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Tuesday May 6, 2009

United Close In On League Title

Middlesbrough 0 Manchester United 2

Ryan Giggs and Ji-Sung Park increased Manchester United's stranglehold on the League title as Middlesbrough's relegation fears increased.
Giggs set the visitors on the road to victory with just his second league goal of the campaign with 25 minutes gone and Park sealed the points six minutes after the restart as United won at a canter.
They did so without having to call upon the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Edwin van der Sar, Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and Anderson ahead of Tuesday night's Champions League semi-final decider at Arsenal.
The Boro faithful among a crowd of 33,767 trailed away from the Riverside knowing their hopes of watching Premier League football next season are receding by the week.

Chelsea 3 Fulham 1

Chelsea warmed up for their Champions League semi-final against Barcelona next week with a comfortable win over west London neighbours Fulham.
Goals from Nicolas Anelka, Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba ensured Chelsea also kept the heat on second-placed Liverpool in the League.
Guus Hiddink's side dented Fulham's own hopes of European football next season as West Ham United and Manchester City both moved above the Cottagers in the race for seventh place.

Manchester City 3 Blackburn Rovers 1

Manchester City produced a burst of three goals in 18 first-half minutes to record their first hat-trick of League wins this season and leave Rovers still sweating to avoid the drop.
Felipe Caicedo's scruffy effort was followed by a Brazilian one-two as Robinho drilled home his 15th of the season and in-form Elano stroked home a penalty.
The victory keeps City well in the hunt for another bout of European action next season, ensuring not only Liverpool have a vested interest in them returning from Old Trafford with another three points next Sunday.

Portsmouth 0 Arsenal 3

Arsenal rested their big guns ahead of their Champions League semi-final second leg against Manchester United, but were still too strong for Portsmouth at Fratton Park.
Arsene Wenger made eight changes from the starting XI at Old Trafford, with the likes of captain Cesc Fabregas, Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor and regular goalkeeper Manuel Almunia all rested.
However, the young Gunners, skippered by Andrey Arshavin who cannot play in Europe, again showed their potential as a brace from Nicklas Bendtner - his first after a mistake from England keeper David James - and a clinical second-half strike by Mexican Carlos Vela sealed a comfortable 3-0 victory.
Pompey, whose best spell came just after the restart, should have enough points on the board to be safe from the drop, while the Gunners head into their tie with United secure in the knowledge of another top-four finish following a 21-match unbeaten league run.

Stoke City 0 West Ham United 1

Diego Tristan kept West Ham United on the road to Europe by scoring the winner at the Britannia Stadium.
The Spanish striker scored the only goal of a feisty match in the 32nd minute to leave Stoke City stunned.
It was just the result Hammers manager Gianfranco Zola was looking for in his bid to claim seventh place in the table.
With relegation a slight threat, Stoke had different reasons why they wanted to extend their unbeaten home league record, but despite this defeat they should still have enough points on the board to secure their status.

Tottenham Hotspur 1 West Bromwich Albion 0

West Bromwich Albion were pushed closer to relegation from the League after Jermaine Jenas' winner for Spurs at White Hart Lane.
Jenas, with England coach Fabio Capello in the stands, broke the deadlock just before the break to keep his side in the hunt for a seventh-placed finish that would earn European football.
The chant of "1-0 to the Tottenham" could become familiar to Spurs fans - they have won by that scoreline now in their last four home matches.
They were bottom when Harry Redknapp took over in October but are finishing the season strongly, while Tony Mowbray's men look like they need a miracle.

Wigan Athletic 0 Bolton Wanderers 0

Goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen earned Bolton Wanderers a point in the goalless draw against Wigan Athletic at the JJB Stadium with three first-half saves.
The Finn twice denied Hugo Rodallega, once with the aid of a post, and also tipped over Mido's long-range effort.
However, the crossbar came to Wigan's rescue before the interval when Bolton defender Gary Cahill's deflected strike rebounded back of the woodwork.
That the match should end as the first ever goalless draw in 22 meetings between the sides was no great surprise, with Wigan having scored just seven times since the turn of the year.

Liverpool 3 Newcastle United 0

Alan Shearer's Newcastle United are staring relegation in the face after a 3-0 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield.
His team were tormented by a Liverpool side that kept their own League title dreams alive and maintained pressure on leaders Manchester United.
Liverpool scored in the first-half through Yossi Benayoun and Dirk Kuyt, with substitute Lucas heading the third in the final minutes.
Newcastle's misery was compounded by having Joey Barton sent off in the second-half for a crude foul on Xabi Alonso.

Sunderland 0 Everton 2

Steven Pienaar dumped Sunderland deeper into relegation trouble as Everton climbed into fifth place in the League.
The South African midfielder fired the visitors into a 48th-minute lead and then set up Marouane Fellaini to secure the points 19 minutes from time as the Black Cats slumped to their ninth home league defeat of the season.
They remain four points clear of the bottom three with three matches to play, but face tough away trips to Bolton Wanderers and Portsmouth before Chelsea head for the Stadium of Light on the final day of the campaign.

Aston Villa 1 Hull City 0

John Carew's first-half goal clinched an automatic European spot for Aston Villa for the first time in 11 years and piled on more misery for relegation-threatened Hull City at Villa Park.
The Norwegian international struck his 14th goal of the campaign 11 minutes before the interval to secure Villa's first victory in 13 matches.