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Monday, October 31, 2011

Newcastle move to 3rd in EPL with 3-1 win at Stoke

Senegalese striker Demba Ba scored a hat-trick as Newcastle United continued their impressive start to the season with a deserved 3-1 win at Stoke City in the Premier League.

Newcastle climbed to third place in the table and remain unbeaten after 10 matches while Stoke remain 11th in the standings.

Ba headed home Gabriel Obertan's cross from close range after 12 minutes and he doubled Newcastle's lead with another neat finish five minutes before halftime.

Ba turned villian when he gave away a penalty with a clumsy foul on Peter Crouch which Jon Walters converted to give Stoke hope with 15 minutes remaining. But Ba quickly made amends when he coolly dispatched a penalty, his eighth goal of the season, after Robert Huth was adjudged to have shoved Leon Best in the area.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Arsenal score five goals at Stamford Bridge to beat Chelsea

Arsenal captain Robin van Persie scored a hat-trick as the Gunners beat Chelsea 5-3 in a remarkable Premier League match at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea went ahead through Frank Lampard after 14 minutes before Van Persie equalised in the 36th minute and Chelsea skipper JohnTerry bundled in a corner to put his side 2-1 up in the last minute of the first half.

Andre Santos struck Arsenal's second equaliser after 49 minutes before Theo Walcott scored a brilliant solo goal, picking himself up and continuing his run after slipping over, to give Arsenal a 3-2 lead after 55 minutes.

Juan Mata then equalised for Chelsea with a stunning swerving shot, which Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny had no chance of saving, to make it 3-3 after 80 minutes.

Chelsea were then guilty of some poor defending five minutes later with Terry stumbled and falling theatrically to the ground to leave Van Persie to run in on Chelsea keeper Petr Cech before rounding him and blasting the ball in.

The Dutchman then made it 28 goals from his last 27 Premier League games in this calendar year to make it 5-3 in the second minute of stoppage time with a swerving shot to match Mata's.

Monday, October 24, 2011

New Zealand win Rugby World Cup Final

New Zealand beat France 8-7 in a tension-filled final at Eden Park to lift the Rugby World Cup.

Tony Woodcock's early try and a penalty from fourth-choice first five-eight Stephen Donald were enough to see the All Blacks home in an extraordinary match.

France produced their best performance of the tournament and came close to pulling off an upset after captain Thierry Dusatoir scored a try with 30 minutes remaining set up a nerve-shredding finale.

But New Zealand's defence stood firm, and France missed a long range penalty goal, and were unable to retain possession as the All Blacks controlled the final four minutes to clinch a a famous win.

Arsenal 3-1 Stoke City

Robin van Persie scored twice after coming on as a substitute as Arsenal saw off Stoke 3-1.

The Gunners took the lead through Gervinho but were pegged back by Peter Crouch’s set piece goal.

Van Persie, rested from the starting line-up by manager Arsene Wenger, came on after 65 minutes and helped out his team-mates out with his eighth and ninth goals of the season.

Video highlights of Arsenal beating Stoke City 3-1 online now.

Manchester City thrash Man United 6-1 at Old Trafford

Mario Balotelli provided the spark as Manchester City stormed Old Trafford to humiliate rivals Manchester United 6-1.

Balotelli struck twice to set up a convincing win for Manchester City over Manchester United who also had Jonny Evans sent off.

City lead 1-0 at halftime through Balotelli's opening goal, and were coasting at 3-1 as the game entered injury time before Edin Dzeko struck twice and David Silva added to the tally.

Video of the Man United v Man City match highlights available

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Arsenal beat Sunderland 2-1 to get back on track

Robin van Persie scored twice as Arsenal began to show signs of recovery from their poor start to the Premier League season with a 2-1 victory at home to Sunderland.

Arsenal went ahead after just 27 seconds when Gervinho surged down the left and crossed forVan Persie to sidefoot a shot into the bottom corner of the Sunderland net.

The hosts then dominated with a confidence they have struggled to find this season before Sunderland got back into the game when Seb Larsson struck a curling freekick over the wall to equalise against his former club on 31 minutes.

Arsenal had goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to thank when his point-blank save denied an unmarked Lee Cattermole shortly before halftime but the Gunners dominated the second half before Van Persie to snatched the victory with just 9 minutes left.

The Dutchman more than matched the quality of Larsson's free kick with one of his own that curled over the wall and into the goal to lift Arsenal up to 10th in the league with their third home victory in a row.
New Zealand reached the final of the 2011 Rugby World Cup with a 20-6 win over Australia at Eden Park in Auckland.

The All Blacks dominated from the start against their Tasman rivals and scored the only try of the match through centre Ma'a Nonu in the sixth minute. after a brilliant run and pass by full-back Israel Dagg

New Zealand led 14-6 in front at the interval and two second half penalties from scrum-half Piri Weepu sealed victory for the home team.

The All Blacks will face France next Sunday while Australia will play Wales in the third place playoff next Friday.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Euro2012 Playoffs draw announced

The Republic of Ireland will take on Estonia in the Euro 2012 play-offs after Thursday's draw in Krakow.

The other play-offs see :
 - Turkey v Croatia,
 - Czech Republic v Montenegro
 - Portugal v Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The first legs will play on 11/12 November, and the return legs on 15 November.

Already through to the finals, alongside co-hosts Poland and Ukraine, are Spain, Germany, Russia, Italy, France, Holland, Greece, England, Denmark and Sweden.

The finals draw is on 2 December in Kiev and the tournament runs from 8 June until 1 July next year at eight venues.

Sunday, October 02, 2011

All Blacks Dan Carter out of Rugby World Cup with groin injury

All Blacks first five-eighth Carter has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament because of the groin injury he suffered at a training session.


Carter has torn the adductor longus tendon in his left groin. His place in the squad has been taken by Manawatu's Aaron Cruden who was yesterday contacted by manager Darren Shand.

Backup first five-eighth Colin Slade will now be expected to wear the No 10 jersey for the crucial play-off matches with Piri Weepu another option at first-five - as well as Cruden.

The local betting TAB reacted to the news, with the All Blacks still hot favourites to win the tournament, easing out to $1.60, while South Africa dropped to $6 and Australia $7.