United cost Vidic out:Shearer

Sports mania, England, 1 Oct 2012:The loss of Vidic Manchester united on trouble on defending line up with young player.United can be die hard for defending tittle this season. The no-nonsense defender missed a huge chunk of last season with a serious knee injury but returned for the start of the current campaign in August.

However, another knee injury in September has ruled out the defender for two more months and the United leader's presence was sorely missed on Saturday as Sir Alex Ferguson's side defended poorly on their way to a 3-2 home defeat against Tottenham.

Shearer feels United will drop enough points now during VIdic's absence to concede the title in the long run.

"It is early days in the title race but already Manchester United have been dealt a huge blow from which they will not recover," wrote Shearer in The Sun.

"Before the season started I did not think they were strong enough to win the title despite all their new signings.

"With the loss of Nemanja Vidic now for two months I am even more convinced that the Premier League trophy will either be staying put [at Manchester City] or heading to Stamford Bridge [with Chelsea].

"In truth his loss last season probably cost them the title.

"For me they are looking a lot more vulnerable now."

Shearer thinks United's current back-line were "cruelly exposed by the pace of Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon and Kyle Walker".

"Jonny Evans is a decent defender but he is no Nemanja Vidic," Shearer said.

"While Rio Ferdinand can still do a job at the top level, he is not the defender he was five years ago.

"The same can be said of Patrice Evra, whose form continues to nosedive.

"On the opposite flank I like Rafael going forward. We saw what he can do at Anfield the previous weekend with that fantastic goal. As a pure defender however it is slightly different. Witness how easily he was turned in the build-up to Tottenham's third goal.

"It seems that Sir Alex does not know who his best goalkeeper is either. David De Gea still looks a nervous wreck at times when the ball is being hoisted into a group of bodies in his box. Anders Lindegaard looks a better bet right now - but is he the long-term answer?

"The truth is there could have been plenty more goals from Spurs on Saturday."

source:ESPNSTAR.COM

Manchester United:Rooney Rocked by Suspension

Sports mania England, April,4-2011:Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has been charged by the FA for using abusive language and now faces a two game ban.
The England forward issued a formal apology following his foul-mouthed celebration at West Ham on Saturday, which he claimed came "in the heat of the moment" after he completed a match-turning treble, and insisted "was not aimed at anyone in particular".
However, an FA statement on Monday read: "The FA has charged Manchester United's Wayne Rooney for the use of offensive, insulting and/or abusive language.Read More

Newcastle United 1-1 Chelsea

Salomon Kalou spared Chelsea's blushes as the champions had to come from behind to claim a 1-1 draw at Newcastle.

The Ivory Coast international fired home the equaliser in first-half injury time to prevent his side slipping to a third successive league defeat for the first time in 11 years.

Andy Carroll had given the Magpies a sixth-minute lead when he capitalised on an error by Alex, and although the Londoners enjoyed the better of the game, they defended resolutely enough to deserve their point in front of a crowd of 46,469.

Chelsea climbed into second place as a result, but have now taken just four points from their last five games.

Chris Hughton will have been the happier manager after seeing

Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool

Aaron Lennon scored late as Tottenham Hotspur beat Liverpool 2-1 to stay in the Premier League title hunt.

An incident-packed game looked certain to end in a 1-1 draw after Martin Skrtel netted at both ends and substitute Jermain Defoe also missed a penalty.

Several other clear-cut chances went begging for both sides before Lennon became the hero to move Spurs to within a point of fourth-placed Manchester City and back to six of the summit.

It was the second time in eight days, and the fifth time this season, Tottenham had come from behind to win a Premier League game.

Today's match was the first meeting between the sides since Tottenham

Man United 7-1 Blackburn

Dimitar Berbatov joined an elite group of Premier League sharpshooters with a five-star performance as Manchester United demolished Blackburn at Old Trafford.

Since the new league was formed in 1992, only Andy Cole, Alan Shearer and Jermain Defoe have scored five in a single game.Berbatov joined that band this afternoon, scoring twice before half-time, then three more times after the break as United finally rid themselves of the shackles that have halted their progress this season.It took the Bulgarian to 12 goals for the season and completed United's first seven-goal haul since the defeat of Roma three years ago.

West Ham 3-1 Wigan

Bottom club West Ham gave themselves a much-needed boost with a 3-1 victory over fellow strugglers Wigan at Upton Park.

The match had been billed by the West Ham board as the "save our season game", although manager Avram Grant maintained that was more aimed at supporters to get behind the team than a shot across his bows.

Nevertheless, there was more than a sense of relief around the Boleyn Ground at the final whistle, with the Irons securing a first win since the end of September following goals from Valon Behrami, Victor Obinna and Scott Parker.

However, the Irons - now within three points of safety, but still bottom after Wolves' late winner against Sunderland - had keeper Robert Green

Fulham 1-1 Birmingham

A second-half equaliser from Fulham midfielder Clint Dempsey robbed Birmingham of their first away win of the season.

City had enjoyed an interval lead thanks to a 19th-minute strike from Sebastian Larsson but Fulham salvaged a point through Dempsey's 53rd-minute header.

Fulham are still one place above the relegation zone and they are now without a win in their last five league games.

The Cottagers should have taken the lead in the fourth minute but a goalbound shot by Aaron Hughes was cleared off the line by Keith Fahey.

Fulham were looking to end a run of four previous games without a win and began in much brighter fashion than their opponents.

Stoke 1-1 Manchester City

Matthew Etherington scored a stoppage-time equaliser for Stoke against Manchester City at the Britannia Stadium.

Roberto Mancini's high-fliers looked set for all three points thanks to a marvellous goal from Micah Richards in the 81st minute.

But Stoke refused to lie down and Etherington took advantage of a clever back-heel from Tuncay to ensure his side got a share of the spoils.

City found themselves under pressure for long spells in the first half and must have been delighted to go in at the break on level terms.
Stoke showed their credentials as early as the fifth minute when a long throw from Rory Delap was flicked

Bolton 2-2 Blackpool

Bolton dug deep to come from 2-0 down late on to salvage a point at home against Blackpool.

The hero was Mark Davies, who would not have been in the side had it not been for Stuart Holden's thigh injury, who fired home in the 89th minute to round off a glorious team move and snatch what seemed an unlikely result with 15 minutes remaining.Substitute Martin Petrov had pulled one back for Wanderers in the 76th minute.

Blackpool looked set for a fourth victory in nine away matches after headers from Ian Evatt and Luke Varney as the Seasiders but the team with the worst defensive record in the Barclays Premier League could not hang on under intense late pressure.Bolton, who remain in fifth place as a result, extended their unbeaten run to five

Everton 1-4 West Brom

West Brom struck twice in each half to end their slump with a convincing win in an eventful encounter at Everton.

Paul Scharner and Chris Brunt put the Baggies into a 2-0 lead at Goodison Park before Everton's top goalscorer Tim Cahill pulled one back.

Everton's hopes of a fightback were dashed as Mikel Arteta was sent off for stamping and Somen Tchoyi and Youssouf Mulumbu, with aid of a Sylvain Distin deflection, finished them off.

Remarkably Mulumbu was then sent off himself for two bookings, the first for celebrating in the crowd and then for a bad tackle on Steven Pienaar.

Wolves 3-2 Sunderland

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake's late strike sealed a precious victory for Wolves against Sunderland in a dramatic encounter at Molineux.

Kevin Foley's goal five minutes into the second half had put Wanderers 1-0 up before efforts from Darren Bent and Danny Welbeck put the visitors in the driving seat.

Stephen Hunt drew things level, though, and Ebanks-Blake netted at the death to hand Mick McCarthy's side three much-needed points.

Although they remain in the Barclays Premier League relegation zone, 19th-placed Wolves cut the gap between themselves and safety to three points and will take confidence from halting their recent four-match losing run in satisfying style.

Aston Villa 2-4 Arsenal

Arsenal survived a second-half onslaught from Aston Villa to claim a thrilling 4-2 victory at Villa Park.

The Gunners looked to be cruising to victory after dominating the opening 45 minutes and netting through Andrey Arshavin and Samir Nasri.

But Villa were transformed in the second period and Ciaran Clark struck twice either side of Marouane Chamakh's 10th goal of the campaign before Jack Wilshere's injury-time clincher.

It enabled Arsene Wenger's side to end an unhappy week on a high note after the derby defeat by Tottenham and the Champions League setback away to Braga.

Arsenal played some superb flowing football with Arshavin and Nasri a constant threat.

Rooney: I'm sorry for transfer fiasco

Wayne Rooney has finally apologised to Manchester United fans for the way his transfer negotiations were conducted last month.

Although Sir Alex Ferguson claimed Rooney had said sorry to his team-mates and intended to do the same to the fans when he ended a turbulent week by signing a five-year deal last month, three opportunities to make good that promise have not been taken.
Last night, following his matchwinning penalty at Rangers, Rooney offered his apology, before revealing the intense speculation about a move to City was well wide of the mark.
"I feel like I have apologised to the fans but everyone keeps saying that I haven't," said Rooney.
"If that is the case, then I apologise for my side of things.

Blackburn Rovers 2-0 Aston Villa

Blackburn Rovers' new owners had plenty to cheer as a Morten Gamst Pedersen brace sealed a 2-0 win against Aston Villa.

Rovers, playing for the first time since being taken over by Indian company Venky's, took the lead in stoppage time at the end of the opening period at Ewood Park thanks to Pedersen's delightful looping free-kick.
The Norwegian then struck again midway through the second half to wrap up a comfortable victory for Sam Allardyce's side.
Venkateshwara and Balaji Rao, the directors of Venky's, came on to the pitch to greet Blackburn's fans before kick-off and received warm applause.

Fulham 1-4 Manchester City

Carlos Tevez showed old boss Mark Hughes no mercy at Fulham as Manchester City romped to a 4-1 victory.

Twelve months ago Hughes was the man profiting from the South American's prowess in front of goal.
Now it is Roberto Mancini hailing two goals and a man-of-the-match display from the inspirational South American.
Indeed, as Mancini reflects on a table that shows his side to be bang in the title hunt - as well as more money to strengthen in January than any of their rivals - and four more goals on the road to answer the critics who have panned him for being too negative, the Italian could be forgiven for having a large chuckle to himself.
Pablo Zabaleta and Yaya Toure struck within a three-minute period at the end of the first half after Tevez had given City a flying start.

Manchester United 2-0 Wigan

Wayne Rooney made it a perfect day for Manchester United as Sir Alex Ferguson's side beat Wigan 2-0.

United brushed aside Wigan, who self-destructed in the second half with two unnecessary red cards, but perhaps more importantly Rooney made his first appearance since the contract saga that saw the England striker threaten to leave before signing a new five-year deal.
The setbacks suffered by Arsenal and Chelsea made it imperative that United did not slip up too and they made no mistake as headers by Patrice Evra and Javier Hernandez ensured Ferguson's men second spot in the Premier League table, behind Chelsea only on goal difference.

Arsenal 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur

Arsenal blew the chance to go top of the Barclays Premier League as Tottenham fought back from 2-0 down to win 3-2.

Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh had put the Gunners in complete control as they looked set to leapfrog Chelsea, who play Birmingham later this afternoon.
However, Spurs - who had just one Premier League away victory over their old rivals, in May 1993 - regrouped for the second half following the introduction of fit-again England striker Jermain Defoe.
Gareth Bale pulled a goal back on 50 minutes, before a handball from captain Cesc Fabregas from a free-kick gave away a penalty, which Rafael van der Vaart converted.
Arsenal were then condemned to successive home league defeats for the first time in 13 years

Blackpool 2-1 Wolves

Luke Varney and Marlon Harewood piled on the pressure for Wolves by firing Blackpool to a 2-1 victory.

Varney set up a thrilling Barclays Premier League contest with a stunning volley after just three minutes at Bloomfield Road and Harewood added a second just before the interval.
Kevin Doyle set up a tense finish after Nenad Milijas hit the post for Wolves in a fine second-half response but the hosts held on.
Prince William, taking time out from his wedding preparations, was among the 15,922 crowd with a number of his friends.
He may have enjoyed the game more than the Wolves supporters who, despite their side's spirited showing after the break, booed their team off the field.
The result leaves them entrenched in the bottom three after a run of nine defeats in 11 games.

Birmingham 1-0 Chelsea

Birmingham keeper Ben Foster produced a superb performance help his side beat Chelsea 1-0.

Lee Bowyer's opening-half goal - his first for nearly 12 months - earned Alex McLeish's side a shock victory.
But their hero was Foster who bounced back from his error on England duty in midweek with a series of stunning saves.
Chelsea dominated proceedings for the entire 90 minutes but they could not find a way past the former Manchester United player.
It was a vastly improved performance by Chelsea compared to their 3-0 home mauling by Sunderland last weekend.
But they tasted defeat in back to back league games for

Bolton 5-1 Newcastle

Newcastle's Kevin Nolan's big return to Bolton turned sour in spectacular fashion as he gave away an early penalty to lost 5-1.

Kevin Davies hit a brace from the spot and in-form Johan Elmander also scored two as Owen Coyle's men brushed aside the beleaguered Magpies, who finished with 10 men after the late sending-off of Fabricio Coloccini.
Nolan's first appearance at the Reebok Stadium since his £4million move to Newcastle in January last year had started with a rousing reception from the home fans but quickly turned sour as Chris Hughton's men slid to a dismal defeat.
Nolan could have given his side a stunning advantage after less than a minute, when he seized on a mistake by Paul Robinson