Liverpool's First Win, Chelsea Become First To Win Three, Spurs' First Win Since 1989 and a Hand of Ba

Manchester United 2-3 Tottenham: Spurs win at Old Trafford for the first time since 1989. Based on the first half, the visitors deserved the three points, but after the 90-minutes, United probably should have got at least a point. The deadlock was broken after just two minutes when Jan Vertonghen was allowed through the defence before his shot was deflected in off Jonny Evans, his first Premier League goal. United still didn't get going and found themselves 2-0 down when a counter attack saw Gareth Bale out-pace Rio Ferdinand and finish coolly into the bottom corner. The second saw a mad two minutes and 22-seconds; half-time substitute Wayne Rooney crossed the ball that Nani poked home six minutes into the half. Straight from kick-off, Spurs were back on the attack and 3-1 up when Bale's shot was parried by Anders Lindegaard and Clint Dempsey was on hand to rebound it home, his first Spurs goal. It turned into a basketball match as United went straight up the other end and Robin Van Persie fed Shinji Kagawa for the Japanese to slot past Brad Friedel. United came close to levelling on two occasions; first Rooney smashed the post from a free-kick before a looping Nani header also hit the woodwork. Tottenham just managed to hold onto the victory for an iconic three points.

Norwich 2-5 Liverpool: Liverpool finally win their first Premiership game this season with Luis Suarez scoring a hat-trick for the second season in a row at Carrow Road. The Uruguayan broke the deadlock when Nuri Sahin touched it back for him to finish on two minutes. He made it 2-0 when sloppy defending allowed him to intercept before finishing on seven minutes before half-time. Suarez then provided the assist for their third two minutes into the second half when he pulled it back for Sahin to score his first Premiership goal. Suarez's hat-trick came ten minutes later when he curled a shot into the bottom corner via a deflection. Norwich's first goal came when Steve Morison rebounded a parried Lee Martin shot home just after the hour mark. But it was 5-1 on 68-minutes when a Steven Gerrard shot was deflected into the bottom corner. Norwich did then have the last word courtesy of Grant Holt three minutes before the end.

Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea: Chelsea become the first side to beat Arsenal at the Emirates three times, their first ever without Didier Drogba. Fernando Torres opened the scoring on 20-minutes when he diverted a free-kick home with a clever hooked touch. Arsenal were level three minutes before half-time when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain played a low ball into Gervinho, the Ivorian then turned before lashing a shot into the top corner for his fourth goal of the season. The winner came from another free-kick, Juan Mata took it and it looked to have evaded everyone before nestling into the bottom corner, although it did look like Laurent Koscielny got a slight touch to bamboozle Wojiech Szczesny. Petr Cech was on hand to provide some wonderful saves to keep Chelsea ahead but Arsenal's best chance of an equaliser came late on when substitute Olivier Giroud was put through and rounded Cech before shooting, from a tight angle, wide. The win preserves Chelsea's unbeaten start to the season.

Fulham 1-2 Manchester City:The champions come from behind to secure a late three points. Fulham took the lead on ten minutes when John Arne Riise was brought down by Pablo Zabaleta. Mark Halsey pointed to the spot but it looked like the challenge was made on the edge. Mladen Petric stepped up and sent Joe Hart the wrong way, leaving City still without a clean sheet this season. Fulham conceded their first goal at home this season two minutes before half-time; a deflected shot from Carlos Tevez was well parried by Mark Schwarzer, but Sergio Aguero was the quickest to react and equalise. Substitute Edin Dzeko scored the winner 66-seconds after coming on, a poorly defended cross fell to the Bosnian for him to rifle home three minutes from time.

Everton 3-1 Southampton: Southampton have now conceded 12-goals in their three away games. The visitors did actually take the lead when Gaston Ramirez headed an Adam Lallana corner home after six minutes, his first Premiership goal. Everton equalised when Kevin Mirallas' cross was stopped dead in the box, Leon Osman was the quickest to pounce onto the loose and smashed it into the net on 25-minutes. The game was turned around with Nikica Jelavic finishing on 32-minutes after being played through by Marouane Fellaini. The damage was completed before half-time when a Jelavic header from a Seamus Coleman cross could only be parried into the net seven minutes before the interval.

Reading 2-2 Newcastle: Reading denied their first win of the season by a very controversial goal. Jimmy Kebe gave Reading the lead 13-minutes into the second half with a low shot. They had the lead for less than a minute when Demba Ba smashed a great first time volley home after it dropped over his shoulder. Reading then retook the lead when Noel Hunt headed home on 62-minutes. But three points were snatched away from them when Ba levelled the game with an attempted header, but he missed the ball with his head and the ball went in via the arm seven minutes before the end. Jobi McAnuff came closest to winning the game after hitting the post.

Stoke 2-0 Swansea: Peter Crouch was the hero of the day in the Britannia. The striker put Stoke in front by heading a corner home on 12-minutes. The win was then secured when Crouch saw his initial shot poorly parried by Michel Vorm back into his path to poke home nine minutes before half-time.

Sunderland 1-0 Wigan: Wigan made it extremely difficult for themselves three minutes into the second half when Jordi Gomez was harshly sent off, but he had left the ground whilst making the tackle so you can see why Howard Webb produced the red card. It was no surprise to see Sunderland take full advantage and even less of a surprise to see Steven Fletcher score it three minutes after Wigan went a man down.

 

Capital One Cup Fourth Round Draw

Sunderland v Middlesbrough
Swindon v Aston Villa
Wigan v Bradford
Leeds v Southampton
Norwich v Tottenham
Liverpool v Swansea
Chelsea v Manchester United
Reading v Arsenal

Capital One Cup: Third Round Results

Arsenal 6-1 Coventry: Arsenal stroll into the fourth round. Olivier Giroud (39) opened the scoring to give the hosts the lead at half-time. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (57), Andrey Arshavin (63) and Theo Walcott (74) made it 4-0 before Callum Ball (78) scored a consolation. Ignasi Miquel (80) scored his first senior goal for Arsenal with Walcott (90) completing the rout.

Carlisle 0-3 Tottenham: A relatively easy win for Spurs despite their lengthy trip. Jan Vertonghen (37) gave Tottenham a half-time lead. The win was completed with goals from Andros Townsend (53) and Gylfi Sigurdsson (89).

Manchester United 2-1 Newcastle: United just about make it through despite a Newcastle threat. Anderson (44) fired the hosts ahead just before half-time. Tom Cleverley (58) made it 2-0 with a well worked goal before Javier Hernandez hit the crossbar. Substitute Papiss Cisse (62) headed Newcastle back in the game just over minute after coming on. The striker then hit the crossbar and was unfortunate not to level the game.

Norwich 1-0 Doncaster: Premier League Norwich just about make it past lower league opposition. The only goal of the game came from Alexander Tettey (26).

QPR 2-3 Reading: Reading came from behind to see off their fellow Premiership side. Junior Hoilett (14) gave the hosts the lead before Kaspars Gorkss (16) levelled. Djibril Cisse (71) made it 2-1 for QPR with Nicky Shorey (76) once again equalising. Pavel Pogrebnyak (81) won the game for the Royals.

West Brom 1-2 Liverpool: Liverpool also come from behind to see off West Brom. Gabriel Tamas (3) did the hosts an early lead. But Nuri Sahin (17 & 82) scored his first Liverpool goals to turn the game around and put the holders through.    

Bradford 3-2 Burton AET: Bradford score two late goals before stealing victory in extra time. Goals from Billy Kee (18) and Aaron Webster (29) gave Burton a 2-0 lead before the half-hour mark. But a brace from Nahki Wells (83 & 90) forced the game into extra time. Stephen Darby (115) won the game with five minutes to play in the League Two battle.

Chelsea 6-0 Wolves: Wolves' return to Stamford Bridge may have just been a reminder as to why there are now a Championship club. Gary Cahill (4) broke the deadlock before Ryan Bertrand (8) made it 2-0 within ten minutes. Juan Mata (17) scored their third before half-time. Oriol Romeu (53) scored his first Chelsea goal from the penalty spot before Fernando Torres (58) made it 5-0. Victor Moses (71) completed the thrashing by also scoring his first Chelsea goal.

Crawley 2-3 Swansea: The Premiership side needed an injury time goal to squeeze past the League One outfit. Michu (27) had given Swansea the lead before goals from Josh Simpson (45) and Hope Akpan (62) put Crawley 2-1 ahead. Danny Graham (74) equalised for the visitors and the game was looking like entering extra time until Garry Monk (90) broke Crawley hearts.

Leeds 2-1 Everton: Possibly the shock of the night came from Elland Road. Leeds got off to the best possible start when Aidy White (4) put them ahead. Everton never really got going all night and Rodolph Austin (70) made it 2-0 after diverting Danny Pugh's shot past Jan Mucha. Sylvain Distin (81) headed Everton back into the game but it was too little too late for the Premiership side.

Manchester City 2-4 Aston Villa (AET): Perhaps another contender for shock of the night with the Premiership Champions exiting the stage and failing to win in four games. It started off better for the hosts when Mario Balotelli (27) put them ahead. Gareth Barry (59) forgot he has moved from Villa by inadvertently scoring an own goal to level the game up. Aleksandar Kolarov (64) put City back in front with a free-kick before Gabby Agbonlahor (70) forced extra time with his first goal in 18-games. Charles N'Zogbia (96) then put Villa ahead for the first time in the game with a rebound and Agbonlahor (113) sealed the game with his second of the night.

MK Dons 0-2 Sunderland: Relatively comfortable victory for the Premiership side. Sunderland made it hard for themselves when Lee Cattermole (32) was sent off. But it didn't really affect them and Craig Gardner (54) put the visitors in front. The win was sealed by James McClean (82).

Preston 1-3 Middlesbrough: Boro see off their League One opponents with somewhat ease. Emmanuel Ledesma (13) and Merouane Zemmama (18) gave the Championship a 2-0 lead. Joshua King (40) did pull one back before Richard Smallwood (61) secured the victory.

Southampton 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday: There were no dramas for the Premiership side at St.Mary's. Jay Rodriguez (30) broke the deadlock before then making it 2-0 with a penalty 12-minutes from time.

Swindon 3-1 Burnley: The League One side manage to see off the Championship team. Paul Benson (19) and Andy Williams (42) gave Swindon a 2-0 lead before half-time. Charlie Austin (74) did pull a goal back for Burnley before Troy Archibald-Henville (83) prevented any chance of a comeback.

West Ham 1-4 Wigan: Wigan come from behind to see off their fellow Premiership side. Modibo Maiga (7) had initially put West Ham in front. Mauro Boselli (14) equalised for Wigan with Ivan Ramis (38) and then Boselli (41) turned the game around to give them a 3-1 half-time lead. A Jordi Gomez (84) penalty completed the victory for the visitors.    

Australia's European Champion

Simon Whitlock makes it three times lucky with his first major victory in the European Darts Championship. Whitlock breezed past Wes Newton in the final in front a rather partisan crowd, which did effect Newton. The pair were level at 2-2 before Whitlock found his feet and surged into a 5-2 lead. Newton did pull it back to 6-4 before a party piece, 167-checkout, made it 8-4. Newton managed to win one more leg before Whitlock completed the 11-5 job to take his first major victory.

Newton made it into the final with a tight fought victory over Brendan Dolan. After trading the first two legs, Dolan took an early 3-1 lead. That soon transpired into a 4-2 lead before Newton managed to come back and level the match. The Warrior then led 5-4 before Dolan turned it around and made it 7-5. Newton missed seven darts to make it 7-7 and ultimately found himself 9-6 behind. But it would be Dolan who rued missed darts; after missing two doubles to go 10-6 ahead, Newton managed to fire five legs on the spin to win the match.

It was the same scoreline for Whitlock who just managed to see off Kim Huybrechts. Just like his quarter-final, Whitlock surged into a 3-0 lead before being pegged back to 3-3 with the Belgian securing a 104 and a 102-checkout on the way. Huybrechts did then take the lead but the pair remained locked together all the way to 8-8. Within that, Huybrechts found a 122-checkout to lead 5-4 and Whitlock did miss seven darts at the double to take an 8-7 lead and secure a break of throw. Whitlock then managed to gain that crucial break of throw to make it 10-8 before Huybrechts threatened to come back with a sensational bull, bull, double-16 132-checkout. But the Australian finished the job with a 95-checkout that finished on the bull.

Liverpool Pay Penalty While City And Arsenal Share A Point

It was a Super Sunday to be remembered with four games on the offering including the big inter-city derby. The Manchester United being the first team to travel to Anfield since the real story of Hillsborough and all eyes were on the behaviour of the fans as well as the pre-match handshakes. Fortunately, Patrice Evra and Luis Suarez were able to put their differences aside and shook hands and there were only a couple of incidents ill-thought chanting, from both sets of fans.

Liverpool seemed to be spurred on by the Hillsborough tribute and were much the better team in the first half. Luis Suarez threatened Anders Lindegaard early on with Rafael heading the ball off the line for Jonny Evans to clear. Despite their real attacking intent, Liverpool failed to break the deadlock and the game arguably changed six minutes before half-time; after initially robbing Ryan Giggs of the ball, Jonjo Shelvey chased after the loose ball and slid in with his foot over the ball after leaving the ground and caught the also sliding Evans. Mark Halsey showed his reluctance in showing the red card but the referee simply had no choice. Shelvey then didn't cover himself in glory and angrily pointed at Sir Alex Ferguson and exchanged heated words as he was escorted down the tunnel, the midfielder suggested the United manager tried to get him sent off.

It didn't really change the outlook on the game and United remained second best and were caught cold early on in the second half. It took just 50-seconds before half-time substitute Suso, making his Premier League debut, saw his cross divert back to Glen Johnson. Johnson then crossed it into Steven Gerrard who took it down on his chest before driving it into the bottom corner, a perfect dedication to his cousin Jon-Paul Gilhooley who, at just ten years old, was the youngest victim in the Hillsborough disaster.

Liverpool were only ahead for five minutes though; Shinji Kagawa laid the ball off to Rafael who curled a beauty into the top corner, levelling in style. It took until the final quarter of an hour before United's numerical advantage really took a hold and their winner came nine minutes before the end. After losing possession on the half-way line, Daniel Agger and Johnson failed to bring Antonio Valencia down, who now had a clear stretch to goal from just inside the Liverpool half. Valencia made it into the box before Johnson managed to scramble back and make a foolish tackle from behind, again leaving Mark Halsey no option but to award United with their fourth penalty in four games. Robin Van Persie stepped up and, despite Pepe Reina getting two hands to the ball, there was no stopping it, giving United their first win at Anfield for five years whilst Brendan Rodgers still seeks his first Premier League win for Liverpool.

After that dramatic match, Manchester City were held to a 1-1 draw against Arsenal. City took the lead five before half-time when Joleon Lescott headed a corner home. City had chances to close the game out and Arsenal also spurned chanced to level the game. But the visitors did manage to snatch a point eight minutes before the end; Lescott's header from a corner was weak and the ball fell to Laurent Koscielny who managed to fire the ball low and into the bottom corner.

Newcastle only needed one goal to see of Norwich, although they could have made it much easier for themselves. The goal came against the run of play when Demba Ba timed his run perfectly to latch onto Hatem Ben Arfa's cross and finish under John Ruddy for his third goal in two games on 19-minutes. Newcastle were awarded a penalty in first half injury time when Steve Morison nudged Mike Williamson in the box. Papiss Cisse stepped up but smashed his effort high over the bar. Newcastle managed to hold on to the three points to move on to eight with Norwich still on three.

Two goals in the space of a minute were enough to see Tottenham come from a goal down to beat QPR at White Hart Lane. QPR started the much better and broke the deadlock on 33-minutes; Alejandro Faurlin found a nice reverse pass into the path of Bobby Zamora who lifted the ball over Brad Friedel. Tottenham levelled on the hour mark when Steven Caulker header a corner back across goal and the ball ricocheted off of Faurlin's shoulder, who had his back to goal, before going past Julio Cesar. Spurs then took the lead a minute later when Jan Vertonghen created a three-on-two situation who played Gareth Bale into space. The Welshman fired a shot that Julio Cesar saved onto the crossbar before Jermain Defoe rebounded the ball home. Tottenham also move onto eight points while QPR are still without a win this season.     

Vettel Takes Dramatic, Cut-Short Singapore

Sebastian Vettel benefits from a mechanical failure suffered by Lewis Hamilton to win back-to-back races in Singapore. Two Safety Cars meant the race couldn't meet its 61-lap criteria as the two hour mark meant three laps had to be cut off. It is the first time since 1991 that a dry race was unable to complete its full set of laps. The German now moves into second in the overall standings, Kimi Raikkonen remains third by finishing sixth. Jenson Button finished second with championship leader, Fernando Alonso, claiming another podium place.

Vettel started on the offensive from the start by moving straight into second place. Button had also gained a place, into third, in a relatively clean getaway. The only incidents saw Vitaly Petrov lose a front wing courtesy of contact with his teammate whilst Felipe Massa suffered a puncture. Both drivers were able to continue but  came out at the back.

A rather quiet beginning saw both Red Bull cars pit earlier than most but it didn't harm either driver despite Mark Webber coming out in 20th and Vettel 12th. Hamilton did pit on lap-13 but only came out in fourth and Vettel had managed to overtake Raikkonen to put himself behind the McLaren.

Ten laps later and a comfortable looking race for Hamilton ended abruptly due to a mechanical failure, this gave Vettel the lead and he never looked back. The first Safety Car came on lap-33 when Narain Karthikeyan crashed into a barrier. Pastor Maldonado also had to retire two laps with a hydraulics problem, ended a rather decent weekend in disappointment for the Venezuelan, his ninth DNF.

The Safety Car came in on lap-39 with Button and Alonso taking their places behind Vettel. Button almost crashed into the back of the Red Bull during Vettel's attempt of slowing the pack back down after initially looking like speeding up. Webber had also managed to overtake Nico Hulkenberg after the Safety Car had left the track.

The Safety Car wasn't off the track for more than lap before it was deployed once again. This was because Michael Schumacher failed to brake and slow down enough before crashing into the back of Jean Eric-Vergne, taking both cars out. Many took advantage of the second Safety Car by pitting, but it almost ended in tears for Petrov who had to park the car outside the pits after his mechanics failed to tighten a wheel nut. He was wheeled back into the pits and was fortunately allowed to carry on.

The second Safety Car came in on lap-43 and there was almost another one deployed when Massa and Bruno Senna contacted. Luckily, both drivers just about managed to keep control of their cars with the Brazilian taking ninth.

Just behind the points, there was a real battle between Webber, Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi. It ended in tears when Perez and Hulkenberg initially contacted but were able to continue despite the Sauber losing his wing plate. But a lap later, lap-50, Hulkenberg would suffer a puncture at the hands of Kobayashi who suffered front wing damage, both drivers were able to make it back to the pits and carry on.

During that time, it had been announced that the race wouldn't be able to be completed by the two hour mark and the clock began to count down. With just over seven and a half minutes left, Webber had managed to overtake Senna to gain the final point. The final lap, lap-58, saw Bruno Senna lose all power and also had to retire along with Petrov. Race result:

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

2012 European Darts Championships: Quarter Finals

There were shocks in the first session of Sunday's action with both Phil Taylor and Raymond Van Barneveld failing to make it into tonight's finals night. The loss marks Taylor's first in the history of the European Darts Championships, meaning there will be a new, second, name on the trophy.

The afternoon began with Andy Hamilton taking on Wes Newton. Newton took out a 115-checkout to secure the first break of throw before Hamilton responded to level the match at 2-2. The Hammer then missed four darts to secure a second break of throw, eventually allowing Newton to level the match up at 4-4. It was Newton who would then gain that break of throw and took a 7-5 lead. That transpired into an 8-7 lead before Newton took out a 129-checkout to win the match 10-7 and give himself a great chance of winning his first major.

Taylor faced Brendan Dolan and the Power continued to play at a substandard, by his standards at least, level. The pair were locked at 2-2 before Dolan took advantage of Taylor missing doubles to take a 5-2 lead. Taylor did fight back to reduce the deficit to 5-4 but Dolan wasn't deterred and soon re-extended his lead to 7-4. Taylor's last leg made the score 8-6 before the Northern Irishman crossed the finish line to progress into the last four.

Van Barneveld has arguably had quite a difficult draw this tournament and it was the high flying Kim Huybrechts who stopped the defiant Dutchman. Huybrechts got off to the better start and quickly took a 3-1 lead. Barney roared back though and turned the match on its head by winning four straight legs to lead 5-3. But the pair were soon level again when Huybrechts made it 6-6 before then going onto take an 8-6 lead. Barney still wasn't finished and found a 120-Shanghai finish followed by a 113-checkout to level the game once again. But Huybrechts managed to hold off the attack to take the remaining two legs to win the game 10-8 and also give himself a great chance to win a major.

Simon Whitlock will have a big say about that as he also makes it into the semi-final. He faced Colin Lloyd and quickly surged into a 3-0 lead with a 121-checkout in the third leg. But Jaws fought straight back and fired a majestic 164-checkout to level the game at 3-3. The pair then traded blows at 5-5 before Whitlock took an 8-5 lead courtesy of Lloyd missing doubles. Lloyd still wasn't finished and reduced the arrears to 8-7 before Whitlock finally saw off Jaws to stake his claim for the European Championship.