored the quickest goal of the season after just thirty seconds before winning the game for Arsenal in second half injury time.

Everton and Bolton was another game with a dull first half but all the action took place in the second half. Ivan Klasnic opened the scoring for Bolton with eleven minutes to play, it got worse for Everton when Fellaini was shown a straight red card four minutes from time. However the ten-men battled back and got an injury time equaliser courtesy of Jermaine Beckford.

The game of the night failed to live up to expectation at The City of Manchester Stadium. It was supposed the biggest derby for a long time in terms of league positions, but neither team played positively enough to threaten as United managed to keep their unbeaten streak with this 0-0 bore draw.

Two penalties were awarded in the game between West Ham and West Brom at Upton Park. The first of which was given to West Brom which Peter Odemwingie converted after 38 minutes. Scott Parker equalised for the Hammers with a screamer two minutes from half time. West Ham were then awarded a penalty five minutes into the second half which was also converted, this time from Frederic Piquionne. West Brom managed to earn a point when Pablo Ibanez equalised after 71 minutes.

The final game took place at Villa Park as Villa hosted Blackpool. Ian Holloway was under threat after making ten changes to his side from the weekend, he did nearly manage to silence the critics before losing in the final minute of normal time and now threatens to quit if the FA charge him. Villa took the lead two minutes before the half hour with a goal from Stewart Downing however it was cancelled out just before half time by former Villa striker Marlon Harewood. Villa then re-took the lead on the hour mark thanks to Nathan Delfouneso but it was again cancelled out, this time via a deflected DJ Campbell goal three minutes from time. Blackpool thought they had earned a point until James Collins got that last minute winner for Houllier's side.

Bad News For The Big Boys

Super Sunday threw up another three games in the Barclay's Premier League, due to Europa and Champions League commitments. The first to kick-off was at one o'clock at the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal hosted Newcastle. With Manchester United winning yesterday, Arsenal also needed to win to not lose any ground on second place. But a solitary goal from Andy Carroll just before half-time was enough to see Arsenal lose. Laurent Koscielny also saw red in second half injury time to add more bad news for Arsene Wenger.

The non-televised three o'clock kick-off was at the Hawthornes between West Brom and Manchester City. It turned out to be a interesting match for Mario Balotelli who won the game for City and then got sent off. Balotelli put City ahead after twenty minutes before then doubling the score just six minutes later. He then managed to pick up a second yellow card and City were then down to ten men after 63 minutes. West Brom's poor discipline struck again as Yousuff Mulumbu also picked up two yellow cards to be sent off with eight minutes remaining.

The four o'clock kick-off saw Liverpool entertain Chelsea in the match of the weekend. Liverpool's revival continued when Torres' rejuvenation looked to have started when he gave Liverpool the lead after eleven. Torres then added a second just before half-time with a classic solo effort. This means Chelsea are now just two points ahead of Manchester United, who face the Manchester Derby on Wednesday.

Red Bull Secure Constructors' Championship

The race in Interlagos, Brazil didn't give us the Drivers Champion for the first time in six seasons but it did today crown Red Bull as Constructors Champions after Red Bull secured a one-two finish. With Hulkenberg sitting on pole with a slower car it his job to stall the contenders in their quest. However the Red Bull drivers both escaped from Hulkenberg with Vettel now leading team mate Webber. The second lap saw Alonso pass Hamilton into fourth as Hamilton's Championship hopes slowly faded. But it took another five laps before Hulkenberg's resistance was broken and Alonso then moved up to third. Hamilton manage to pass Hulkenberg into fourth due to the pit window and the places remained that way until the end. Barrichello managed to finish the race but his Brazil hoodoo continued as he suffered a tyre puncture on lap 35. The only incident of the race was Liuzzi crashing on lap 51 to bring out a safety car. The race result in full:

1. Vettel (Red Bull), 2. Webber (Red Bull), 3. Alonso (Ferrari), 4. Hamilton (McLaren), 5. Button (McLaren), 6. Rosberg (Mercedes), 7. Schumacher (Mercedes), 8. Hulkenberg (Williams), 9. Kubica (Renault), 10. Kobayashi (Sauber), 11. Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), 12. Sutil (Force India), 13. Beumi (Toro Rosso), 14. Barrichello (Williams), 15. Massa (Ferrari), 16. Petrov (Renault), 17. Heidfeld (Sauber), 18. Kovalainen (Lotus), 19. Trulli (Lotus), 20. Glock (Virgin), 21. Senna (Hispania), 22. Klien (Hispania), 23. Di Grassi Retired: Liuzzi (Force India).

This means that mathematically there are still four possible contenders for the Driver's Championship which will be decided next week in Abu Dhabi. Hamilton currently sits in fourth and must win and hope the other three fail to pick up any points if he's to be champion. Vettel is currently third in the standings and if he wins the race next week he will be tied with Webber if he finishes second and also tied with Alonso if he finishes fifth. If Alonso finishes higher he will be crowned champion. The only way Webber would lose the Championship if he wins the race next week is if Alonso finishes second. There are many other permutations but these are the simplest.

Barclay's Premier League Round-Up 6/11/10

Despite European competition mid-week, there were still seven Premier League games yesterday. All with their usual controversy, surprise and entertainment. Wednesday saw Tottenham beat Inter Milan but the lunch-time kick-off saw Tottenham lose to Bolton at the Reebok. The game took a while to get going with the only goal in the first half coming from poor defending from Tottenham before Kevin Davies netted from an offside position after 31 minutes. Tottenham were still lagging in the second half and found themselves 2-0 down eleven minutes into the half when Gretar Steinsson neatly found the bottom corner. Another defensive mistake, this time by Gallas, allowed Taylor to find Lee who was then brought down in the box for a penalty. Kevin Davies stepped up and scored a very nice penalty in front of the onlooking Fabio Capello after 76 minutes. That was when Tottenham finally decided to start playing football and a wonderful solo goal from Alan Hutton pulled a goal back for Spurs with eleven minutes to play. Tottenham scored a second thanks to a spectacular volley from substitute Pavlyuchenko to make the score 3-2 and an unlikely comeback was now on the cards, with three minutes to play. However as Tottenham pressed for a third, they were caught on the break and substitute Martin Petrov secured all three points for Bolton.

Manchester United required a late goal to avoid dropping another two points at home to Wolves. Ji-Sung Park put United ahead just before half-time before former United player Sylvan Ebanks-Blake equalised after 66 minutes. A fine solo goal this time from Park again ensured United had all three points in the depths of second half injury time.

After a poor first half Brimingham and West Ham managed a 2-2 draw, there was already bad blood before the game as Birmingham had banned former owner David Gould from the game against his newly owned team. Three minutes into the second half the deadlock was broken and Frederic Piqiuonne gave West Ham the lead. They then doubled their lead ten minutes later thanks to Valon Behrami. Cameron Jerome put Birminhgam back in the game after 64 minutes before captain Ridgewell equalised after 73 minutes.

Sunderland beat Stoke in controversial circumstances at the Stadium of Light. Record signing Asamoah Gyan gave Sunderland the lead after just nine minutes. Lee Cattermole was lucky not to have been sent off after he stopped Stoke scoring with his hand, to take it off the line. It got worse for Stoke when captain Shawcross did get sent off seven minutes from for two deserved yellow cards. Sunderland took full advantage as Gyan scored his second goal four minutes from the end to ensure the win.

There were another four goals at Bloomfield Road as Blackpool entertained Everton. A tenth minute free-kick from Eardley was cancelled out three minutes later by another Tim Cahill header. David Vaughan put Blackpool back in front three minutes into the second half but again that was cancelled out just two minutes by former Blackpool loan star Seamus Coleman. Blackpool had a third goal ruled out for a push from Marlon Harewood that was arguable.

Despite Villa's lack of fit strikers they were seconds away from beating Fulham at Craven Cottage. Marc Albrighton put Villa ahead four minutes before half-time, Fulham equalised in the very last minute thanks to Brede Hangeland.

The final game of the day took place a Ewood Park as Blackburn hosted Wigan, again after a poor first half the second half saw three goals. The first was scored via free-kick from Morten Gamst Pedersen after 58 minutes. Blackburn then doubled their lead thanks to former Wigan striker Jason Roberts nine minutes later, he showed great respect for Wigan by not celebrating the goal. Wigan managed to pull one back when in form Charles N'Zogbia netted after 74 minutes.

Shock Pole For Brazilian Grand Prix

The penultimate qualifying session in Formula 1 took place in Interlagos, Brazil. To make it even more interesting, the weather decided to throw up some rain to cause a lot of cars to lose control. But fortunately there were no major crashes just a few spins so that everyone could complete qualifying. Q1 saw Senna finish 24th and Force India's Adrian Sutil finished 18th but will start 23rd tomorrow due a five grid place penalty. This meant that Senna's Hispania partner Chris Klien will start 22nd tomorrow and Lucas Di Grassi of Virgin 21st.. The two Lotus cars again finished consecutively with Trulli beating Kovalainen to 19th spot. The final driver to exit at Q1 was unsurprisingly Di Grassi's Virgin team mate Timo Glock. Current Championship leader Alonso was fastest in Q1 as he set the mind games off and running.

Q2 saw Buemi finish 15th but he also suffers a five place grid penalty and therefore starts 18th tomorrow, pushing Glock up. Force India's qualifying didn't improve as Liuzzi will start 16th behind Sauber's Heidfeld. Beumi's Toro Rosso team mate Alguersuari finished 14th as the shock eliminations will start in front of him. First was Mercedes' Rosberg in 13th then in form Sauber driver Kobayashi. However the big name to fall was Jenson Button as his title hopes are now certainly over, especially with a 11th place start. Webber overtook Alonso as being the fastest for Q2.

All four contenders for the Championship were in contention for pole position, with all four even leading qualifying at some point in Q3. Renault enjoyed both their drivers being in Q3 and Petrov finished 10th. Alonso's team mate Massa would have been needed as Alonso's rear-gunner in tomorrow's race to keep him ahead of the Championship, but Massa could only qualify ninth. Michale Schumacher returns to Interlagos with an eighth place start behind the Renault driver Robert Kubica, Rubens Barrichello finished just behind the contenders in sixth. Leader Alonso finished behind his Championship rivals and starts fifth tomorrow where he'll see Hamilton and Webber on the grid in front of him, in fourth and third respectively. The final contender Vettel is on the front grid but Red Bull failed to get pole. That accolade was surprisingly won by Williams' Nico Hulkenberg, Brazil was where Williams last won a Grand Prix in the form of Juan Pablo Montoya and it'd be nice to Hulkenberg possibly get a podium finish.