Chelsea: Why the Unrest

You've just won the FA Cup followed by the Champions League, what do you do next? Do you take a well deserved holiday, possibly prepare for Euro 2012 (or court) and wait for the start of next season, or do you contemplate leaving the club you have just won two trophies for?

Well it seems that a few of these smiling faces are thinking about the latter. There were questions raised over whether Didier Drogba would be a Chelsea player next season even before the final in Munich and the Chelsea hero has already walked out of Stamford Bridge. He looks set on following former team-mate, Nicolas Anelka, by moving to China's Shanghai Shenhua alongside a healthy pay packet.

Fernando Torres may have raised a lot of eyebrows when he turned Blue for £50 million and failed to pay the fee back in terms of performance. But in the last remaining games, the Spaniard had raised his game and scored that famous goal against Barcelona in the semi-final. That even managed to get him called up to Spain squad for the Euros but he still revealed his discontent with the London side.

In an interview with Sky's Spanish correspondent, Guillem Balague, Torres stated that he needs 'the club to tell me what is going to happen and what sort of role I have within the club' before he 'judges whether it is worth it'. Despite coming a few days later insisting he is happy at Chelsea although may be because he has risen up the pecking order now Drogba has left.

Then there's the small matter of a certain interim coach. Roberto Di Matteo has probably been the best Chelsea leader since Jose Mourinho and has given Roman Abramovich his Holy Grail. So it is staggering to see Chelsea stall over wanting to appoint Di Matteo who has apparently turned down a measly one year deal at the club.

Okay, they had a poor season at league level and may have squeezed into the Champions League via the back door. But the fact that they beat Liverpool in the FA Cup and Barcelona followed Bayern Munich (on their home turf) in Europe would surely make any first team player want to stay and progress forward from this.

The only real finger that can be pointed must be at Abramovich and the businessmen sitting around his table. The sacking of Ray Wilkins brought unrest to the team before Frank Lampard, amongst others, uttered words of disappointment with the managerial quality of Andre Villas-Boas. Is it this lack of stability, and non-involvement of the players in these decisions, that are causing the players to feel uncomfortable?

Well it hasn't deterred Eden Hazard, who has since announced he'll be moving to Stamford Bridge, despite no manager in place. Whether this is a wise decision or not will be assessed during the course of next season.

Freddie Wins at Home

Freddie Lindgren's first Grand Prix victory has come in front of his crowd in the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg. The Swede almost didn't make it into the semi-finals as he only accumulated seven points in his five heats, but he managed to squeeze through courtesy of Jaroslaw Hampel finishing fourth in the final heat.

Greg Hancock finished second behind Lindgren and that was enough to see him move two points ahead in the overall series standings. Chris Holder pushes himself into the top four after finishing third with the wildcard Thomas H Jonasson finishing fourth after a controversial semi-final.

The second semi-final went smoothly with Holder and Lindgren beating Emil Sayfutdinov and Andreas Jonsson. But the first semi-final ended in dramatic fashion. Hancock was the clear winner but, behind him, Jonasson was second up until the final corner. The Swede had slowed down a little and Nicky Pedersen, who had won four out of his five heats, went into the side of him causing a crash. The Dane crossed the finish line but was subsequently disqualified however, the man in fourth, Jason Crump, went off the track at the end to avoid getting caught up in the collision. So, with only one rider actually finishing the heat, it was a surprise to see the referee let the result stand with Jonasson claiming second place.

Before all that, Nicky Pedersen began his night with a win over Jonasson in the opening heat. Heat two saw Sweden play Poland as Antonio Lindback and Lindgren faced Thomasz Gollob and Hampel, Lindback won with Hampel second and Gollob last. Hancock also started his night with a fourth place as Sayfutdinov took the  third heat. Heat four was also a potential World Cup match as Crump and Holder of Australia took on Hans Andersen and Bjarne Pedersen of Denmark. It was a one-two for Australia with Crump getting the glory.

Kenneth Bjerre became the fifth winner from five heats before Sayfutdinov made it two wins from two ahead of  Jonasson, Lindgren and Crump. Gollob's poor start to the night continued as he went down in heat seven, the heat continued though and Jonsson claimed a win in front of his home crowd. Lindback was then too eager in the eighth heat, causing a restart in which all four riders took part with Nicky Pedersen also making it two wins from two.

Britain's Chris Harris came last in his first two heats and would remain pointless after packing up in heat nine Lindgren picked up his only heat win of the night, excluding the final. Hancock took his first heat of the night in the tenth with Peter Ljung also claiming a win in front of his home crowd after initially false starting in heat twelve. Nicky Pedersen then made it three out of three with Gollob claiming his first point of the night.

But Gollob battled back to win his only heat of the night in the 13th ahead of Crump, Hancock and Harris. Jonsson won his second heat of the night with Jonasson claiming his fourth successive second place. After three second places, Holder came out to win heat 15 before Nicky Pedersen made it four in four.

Harris then ended his night on a high scoring his only points via a victory. Jonasson went down at the start on heat 18, all four riders restarted with Holder snatching the win over Gollob. Hancock then won his second heat in the penultimate race before Crump followed suite, with Nicky Pedersen in second.

The second place sees Hancock move up to 58 points, two ahead of Nicky Pedersen. Crump sits in third on 55 with fellow Australian, Holder on 52. Gollob is now points off the lead on 49.

Huddersfield and Crewe Promoted

The 72 football teams in next season's four divisions now all know what league they will be playing in after the play-offs have now been completed. Yesterday saw Huddersfield take on Sheffield United in the battle for Championship football.

The game was very edgy throughout with the likes of Jordan Rhodes and Ryan Flynn put their mark onto it. With Sepp Blatter looking for a way to declare a winner without penalties, it was perhaps fitting to see one of the play-offs go all the way to the dreaded lottery.

In all fairness, it may be a penalty shoot-out to be forgotten as only two of the first eight penalties were scored. Neill Collins scored for United at the second time of asking before Peter Clarke equalised for Huddersfield in round four. Andy Taylor then hit the post which took the game into sudden death. The attempts gradually got better and we got down to the keepers. Alex Smithies blasted his penalty past Steve Simonsen before the former Everton stopper fired his effort high over the bar. Huddersfield win 8-7 on penalties and the Galpharm Stadium will witness Championship football next season.

Crewe met Cheltenham in the League Two play-off and had arguable more action than Saturday's match. The deadlock was broken after 14 minutes when highly rated 18 year-old, Nick Powell, scored a wonderful goal on the turn. Cheltenham looked to respond straight after and hit the crossbar just two minutes after going behind. They also led a late charge in first half injury time in which the ball was cleared off the line twice.

The second half saw both keepers produce good saves to keep the score at 1-0. But the games was all but over eight minutes from time when another Crewe graduate, Byron Moore, curled the ball into the bottom corner following a great team move. Alexandra will be playing their football in League One next season.

 

Six Races, Six Winners

This year's Formula One season has already broken a record, it is the first time that the opening six races of the season have been won by six different drivers. Pole sitter, Mark Webber, led for the majority of the race to take the chequered flag, making four wins from a Pole sitter this season.

The Australian held off Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso who now leads the standings outright, with Sebastian Vettel level on points with Webber after finishing in fourth. Lewis Hamilton had a fairly quiet race in fifth but his McLaren team-mate, Jenson Button, failed to finish the race.

The race started in dramatic fashion with Romain Grosjean colliding with Michael Schumacher, causing the Frenchman to spin and unable to continue. Further down the grid, Pastor Maldonado crashed into the back of Pedro De La Rosa, forcing another two retirements. Kamui Kobayashi would make it four retirements on the opening lap after also suffering damage from a slight collision. The surprise from the start saw Heikki Kovalainen move up to 13th which put him ahead of Button.

With all those retirements, it was no surprise to see the Safety Car deployed and the racing would resume on lap three. As expected, there were very few overtakes due to the narrow Monaco track. Vitaly Petrov became the fifth retirement of the race on lap 17.

Laps 29-30 onwards saw the the pit stop window open. The strategy for al cars was a one stop with the majority starting on the super soft tyres. The big winner was Alonso who managed to leapfrog Hamilton into third. Vettel was one of the few who started the race on the soft tyres, this allowed him to take the lead following the pit stops until he finally pitted on lap 46, a strategy that also saw him move over Hamilton.

Sergio Perez received a drive through penalty on lap 39 for impeding Kimi Raikkonen as the Mexican made his was into the pits. His move across the track allowed a Force India to pass the Finn. Despite being the fastest yesterday, Schumacher was far from it today and he would end up suffering a mechanical failure that forced him retire on lap 65. Daniel Ricciardo and Charles Pic followed suit three laps later, taking the retirement tally to eight. That would then become nine on lap 75 when Button's keenness to overtake Kovalainen caused the McLaren to spin out and couldn't continue. Race result:

1.Webber (Red Bull), 2.Rosberg (Mercedes), 3.Alonso (Ferrari), 4.Vettel (Red Bull), 5.Hamilton (McLaren), 6.Massa (Ferrari), 7.Di Resta (Force India), 8.Hulkenberg (Force India), 9.Raikkonen (Lotus), 10.Senna (Williams), 11.Perez (Sauber), 12.Vergne (Toro Rosso), 13.Kovalainen (Caterham), 14.Glock (Marussia), 15.Karthikeyan (HRT DNF: Grosjean (Lotus), Maldonado (Williams), De La Rosa (HRT), Kobayashi (Sauber), Petrov (Caterham), Schumacher (Mercedes), Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), Pic (Marussia), Button (McLaren)

Monaco Qualifying Result

1. Webber (Red Bull)
2. Rosberg (Mercedes)
3. Hamilton (McLaren)
4. Grosjean (Lotus)
5. Alonso (Ferrari)
6. Schumacher (Mercedes) (courtesy of a five place grid penalty)
7. Massa (Ferrari)
8. Raikkonen (Lotus)
9. Maldonado (Williams)
10. Vettel (Red Bull)
11. Hulkenberg (Force India)
12. Kobayashi (Sauber)
13. Button (McLaren)
14. Senna (Williams)
15. Di Resta (Force India)
16. Ricciardo (Toro Rosso)
17. Vergne (Toro Rosso)
18. Kovalainen (Caterham)
19. Petrov (Caterham)
20. Glock (Marussia)
21. De La Rosa (HRT)
22. Pic (Marussia)
23. Karthikeyan (HRT)
24. Perez (Sauber) (courtesy of a crash with Maldonado in practice)

Di Matteo Finds Abramovich's Holy Grail

It went to the wire, but Chelsea become the first London club to win the UEFA Champions League. The game finished 1-1 after extra time and the dreaded penalty shoot-out would have to be the way to settle to two sides.  It was quickly advantage Bayern Munich when Juan Mata's opening penalty was saved after Philipp Lahm had scored.

But Ashley Cole planted his effort into the corner after substitute Ivica Olic had had his penalty saved to make it 3-3, Mario Gomez, David Luiz, Manuel Neuer and Frank Lampard had also all converted by that stage. Bastian Schweinsteiger then saw his effort rebound off the post, allowing Chelsea's cup hero, Didier Drogba, to score the winning penalty and give Roman Abramovich what he had been searching for since his takeover.

For long periods of the game, it wasn't looking like it was going to be Chelsea's year. Neuer was very much a spectator for the majority of the game as Chelsea played a very defensive, a la Barcelona, style of football. Their negativity almost looked like it would cost them when Thomas Muller headed a cross past Petr Cech with seven minutes remaining.

Overall, Chelsea's defending had been top class throughout the night and deserved something from the game. Drogba then forced the game into extra time when he headed a Mata corner home in the final minute of normal time. But the hero almost became the villain four minutes into the extra time when he tripped Franck Ribery. Former Chelsea man, Arjen Robben, stepped up but he penalty was weak was easily saved by Cech. From there the game looked to peter out into that dramatic penalty shoot-out.

Chelsea surely have to look to Roberto Di Matteo as a full time manager. In his brief spell in 'interim' charge, he has already brought two trophies to Stamford Bridge and would definitely be looking to build on that next season.

RVT Promotes WHU

At first he was unnoticed at Bolton, then he became a hit at Barnsley which earned him his January transfer to West Ham, now Ricardo Vaz Te has scored the winning goal that sees the Hammers promoted back into the Barclay's Premier League. His goal came three minutes from time when the game looked destined to be heading into extra time.

The game started better for Blackpool and Matt Phillips could have had a hat-trick within the first 15 minutes. His first effort was saved onto the pot by Rob Green, his second was straight at the keeper when put through one-on-one and his third effort was curled outside the post.

But West Ham grew into the game and it soon became a question of when they would score, not if, as the started firing shots at Matt Gilks. The deadlock was finally broken ten minutes before half-time when a ball was played over the defence and into the running Carlton Cole's path. The striker then blasted his shot past the Blackpool keeper.

But the Seasiders came out all guns blazing in the second half and caught West Ham cold. In a carbon copy of the opener, a ball was lofted over the defence and into Tom Ince's path. He poked the ball around Green to equalise within three minutes of re-emerging from the tunnel.

Both teams had chances to win the game during the second half but it was looking like it would ultimately be settle by extra time or even penalties. But sloppy defending caused a scramble in which the ball would eventually fall to Vaz Te who was more than happy to smash the ball into the roof of the net to send West Ham back into the Premier League.

Super Sixth For Taylor

After 14 weeks of gruelling competition, Phil Taylor has once again emerged as the best, becoming the Premier League champion for a sixth time. He may have cruised through the league stage but finals night saw the Power taken all the way in both of his matches.

He would end up facing Simon Whitlock in the final and, after missing four darts at the double in the opening leg, the Australian found himself 3-0 down. This soon became 6-1 when Taylor managed a check-out of 89 via the bulls-eye before securing a 109 check-out, making it seem that the final was already over.

Even though the league phase and semi-finals saw the winner need eight legs, it was extended to ten for the final and this kept Whitlock's hopes alive. After going 7-2 behind, Whitlock reeled off five straight legs to level the match, recording a Shanghai 120 check-out in the 14th leg.  The would ultimately be all the fight the Aussie had left as Taylor won the following three legs to gain his crown.

The night started in supersonic fashion as Whitlock would face his nemesis Andy Hamilton in the first of the semi-finals. Hamilton instantly broke the throw with an impressive 130 check-out but Whitlock responded with an outstanding nine darter, the 29th televised feat. Hamilton made it three legs against throw by regaining the lead with a 112 check-out.

It soon became 4-1 before Whitlock did to Hamilton what the Hammer has been doing to the Wizard in recent matches. The Australian pulled it back to 4-3 before Hamilton would then secure a 110 check-out to take a 6-4 lead. But Whitlock won the following four legs to come back and win the match to see him progress.

It was just as close in the second semi-final where Taylor took on James Wade. Taylor equalised in the second leg with a 112 check-out before Wade made it 2-1 with a 104 finish. The fourth leg also went with throw before the Machine secured the first break to take a 4-2 lead.

But missed darts at the double went some way to seeing that Taylor would win the following four legs to turn the match around and lead 6-4. This time it Wade's turn to fight back and he soon levelled before Taylor took out a 149 in the penultimate leg and therefore went onto win 8-6.

There was also a chance to see the darting stars of the future during the break as Michael Van Gerwen faced James Hubbard in the Youth Championship final. The 19 year-old Englishman took a 3-0 lead before the more experienced Dutchman came to within a leg behind at 4-3. But Hubbard didn't capitulate and would win the next two legs to claim a £10,000 pay check and more importantly the Youth Championship crown.

Final Premier League Table 2011/2012

C. Manchester City        89 +64
2. Manchester United     89 +56
3. Arsenal                      70 +25
4. Tottenham                  69 +25
5. Newcastle                  65 +5
6. Chelsea                      64 +19
7. Everton                      56 +10
8. Liverpool                   52 +7
9. Fulham                       52 -3
10. West Brom              47 -7
11. Swansea                  47 -7
12. Norwich                  47 -14
13. Sunderland              45 -1
14. Stoke                      45 -17
15. Wigan                     43 -20
16. Aston Villa              38 -16
17. QPR                       37 -23
18. Bolton                     36 -31
19. Blackburn                31 -30
20. Wolves                    25 -42

2011/2012 Final Day Round-Up

Sunderland 0-1 Manchester United: When the whistle went at the Stadium of Light, Manchester United were champions. Just two minutes later, the title had changed hands and Manchester City were crowned champions. The only goal of the game came on 20-minutes when Wayne Rooney headed a Phil Jones cross home. United came close on numerous occasions, but United couldn't extend their lead and it was that goal difference throughout this season that ultimately cost them.

Manchester City 3-2 QPR: QPR stay up despite this defeat, which was five minutes away from being a victory. With news that United had taken the lead, City responded with Pablo Zabaleta hitting a shot that Paddy Kenny could only parry into his own net six minutes before half-time. The title was then heading to United when a Joleon Lescott mistake allowed Djibril Cisse to equalise three minutes into the second half. But QPR's chances of holding on looked to get slimmer when Joey Barton elbowed Carlos Tevez, he was subsequently sent off and decided to then kick-out at Sergio Aguero just ten minutes into the second period. Barton had to eventually be man-handled off the pitch which earned a chunk of stoppage time. Despite being a man down, QPR came up with a goal that would almost seal their safety and United's title; Jamie Mackie headed home a Armand Traore cross on 66-minutes. The game at United was finishing just as substitute Edin Dzeko was heading home a corner to make it 2-2 with three minutes of injury time left. Sergio Aguero then took the title from United's grasp with a 94th minute winner, the most dramatic win the most dramatic Premier league season.

Stoke 2-2 Bolton: If Bolton had won, they'd have stayed up. It looked bleak for the Trotters when Jon Walters looked to have bundled Adam Bogdan into the goal when the Hungarian clearly had the ball in his hands on 13-minutes. But Bolton came back and Mark Davies equalised when a Huth clearance was charged down by him six minutes before half-time. They would then have the lead by half-time when Kevin Davies' cross come shot bamboozled Thomasz Sorensen, but the Dane really should have saved it. Bolton then shot themselves in the foot when Bogdan seemingly brought Peter Crouch down, Walters stepped-up and sent Bolton down on 66-minutes.

West Brom 2-3 Arsenal: Arsenal secure third spot in another crazy game, Roy Hodgson's last at the Hawthornes. Arsenal took the lead on four minutes when Marton Fulop hesitated, allowing Yossi Benayoun to nip in a roll the ball into an empty net. West Brom equalised on 11-minutes when Shane Long was put though before Graham Dorrans made it 2-1 just four minutes later. Andre Santos equalised on the half hour mark when his shot could only be parried into his own net by Fulop. Fulop then made another mistake nine minutes into the second half; the keeper punched the ball backwards from a corner and into Laurent Koscielny's grateful path.

Tottenham 2-0 Fulham: Tottenham did all that they could to try and get third, but ultimately ended with fourth and must wait until next Saturday to see if they will be playing Champions League football next season. Emanuel Adebayor gave Spurs the lead after just two minutes when he finished off a one-two with Rafael Van Der Vaart. Jermain Defoe wrapped the points up for Tottenham on 63-minutes with a poacher's goal.

Everton 3-1 Newcastle: Newcastle's hopes of gaining fourth were crushed by the two London clubs winning but by losing themselves. Steven Pienaar gave Everton the lead with a deflected effort on 16-minutes. That became 2-0 on 27-minutes when Nikica Jelavic made it ten goals in ten games for the Toffees.  Johnny Heitinga headed his second Everton goal and their third of the day on 66-minutes before Tony Hibbert made it 3-1 with a headed own goal on 73-minutes. The season ended sour for Everton however, Tim Cahill was sent off after the final whistle for putting his hands around the throat of Yohann Cabaye.

Wigan 3-2 Wolves: Wolves to fail to end their dreadful season with a win. They did take the lead on nine minutes when Matt Jarvis scored. Franco Di Santo equalised just three minutes later with a well placed bottom corner shot. Emerson Boyce headed Wigan ahead from a corner on 14-minutes before smashing a great half-volley home eleven minutes from time. Wolves did get the final say though when Steven Fletcher scored into an empty net with four minutes left.

Chelsea 2-1 Blackburn: Steve Kean failed to get a win in Blackburn's final Premier League game. John Terry opened the scoring on 31-minutes before his fellow suspended CL final colleague, Raul Meireles, made it two goals in three minutes. It was no surprise to see Yakubu score Blackburn's final PL goal on the hour mark.

Swansea 1-0 Liverpool: Kenny Dalglish's management may come under severe scrutiny after ending the season poorly. The only goal of the game came when Danny Graham scored his 100th career goal via an Angel Rangel low cross four minutes from time.

Norwich 2-0 Aston Villa: Villa's disappointing season comes to an end via another poor display at Carrow Road. Grant Holt finished his season off with yet another goal after just eight minutes, bundling a free-kick over the line. Simeon Jackson then made it 2-0 via the second attempt on 22-minutes.

Final Day Drama - Manchester Turned Red To Blue Within Two Minutes

Manchester City were crowned the Barclay's Premiership Champions in dramatic circumstances, a fine way to end a crazy season. Here's how it was won, the top four finished and who was relegated.

2 Minutes: Former Arsenal player, Emmanuel Adebayor, put Tottenham ahead against Fulham. Putting them third.

4 Minutes: Yossi Benayoun breaks the deadlock against West Brom, replacing Spurs in third.

11 Minutes: Shane Long equalises for West Brom, moving Spurs back into third.

13 Minutes: Jon Walters puts Stoke ahead against Bolton, almost succumbing the Trotters to relegation

15 Minutes: Graham Dorrans makes it a remarkable four minutes for West Brom, almost granting Tottenham that third place.

16 Minutes: Steven Pienaar gives Everton the lead, pretty much ending Newcastle's charge for a Champions League spot.

20 Minutes: Wayne Rooney puts Manchester United ahead, putting them top of the table.

27 Minutes: Nikica Jelavic makes it 2-0 for Everton.

30 Minutes: Andre Santos equalises for Arsenal, it's still not enough to overtake Spurs.

39 Minutes: Mark Davies equalises for Bolton as a Paddy Kenny mistake allows Pablo Zabaleta to give Manchester City the lead. The overtake United with the pressure building on QPR.

45 Minutes: Kevin Davies gives Bolton the lead, relegating QPR at this point.

48 Minutes: Djibril Cisse equalises for QPR, saving themselves and granting United the title.

54 Minutes: Laurent Koscielny puts Arsenal ahead again to seal third spot.

55 Minutes: A moment of madness sees Joey Barton get sent off and damaging QPR's hopes of surviving. He had to manhandled off the pitch after kicking Sergio Aguero.

63 Minutes: Defoe makes it 2-0 to Tottenham, keeping the pressure on Arsenal to maintain their lead.

65 Minutes: John Heitinga heaps more misery on Newcastle, making it 3-0.

66 Minutes: Jamie Mackie makes it 2-1 to QPR, securing their safety and putting the trophy in United's hands.

73 Minutes: A Tony Hibbert own goal gives Newcastle a consolation.

77 Minutes: A Jon Walters penalty condemns Bolton to the Championship, making it 2-2.

90+2 Minutes: It's all over at the Stadium of Light, United walk off as Champions. Just as Edin Dzeko levels at the Etihad with three minutes remaining in Manchester.

90+4 Minutes: Sergio Aguero nets to give Manchester City the lead and the title. Crushing United dreams as the Blue Moon rises over Manchester in unbelievable circumstances.

Happy 70th Sir Frank Williams

Pastor Maldonado becomes the first Venezuelan F1 driver to win a Grand Prix and with that, he brings Williams their first victory since Juan Pablo Montoya at Brazil in 2004. It also comes during the weekend that Sir Frank Williams hits the grand old age of 70.

The big news came last night when Pole sitter, Lewis Hamilton, was demoted to 24th due to not being able to bring the car back to the pits and provide a fuel sample. This automatically placed Maldonado at the front of the grid but he found himself in second place going into the first corner after Fernando Alonso overtook the Williams. The major incident at the start of the race saw Sergio Perez suffer a puncture that would effectively ruin his race.

By lap nine Hamilton had moved from the back up to 11th, just two laps before the first phase of pitting, and would find himself in 14th after he pitted.. Michael Schumacher went into the back of Bruno Senna on lap 13, causing both drivers to retire and will be investigated by the stewards post-race.

The Red Bulls were extremely quiet for most of the race due to some sort of problem with their front wings. This caused Mark Webber to come in for a second pit stop after just 18 laps. Sebastian Vettel would also have his wing changed later on in the race.

Narain Karthikeyan became the third retirement of the race on lap 25, stopping outside the exit of the pit lane. Two laps later, Maldonado had regained the lead by pitting two laps earlier than Fernando Alonso in the second stop phase.

Felipe Massa and Vettel both received drive through penalties on lap 28 for ignoring yellow flags, this put the Ferrari back down to 16th with the Red Bull in 9th. Charles Pic also received a drive through penalty on lap 36 for ignoring blue flags but, instead of taking it, Marussia decided to retire the Frenchman.

The penalty and the wing change seemed to spur Vettel on because the German managed to overtake Jenson Button on lap 38 to take him into 7th. Two laps later, Hamilton found himself in tenth after overtaking both of the Toro Rossos within three corners. Also, Perez was forced to retire after a botched pit-stop meant a wheel nut wasn't on properly.

The third pit phase saw Maldonado once again stop earlier than Alonso and, despite being a little slow, the Venezuelan managed to stay ahead. By lap 59, it was deja vu for Button as he once again saw the Red Bull of Vettel overtake him and move into eighth.

Kamui Kobayashi would seal fifth place for Sauber by overtaking Nico Rosberg on lap 61. Vettel soon found himself in seventh two laps later after overtaking Hamilton before then overtaking the Mercedes to ultimately finish sixth on the penultimate. Maldonado makes it five different winners from five different constructors at the start of this year's F1 season. Result:

1.Maldonado (Williams), 2.Alonso (Ferrari), 3.Raikkonen (Lotus), 4.Grosjean (Lotus), 5.Kobayashi (Sauber), 6.Vettel (Red Bull), 7.Rosberg (Mercedes), 8.Hamilton (McLaren), 9.Button (McLaren), 10.Hulkenberg (Force India), 11.Webber (Red Bull), 12.Vergne (Toro Rosso), 13.Ricciardo (Toro Rosso), 14.Di Resta (Force India), 15.Massa (Ferrari), 16.Kovalainen (Caterham), 17.Petrov (Caterham), 18.Glock (Marussia), 19.De La Rosa (HRT). DNF: Schumacher (Mercedes), Senna (Williams), Karthikeyan (HRT), Perez (Sauber), Pic (Marussia)

Pedersen Wins Prague

Nicki Pedersen won the battle of the World Champions to win the Czech GP in Prague. The final consisted of Greg Hancock, Jason Crump and Tomasz Gollob, who are now the top four in the overall standings. The win for Pedersen sees him move into fourth on 42 points, Gollob and Hancock are on 43 whilst Crump now leads on 44.

Crump and Hancock progressed to the final by beating Antonio Lindback and the wildcard, Josef Franc in the semi-final. Pedersen and Gollob made it through by beating round two winner, Chris Holder, and Emil Sayfutdinov in the second semi-final.

The performance of the night had to go to Franc who, after winning his opening heat, would then amazingly win his second heat of the night against Crump, Gollob and Hancock in heat 15 before taking a third heat to book his place in the semis in the 18th.

Sayfutdinov took his first two heats of the night before Holder, Gollob, Crump and Lindback made it two wins in three heats. Crump initially false started in the 11th heat but would then win it after all four riders were allowed to restart.

Nicki Pedersen's first heat win of the night didn't come until heat 13 and would then make it two in two on heat 20. Holder won his third heat of the meeting in his fourth ride before his fellow Australian, Crump, followed suit straight after Franc.

With four different riders leading the standings over the three meetings, it goes some way to say this year's Speedway GP series is going to be very tight and special.

150th Pole For McLaren

Lewis Hamilton secures McLaren's 150th Pole position in the qualifying for the Spanish GP in Catalunya. It's Frank Williams' 70th birthday this weekend and to celebrate, Pastor Maldonado was fastest in Q2 and followed that up by amazingly qualifying in second.

With four winners from four constructors this season, it was no surprise to see four constructors in the top four on the grid. Fernando Alonso will start third for his home race with Romain Grosjean in fourth, Kimi Raikkonen will start fifth in the second Lotus car.

Sauber have set up a new deal with Chelsea and Sergio Perez managed to qualify in sixth. Kamui Kobayashi also managed to get into Q3 but a mechanical failure in Q2 meant he couldn't do a lap in the final session was therefore delegated tenth place.

Sebastian Vettel didn't set a time in Q3 and becomes the meat in a Mercedes sandwich, Nico Rosberg will begin the race ahead of the Red Bull whereas Michael Schumacher, who also didn't set a time, starts the race in ninth.

Q2 was settled in dramatic fashion as places 5-12 were separated by a tenth. This meant that Jenson Button, starting 11th, and the Pole sitter for the last two Spanish GPs, Mark Webber in 12th, both missed out on the final part of qualifying.

The two Force Indias line-up side by side in 13th and 14th with Paul Di Resta out-qualifying Nico Hulkenberg. The Toro Rossos also line-up side by side behind the Force Indias with Jean-Eric Vergne beating Daniel Ricciardo for the first time this season. Felipe Massa makes up the top 17 with yet another miserable qualifying session.

The big name to fall from Q1 was Bruno Senna, in a stark contrast to Maldonado. The Brazilian was pushing to get through and the ultimately cost him as he took too much kerb and span out on his final lap. Vitaly Petrov managed to out-qualify his Caterham team-mate Heikki Kovalainen in 19th and 20th.

Charles Pic beats Timo Glock in qualifying for the first time this season in the Marussia battle. HRT unsurprisingly start on the back row with Narain Karthikeyan failing to secure the 107% time, this could mean he his unable to race tomorrow,  but he should be okay.

2012 Premier League Darts: Week 14

The final week of the Premier League darts was brought to us by the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, as the final two play-off places were decided. Simon Whitlock has already booked his place at Wembley next week and met Adrian Lewis in the first game of the night. The pair met in Brighton in week five where the Australian won 8-4. Lewis secured the first break of throw in the fourth leg with a bull finish to make it 3-1. Whitlock made it 4-2 going into the break with a 130 check-out before then breaking back in the ninth leg. It became 5-5 before Whitlock managed to secure a 140 check-out to crucially break in the penultimate leg. The Australian held his throw to win the match 8-6 and dump Lewis out of the 2012 Premier League Darts.

Andy Hamilton and Kevin Painter battled it out in the second game in a winner takes all match. Painter won 8-5 in Brighton and that would be enough to put him into the final four regardless of the Raymond Van Barneveld, James Wade match. It was Hamilton that started better in a cagey opening by breaking the second leg to take a 2-0 lead. That soon became 4-0 before Painter finally put a score on the board, against the throw, before Hamilton retaliated to make it 5-1 at the break. The point was guaranteed two legs later before Hamilton put himself into the semi-finals with an 8-1 win.

With Hamilton through, it just left Barneveld and Wade to fight it out for the final play-off place. Only a win would be enough for the Dutchman but it was Wade that won way back in week five, 8-6. Barney secured the first break of throw in the fourth leg after a whole host of missed darts at the double but The Machine instantly broke back. But Barneveld managed to make it three breaks in three legs after Wade missed a further two darts at the double to take a 4-2 lead going into the adverts. It then became four breaks in a row before Wade finally held to level the score. Wade broke once again in the ninth leg to take the lead for the first time in this match. The Dutchman secured an amazing 161 check-out to make it 6-5 in Wade's favour before levelling with an 80 check-out via a 25, bull's eye finish. The Machine then missed two darts at his beloved double ten to allow Barney to take a 7-6 lead going into the final leg. Wade recovered to hold his throw and break Barneveld's heart by stealing that final play-off spot.

The final match of the night saw top play bottom as Phil Taylor took on Gary Anderson, The Power derailed the Flying Scotsman 8-1 in Brighton. The first break of throw came in the fourth leg with Anderson securing an impressive 161 check-out. But Taylor instantly broke back before making it 3-3 at the interval. Anderson then broke the Taylor throw again in the eighth leg after the Power missed four darts at the double. Again Taylor broke straight back and managed to equalise once more despite missing a further three darts at the double. The final four legs all went with throw to finish at 7-7, a result that means Anderson remains at the foot of the table. Final standings:

Taylor                  20 +57
Whitlock              16  -1
Hamilton              13  0
Wade                  13  -6
Van Barneveld     13  -11
Lewis                   12  -8
Painter                 11  -12
Anderson             10  -13

Next week will see Whitlock face his nemesis Hamilton while Taylor meets Wade in the play-offs, with the winners meeting on the same night.  

Penultimate Matches

Newcastle 0-2 Manchester City: Sir Alex Ferguson claims that City now have two hands on their first Premiership title after this victory. The turning point of the match came when Samir Nasri was substituted for Nigel De Jong, thus pushing Yaya Toure forward. The Ivorian would then share a slick one-two with Sergio Aguero before curling a beautiful shot into the bottom corner on 71-minutes. City then had countless chances to conceivably wrap the title up before Vincent Kompany headed a corner away to begin a counter attack. David Santon failed to control the ball properly and Sergio Aguero quickly dispossessed him and made his way into the Newcastle half. Suddenly, there were three City players up with him and it would be Gael Clichy who would slide the ball into Toure who lofted the ball past Tim Krul to make it 2-0 with two minutes to go. Newcastle remain in fifth, a point behind Tottenham whereas City host QPR in the final game of the season.

Manchester United 2-0 Swansea: United had already seen City win by the time they kicked off, knowing that only a win would still mathematically keep their title hopes alive. At the start of play, United also had a ten goal deficit they needed to try and claw back. The deadlock was broken when Antonio Valencia pulled the ball back to Michael Carrick, the midfielder’s shot was directed in by Paul Scholes for his fourth goal of the season on 28-minutes. Ashley Young curled the second goal into the bottom corner after Wayne Rooney’s shot came back out to him four minutes before half-time. United’s hunt for more goals seemed rather more subdued in the second half as David De Gea was called into action a bit more. The scoreline stayed at two meaning the two Manchester clubs remain level on points with City having an eight goal advantage. If QPR were to provide any heroics at the Etihad, United must make sure they beat Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

Bolton 2-2 West Brom: Bolton remain two points from safety in a game where they almost had all three. Bolton took the lead on 24-minutes when Youssouf Mulumbu barged Mark Davies over in the box; Martin Petrov stepped up and converted the penalty. It was then 2-0 when Petrov’s cross was deflected into his own net by Billy Jones on 72-minutes. Chris Brunt made it 2-1 three minutes later with a neatly placed shot before James Morrison broke Bolton hearts with the equaliser in injury time. Bolton travel to the Britannia to fight for their Premiership survival on the last day of the season.

QPR 1-0 Stoke: QPR now move two points ahead of Bolton and the relegation zone with this victory over Stoke. Substitute Djibril Cisse scored the winner via a corner in the final minute of the game, his fifth goal in seven games. This could give them vital momentum going into the game against Manchester City.

Arsenal 3-3 Norwich: The only Saturday game saw Arsenal secure a see-saw draw against Norwich, seeing them stay third by a point. Yossi Benayoun celebrated his birthday with a curler after just two minutes to give the hosts the lead. Wes Hoolahan equalised on 12-minutes when his shot was spilled into the net by Wojiech Szczesny. Grant Holt then made it 2-1 on 27-minutes when his shot was helped over Szczesny by the boot of Kieron Gibbs. Arsenal were level on 72-minutes when Alex Song’s ball was volleyed home by Robin Van Persie, the Dutchman would then make it 3-2 eight minutes later, matching Thierry Henry’s goal record. But Norwich weren’t to be denied and Steven Morison scored the second equaliser with five minutes remaining.

Aston Villa 1-1 Tottenham: Villa’s place in the Premiership is all but assured with this point putting them three clear of the relegation zone with a much superior goal difference. Tottenham remain fourth, a point behind Arsenal but a point ahead of Newcastle. Ciaran Clark gave Villa the lead ten minutes before half-time when his shot was deflected off William Gallas before looping past Brad Friedel on his return to Villa Park. Spurs were then down to ten men four minutes into the second half when Danny Rose was sent off for a studs in challenge on Alan Hutton.  Tottenham would then have a penalty on 62-minutes when Richard Dunne fouled Sandro in the box from a corner; Emmanuel Adebayor converted the spot-kick.

Fulham 2-1 Sunderland: Clint Dempsey gave Fulham the lead with a stunning free-kick on 12-minutes, his 50^th Premiership goal. Phil Bardsley equalised on his 150^th senior game 11-minutes before half-time. But parity lasted less than a minute when Moussa Dembele made it 2-1 via a deflection.

Wolves 0-0 Everton: With nothing to play for, it was always possible that this could be a damp squid despite Everton’s recent goalscoring form. Nikica Jelavic came closest for Everton, but his goal was ruled out for offside when it seemed that he was, in fact, onside. Denis Stracqualursi also thought he had scored in the second half, but his goal was also ruled out as Marouane Fellaini was offside and interfering with play. 

Blackburn 0-1 Wigan: Blackburn are officially relegated whilst Wigan guarantee their own safety with this Monday Night Football result. A draw wouldn't have been enough for Blackburn but the ultimate heartbreak  came with three minutes left, Antolin Alcaraz heading a corner home.

Liverpool 4-1 Chelsea: The replay of the FA Cup final couldn't have been any more of a contrast. Despite Branislav Ivanovic hitting the post for Chelsea, Luis Suarez caused Michael Essien to score an own goal on 19-minutes to give Liverpool the lead. A John Terry slip caused Jordan Henderson to make it 2-0 after being one-on-one with Ross Turnbull on 25-minutes. This was followed by a Daniel Agger header from a corner three minutes later to make it 3-0. The remainder of the first half saw Fernando Torres and Stewart Downing hit the crossbar before the Liverpool midfielder missed an injury time penalty, caused by Ivanovic elbowing Andy Carroll in the chest. Ramires made it 3-1 five minutes into the second half before Turnbull played the ball into Jonjo Shelvey's path just after the hour mark. The midfielder was more than happy to score his first Premiership goal by smashing it into the empty net. The result ends Chelsea's hopes of finishing fourth.

2012 Premier League Darts: Week 13

The penultimate week of the Premier League darts was inside the NIA, Birmingham. Up first was Simon Whitlock and Andy Hamilton who played out an epic 7-7 battle in Dublin in week seven. The start of this match saw seven breaks of throw in a row, before Hamilton finally held to make 5-3. The Hammer would then break the throw once more on his way to guaranteeing himself a point at 7-3. Whitlock's first hold of throw came in the 11th leg but it was to no avail as Hamilton would end up winning 8-4. This keeps Whitlock on 14 points with Hamilton moving to 11.

The second match of night Gary Anderson take on Raymond Van Barneveld. The Dutchman won the previous match 8-5 in Dublin, a repeat of this would dump the Scot out of this year's campaign. Barney broke the throw in the opening leg with an impressive 138 check-out. But Anderson instantly broke back before making it 3-1 with a second break of throw. The fifth leg also went against throw before Barney went into the break level at 3-3. Four missed darts at the double from Anderson once again allowed the Dutchman to break and retake the lead before bettering that with a fabulous 170 check-out in the eighth leg. But Anderson wasn't flustered and came back to take a 6-5 lead. Barney levelled with a Shanghai 120 finish before both players held to earn a well deserved draw at 7-7. The point is unfortunately not enough for Anderson to have a chance in qualifying, on nine points, Barney moves to 12 points and needs to beat Wade in the final week.

The third match of the night saw Adrian Lewis battle it out against Kevin Painter with the Artist needing to win to keep his hopes alive. When they met in week seven, the World Champion took the match 8-5. Painter began the match with a straight ton check-out before following that with a 106 check-out to break the Lewis throw. Jackpot secured his first leg of the night in the fourth which then became 4-2 going into the break. Painter would then break the throw in leg eight to make 6-2 before sealing a point in style with an unbelievable 150 check-out. The Players' Champion only needed to hold his next throw to win the match 8-3. Lewis remains on 12 with Painter moving up to 11

Phil Taylor faced James Wade in the final match of the night, it was the Power who secured the win in Dublin by 8-2. Taylor instantly broke the throw but that soon became 6-0 as the Power showed his ruthless streak against a hapless Wade. The Machine did manage to secure a ton check-out in the seventh leg to finally get him out of the blocks. But it didn't take long for Taylor to ascertain an 8-1 victory, a result that sees Whitlock qualify for the semi-finals whereas Wade remains on 12 points. Penultimate table:

Taylor      19 +57
Whitlock  14 -3
Lewis       12 -6
Wade       12 -6
Barneveld 12 -11
Hamilton   11 -7
Painter      11 -5
Anderson   9 -13

Games In Hand

The FA Cup semi-finalists have played out their games in hand this mid-week as the race for third hots up. Liverpool hosted Fulham on the Tuesday with the Cottagers going level on points with Liverpool with a win. The only goal of the game came within five minutes, Martin Skrtel putting the ball into his own net.

Everton stretch their lead over Liverpool to three points after gaining a point at the Britannia. Everton took the lead a minute before half-time when a scramble in the box saw a Tony Hibbert cross come off Peter Crouch and into the net. Cameron Jerome equalised for Stoke on 69-minutes to put them level on points with Swansea in 13th.

Wednesday saw Chelsea host Newcastle in a true battle for fourth place. The opening goal of the game came after 19-minutes when Papiss Cisse set the ball up with his right before volleying past Petr Cech with his left. Cisse would then equal the record of 13 goals in his first 12 goals with a fantastic curling shot from outside the boot in second half injury time to move themselves four points clear of Chelsea, but just a point behind Arsenal.

Newcastle still remain fifth though as Tottenham secured a win over Bolton to remain fourth on goal difference, also a point behind Arsenal. It was an emotional night at the Reebok as Fabrice Muamba was in attendance and came out before the game to a rapturous applause. Unfortunately for Muamba, the result didn't go as planned when Luka Modric curled a great shot into the net eight minutes before half-time. Bolton were much better in the second half and finally got their reward when Nigel Reo-Coker finished off an attacking move just six minutes after the restart. A counter-attack allowed Rafael Van Der Vaart to make it 2-1 on the hour mark before Emmanuel Adebayor made it two goals in two minutes to break Bolton hearts. Adebayor would then make it 4-1 a further seven minutes to create a scoreline that slightly flatters Spurs. Bolton remain in the relegation zone on goal difference.