FOOTBALL: Messi hat-trick helps Barca to record 35-match unbeaten run

Barcelona set a Spanish record of 35 matches unbeaten in all competitions with a thumping 5-1 win at nine-man Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Thursday after goal-machine Lionel Messi scored his 35th hat-trick.

Ivan Rakitic opened the scoring, Messi caught up with Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo on 35 trebles in all competitions and Arda Turan completed the rout, with Turkey's captain scoring his first goal for the club since joining from Atletico Madrid.

Barca's victory, which saw them beat the undefeated record Real Madrid had held since the 1988/89 season, restored an eight-point lead at the top over Atletico with 11 matches to go.

Atletico beat visiting Real Sociedad 3-0 on Tuesday, while third-placed Real Madrid are again 12 points off the pace after a 3-1 win at Levante on Wednesday.

Barca were helped by the fact that Rayo lost defender Diego Llorente to a red card three minutes before halftime for a foul on Rakitic before Manuel Iturra was also sent off in the 67th for bringing down Sergio Busquets in the area.

Busquets was felled from behind going for the rebound after a Messi free kick came back off the bar but Luis Suarez's penalty was saved by Juan Carlos, Barcelona's ninth miss from 18 penalties in all competitions this season.

Liverpool owners admit to underrating gravity of rebuild
The former general counsel for Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG), Edward Weiss, revealed they had 'underestimated' how poor the squad actually was and were 'overconfident' about rebuilding the club they purchased in 2010.

The admissions came during a Supreme Court hearing in New York this week relating to a long-running legal dispute with Mill Financial, an American company, suing the club's former co-owner George Gillett Jr and the Royal Bank of Scotland.

"You know, I think we underestimated how poor the playing quality of the (Liverpool) squad was, and frankly, we underestimated how difficult it was going to be to stabilise the asset," Weiss said.

"We were overconfident in assuming that many of the things that we had done in Boston at Fenway (with the baseball franchise Boston Red Sox) would translate naturally to the Premier League, and they just didn't all translate."

At the time of the take over, the Liverpool squad included club icons Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher but Weiss suggested they inherited a team with a few players past the peak of their careers.

"What we came to know was that the playing squad was poor. While we had a few top players like Steven Gerrard, other players like Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina were probably beyond their prime," Weiss said.

Since FSG took over the club, Liverpool won the League Cup in 2012 but only finished in the top four of the Premier League once, when they came second in 2014. (Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by John O'Brien)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

PREMIER LEAGUE: Leicester stun Spurs, Arsenal held as Liverpool strike late

LONDON - Leicester City won 1-0 at Tottenham Hotspur to rekindle their unlikely Premier League title challenge and draw level at the top with Arsenal who conceded a late goal to draw 3-3 at Liverpool on Wednesday.

Those predicting Leicester would fade into the background of the championship race got a wake-up call when Robert Huth headed an 83rd-minute winner against fourth-placed Spurs at White Hart Lane.

Arsenal had looked like going four points clear at the summit before Huth scored and Joe Allen came off the bench to grab a dramatic late equaliser for Liverpool.

Arsene Wenger's side, who stay top on goal difference with 43 points, had twice trailed to superb goals from Roberto Firmino but battled back to take a 3-2 lead thanks to two Olivier Giroud strikes.


Third-placed Manchester City stayed three points off the top after being held to a 0-0 draw at home by Everton and Champions Chelsea continued to confound as they were twice pegged back in a 2-2 home draw with West Bromwich Albion.

Sunderland's bid to stay up was boosted when Jermain Defoe grabbed a hat-trick in a 4-2 win over relegation rivals Swansea City, but Norwich City were dragged towards the relegation scrap after losing 3-1 at Stoke.

Southampton won their first match in three with a 2-0 home victory over Watford.

The first 25 minutes at Anfield were frenetic as Liverpool tore into the visitors and twice took the lead through excellent goals from Firmino.

The first arrived on 10 minutes when Emre Can's shot was parried into the Brazilian's path and he fired home in the blink of an eye, but the lead lasted only four minutes as Aaron Ramsey beat Simon Mignolet at his near post.

Firmino has blown hot and cold since joining Liverpool in the close season, but he produced a devastating finish to restore the hosts' advantage, curling the ball into the top corner from 25 metres, past the despairing dive of Petr Cech.

ATROCIOUS DEFENDING

Liverpool's season, however, has been characterized by atrocious defending at set-pieces and Arsenal were level again on 25 minutes when a corner from the left arrived unchallenged at the near post for Giroud to poke home.

The Frenchman has divided opinion as to whether he has the pedigree to lead the line in a title-winning side but there would have been few dissenters when he swiveled and stroked the ball into the net to put Arsenal ahead on 55 minutes.

They could not close it out, however, and Allen arrived in the area to volley home from eight meters.

"We come out of the game with a lot of positive but still some regrets," said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who added that some of his players were carrying "bad memories" from their 5-1 defeat by Liverpool at the same ground in 2014.

Leicester had failed to win their last three league games, without scoring a goal, prompting predictions that their surprise surge up the table was over and they would slip away in the second half of the campaign.

Yet those may have to be revised after they went to Tottenham, who have their own title hopes, and clinched a superb win after Huth scored a bullet header from a corner.

"Unfortunately, it's January, not May," said Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri. "There's so much work to do. We have to remain calm and believe in what we're doing."

There was no goalmouth drama at the Etihad Stadium, although Manchester City's efforts to reduce the gap at the top were hit when they were denied a late penalty for a foul on Raheem Sterling by John Stones.

Chelsea, attempting to win consecutive league matches for the first time this season, twice led, but Cesar Azpilicueta's opener was cancelled out by Craig Gardner and Gareth McAuley's own goal was followed by a second equalizer from James McClean. (Editing by Ed Osmond)

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FOOTBALL: Arsenal go clear at top, relief at last for United

 

Arsenal go clear at top, relief at last for United

Toby Davis, Reuters

Arsenal and Manchester City showed they have the stomach for a title fight on Saturday with the Premier League leaders sinking Newcastle United 1-0 and Manuel Pellegrini's men launching a late comeback to beat Watford 2-1.

There was celebration at last for Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal as his team ended a dismal six-game league streak without a win by defeating Swansea City 2-1.

Arsenal's victory was scrappy and nervy but Laurent Koscielny's 72nd-minute winner was enough to move them two points clear at the summit after Leicester City's surprise push faltered with a goalless draw at home to 10-man Bournemouth.

Manchester City underlined their credentials as Arsenal's main challengers and although they looked forlorn for much of the game at Vicarage Road, they showed their mettle in the closing stages.

Trailing 1-0 to Aleksandar Kolarov's own goal, Yaya Toure volleyed home superbly in the 82nd minute and Sergio Aguero headed the winner moments later to wrap up a precious win that kept them three points behind the pacesetters.

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Substitute's Partey piece sends Atletico top

Tim Hanlon, Reuters

Substitute Thomas Partey scored his first La Liga goal as Atletico Madrid beat bottom club Levante 1-0 to go top of the table on Saturday while Barcelona were held to a 0-0 draw at Espanyol.

Hosts Atletico lacked a finishing touch in front of goal until Partey struck nine minutes from the end with a shot that squirmed away from keeper Diego Marino.

Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez both hit the woodwork as Barcelona drew with Espanyol.

Barca set a Spanish record of 180 goals in all competitions in 2015 but their normally prolific attack drew a blank against their local rivals who were strong in the challenge, especially in the first half, and succeeded in disrupting their play.

Elsewhere, Charles and Raul Albentosa gave mid-table Malaga a 2-0 victory over fifth-placed Celta Vigo.

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Benitez supports 'serious kid' Rodriguez
Kieran CANNING, Agence France-Presse

Real Madrid coach Rafael Benitez has backed star playmaker James Rodriguez after the Colombian was followed to the club's training ground by police accused of speeding at up to 200 kilometres an hour.

Madrid sports daily AS published photos and a video of an unmarked police car following the top scorer at the 2014 World Cup to the entrance of the club's Valdebebas training ground on Friday.

However, Benitez hinted Rodriguez will be involved when Madrid travel to Valencia in a crucial La Liga clash on Sunday.

"Evidently, we are talking about a private matter. James is a good kid, he is serious, he has given us his explanations about what happened and there is no more to say," Benitez said on Saturday.

"I repeat he is a serious kid and what we have to do is wait and see."

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Pogba says Man Utd was holiday compared to Juve

Agence France-Presse

French star Paul Pogba says his time at Manchester United was like being on holiday in comparison to the work he has to do at Juventus.

Pogba, who has helped Juve win three consecutive league titles since controversially quitting United in 2012, made the remark in a wide-ranging interview with Turin daily La Stampa in which he also tips Argentinian team-mate Paulo Dybala as a future winner of the Ballon d'Or.

"People need to know that nothing at Juve is easy," Pogba said. "There is a different culture of work compared to elsewhere. I was at Manchester: it seemed like being on holiday.

"Here we work so much. All these titles, we didn't steal them. It was by working right to the end."

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Gerrard eyes Liverpool coaching return in 2016

Agence France-Presse

Liverpool great Steven Gerrard could return to the club in a coaching capacity as early as this year, he revealed in a British newspaper interview published on Saturday.

Gerrard, 35, left Liverpool for the Los Angeles Galaxy last year, but he has been training on Merseyside during the Major League Soccer close season and is now eyeing a role on Jurgen Klopp's coaching staff.

"I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think it will probably be my last year as a player," the former Liverpool and England captain told the Daily Telegraph.

"I am basically available from November, December 2016. Everyone in the football world will know I am available and hopefully I will be 75 percent into my coaching badges."

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FOOTBALL: Real and Barca triumph again, Liverpool down Chelsea

Victorious Real, Barca pull clear at the top

Reuters

Real Madrid and Barcelona surged three points clear at the top of La Liga on Saturday when Real beat promoted Las Palmas 3-1 at home and the champions won 2-0 at Getafe.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his eighth goal of the campaign, between strikes from Isco and Jese, in a comfortable win for a depleted Real at the Bernabeu, though they did concede at home for the first time this term in Spain's top flight.

At Getafe, Neymar stayed ahead of Ronaldo atop the scoring chart with his ninth, a superb volley to make it 2-0 after Luis Suarez hit his eighth of 2015-16 as the South American pair kept Barca motoring in the absence of injured talisman Lionel Messi.

Real and Barca each have 24 points from 10 matches, with Real ahead on goal difference.


 --------------------------------

More misery for Mourinho, City and Arsenal win

Martyn Herman, Reuters

Jose Mourinho's future as Chelsea manager looked increasingly insecure after a 3-1 defeat by Liverpool on Saturday, Philippe Coutinho scoring twice at Stamford Bridge as the champions lost a sixth Premier League game in 11.

Chelsea's third home league reverse of the season left them in 15th place in the table with 11 points from 11 games -- the worst ever start to a season by the reigning champions.

They are already 14 points behind Manchester City who needed a last-gasp Yaya Toure penalty to beat Norwich City 2-1 and retain top spot on goal difference from Arsenal who won 3-0 at Swansea.

Toure's spot kick spared the blushes of City keeper Joe Hart who fumbled a routine catch to gift Norwich a late equaliser.

All Arsenal's goals came after the break as they made it five league wins in succession -- Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny and Joel Campbell all on target.

Leicester City are up to third thanks to a 3-2 victory at West Bromwich Albion where they trailed, with Jamie Vardy scoring for the eighth league match in a row.

Manchester United dropped to fourth after a 0-0 stalemate at Crystal Palace, their second successive goalless league draw.

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Dortmund close on Bayern with Reus double at Bremen

Karolos Grohmann, Reuters

Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus scored twice in a 3-1 victory at Werder Bremen on Saturday to put them within five points of Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich while Borussia Moenchengladbach continued their sensational winning run with a 4-1 demolition of Hertha Berlin.

Reus, back in top form after an injury-hit start to the season, netted a double for the second consecutive week to take his league goal tally to seven.

Dortmund are in second place on 26 points, five behind Bayern, who dropped their first points of the season after 10 straight wins with a goalless draw at Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday.

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Inter beat Roma to take top spot, Juve down Torino

Reuters

Inter Milan beat AS Roma 1-0 to replace them atop Serie A thanks to a Gary Medel strike while Juventus returned to winning ways with a last-gasp Juan Cuadrado goal securing a 2-1 triumph over local rivals Torino on Saturday.

Stevan Jovetic set up Medel who hit a low drive from outside the area after 31 minutes to give Inter the lead.

Roma's Mohamed Salah and Edin Dzeko missed chances and the visitors' miserable night continued when Miralem Pjanic handled after 73 minutes and was dismissed for a second yellow card.

The defeat ended Roma's five-game winning streak, leaving them in second place on 23 points, one behind Inter who recorded their seventh clean sheet of the campaign.

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FOOTBALL: City and United draw, Liverpool held

Man City top after bore draw, Klopp still awaits win

Steve Tongue, Reuters

Manchester City returned to the top of the Premier League after a 0-0 draw with Manchester United on Sunday but the much-hyped meeting proved far less eventful than the day's other derby.

Man City have 22 points from 10 games, the same as Arsenal, while United are in fourth place with 20 points.

United manager Louis van Gaal claimed his team had "controlled the game" at Old Trafford but it was only in the last few minutes of a dismal game that they looked like scoring.

Jesse Lingard hit the bar from a clever chip by Anthony Martial and Chris Smalling forced Joe Hart into his one significant save.

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Suarez treble gives Barca comeback win over Eibar

Reuters

Barcelona needed Luis Suarez to be at his clinical best with a hat-trick in a 3-1 comeback win at home to modest Eibar on Sunday which put the champions level on 21 points with arch-rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

Atletico Madrid, the only other team apart from Spain's Big Two to win the league in more than a decade, stayed firmly in the hunt when Yannick Carrasco scored the pick of the goals in a 2-1 victory at home to Valencia.

Real, who host Barca in the first of the season's two La Liga 'Clasicos' on Nov. 21, lead on goal difference with nine matches played after they secured a nervy 3-1 win at 10-man Celta Vigo on Saturday.

Atletico, the 2014 champions, are third on 19 points, one ahead of fourth-placed Celta, who are a point clear of Villarreal in fifth after they drew 0-0 at promoted Las Palmas on Sunday.

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Klopp denied first win, says Liverpool lack belief

Reuters

Juergen Klopp said his Liverpool side lacked self-belief after they were held 1-1 at home by Southampton in the Premier League on Sunday, leaving the German coach still without a win from his three games in charge.

Christian Benteke's majestic 77th-minute header looked like giving Liverpool the win, but Sadio Mane equalised for the visitors to frustrate the Anfield crowd.

Klopp's arrival, following the sacking of Brendan Rodgers, was greeted with great expectation but three consecutive draws have served as a reality check.

"There was still 10 minutes to go when Southampton equalised," Klopp told reporters. "We didn't give up physically, it's not that we stopped our game physically, but we didn't believe any more that we could turn the game around."

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Olympiakos equal club record with eighth win in a row

Graham Wood, Reuters

Spanish defender Alberto Botia was twice on target as Olympiakos Piraeus equalled a 39-year-old club record by chalking up their eighth league win in a row with a 2-1 success at Atromitos on Sunday.

Marco Silva's Greek league leaders have been in unstoppable form since the start of the season, and their 100 percent record was maintained courtesy of Botia's double.

After heading home a 59th-minute corner, Botia escaped the hosts' defenders again four minutes later to head a second.

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PSG march past St Etienne, Marseille end winless streak

Reuters

Paris St Germain extended their lead at the top of Ligue 1 after a routine 4-1 win over St Etienne on Sunday, while Marseille ended a seven-game winless streak with a 2-1 triumph at Lille.

Monaco won 1-0 away at Reims and Olympique Lyonnais overcame Toulouse 3-0 at home on Friday.

With second-placed Angers only managing a 0-0 home draw against Guingamp on Saturday, reigning champions PSG went seven points clear at the top of the table.

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FOOTBALL WRAP: Liverpool's Rodgers sacked, Arsenal crush United

Liverpool sack manager Rodgers after derby draw

Mike Collett, Reuters
Liverpool terminated the contract of manager Brendan Rodgers on Sunday, just eight games into the Premier League season with the five-times European champions languishing in 10th place.

The announcement came three hours after the team had drawn 1-1 at Everton in the Merseyside derby leaving them with only three wins from their first eight league games this term.

Liverpool have only beaten Stoke City, Bournemouth and Aston Villa in the league this season and count a 3-0 thrashing at home by West Ham United among their early results.

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Arsenal crush United 3-0 with two goals in first seven minutes

Mike Collett, Reuters

LONDON - Arsenal scored twice in the opening seven minutes and ended the match as a contest with a third in the 19th as they crushed Manchester United 3-0 to move above them into second place in the Premier League at the Emirates on Sunday.

The Gunners demolished United with some brilliant passing football, taking the lead when Alexis Sanchez scored with a clever near-post flick after six minutes.

They doubled their lead a minute later when Mesut Ozil rifled in from 12 metres and completed the rout when Sanchez blasted in an unstoppable shot for his sixth goal in his last three games after 19 minutes.

United, who were top of the table at the start of the weekend, rarely got going against the home side who were always in control and never looked like slipping up with Petr Cech only seriously troubled once.

The victory was Arsenal's biggest against United for 17 years and lifted them to 16 points, two behind new leaders Manchester City, and just ahead of United on goal difference.

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Bayern crush Dortmund 5-1 in top-of-the-table clash

Reuters

MUNICH - Thomas Mueller and Robert Lewandowski struck twice each to steer Bayern Munich to a 5-1 demolition of second-placed Borussia Dortmund on Sunday, which allowed the champions to open a seven-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga.

Rampant Bayern equalled their record of eight consecutive wins at the start of a season.

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Ibrahimovic sets scoring record as PSG beat Marseille

Julien Pretot, Reuters

PARIS - Zlatan Ibrahimovic became Paris St Germain's top scorer of all time when he led the French Champions to a 2-1 home win against bitter rivals Olympique de Marseille in Ligue 1 on Sunday.

Ibrahimovic, who joined the club from AC Milan in 2012, netted two penalties before the interval to take his PSG goal tally to 110, moving one ahead of the club record set by Portugal's Pedro Miguel Pauleta between 2003 and 2008.

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Atletico's Vietto strikes late in draw with Real

Tim Hanlon, Reuters

Atletico Madrid substitute Luciano Vietto struck late to rescue a 1-1 La Liga draw against Real Madrid on Sunday, while Cristiano Ronaldo will have to wait to set a new club scoring record.

Vietto slotted the ball home with seven minutes to go after Karim Benzema had given visitors Real the lead early on.

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Chelsea rocked, United's Martial makes instant impact

LONDON -- Jose Mourinho refused to condemn his Chelsea flops after their title defence was plunged into turmoil by a 3-1 defeat at Everton, while Manchester United's Anthony Martial exploded onto the Old Trafford stage with a superb strike in his new club's 3-1 victory over Liverpool on Saturday.

Mourinho's side made a miserable start at Goodison Park as Scotland forward Steven Naismith came off the bench to score twice in the space of five minutes mid-way through the first half.

Nemanja Matic pulled one back for Chelsea before the interval, but Naismith completed his treble in the closing stages to condemn the Blues -- with three defeats and only four points from their five matches -- to their worst start to a season since 1988.

It left Chelsea 11 points below leaders Manchester City, who snatched a late 1-0 win at Crystal Palace, but Mourinho claimed he had no complaints about his team's performance and blamed bad luck for their recent woes.

"I am a champion, the players are the champions, the way they are playing is not as bad as the results, but in every single game things are going against us," Mourinho told BT Sport.

"We have to cope with it. Football is about results. It's easy to say and I agree completely, but results are too bad.

"I don't blame my players and I don't blame myself. I don't accept the results."

At Old Trafford, Martial made one of the more memorable United debuts in recent memory as the teenage French striker came off the bench to mark his debut with the clinching goal against Liverpool.

Signed from Monaco on transfer deadline day for a reported initial fee of £36 million ($55 million) that even United manager Louis van Gaal admitted was "ridiculous", Martial had been dismissed in some quarters as a panic buy.

But the hefty price tag, that made the 19-year-old the world's most expensive teenage player, didn't seem to bother Martial, who came on as a 65th minute substitute and settled one of English football's heavyweight clashes with a devastating knockout blow.

United had taken a two-goal lead thanks to Daley Blind's sumptuous long-range finish in the 49th minute and an Ander Herrera penalty in the 70th minute following Joe Gomez's foul on the Spanish midfielder

But the hosts were clinging to a 2-1 lead after Christian Benteke's brilliant bicycle kick in the 84th minute had given Liverpool hope of snatching a draw.

That was the cue for Martial to steal the spotlight two minutes later as he took possession on the left, surged past Martin Skrtel and cut inside before calmly steering his shot into the far corner.

"Anthony Martial scored a marvellous goal and physically he can play in the Premier League," van Gaal said.

"He's been with us for three days, that is too short to judge his personality but he made a very good impression."



- Pace-setters -


Early pace-setters City sit five points off second placed United after they won 1-0 at Palace courtesy of a last-minute goal by substitute Kelechi Iheanacho.

City had earlier lost Sergio Aguero through injury, but prevailed when 18-year-old Nigerian striker Iheanacho poked in the rebound from a Samir Nasri shot to preserve the visitors' 100 percent record.

Aguero was forced off in the 24th minute after a heavy challenge by Scott Dann, which saw Kevin De Bruyne come on for his City debut following his £54 million ($83.3 million, 73.5 million euros) switch from Wolfsburg.

"I think the team is demonstrating why we have won five games," said City manager Manuel Pellegrini, who hopes Aguero will be fit to face Juventus in the Champions League on Tuesday.

"Last season is in the past and now we are thinking about the future. It's important to have a gap between champions, but three or four teams can be very strong and can win the title."

The result left Alan Pardew's Palace fourth, six points below City and a point behind United and Arsenal, who won 2-0 at home to Stoke City.

After Alexis Sanchez had twice hit the post, Theo Walcott put Arsenal ahead from Mesut Ozil's pass in the 31st minute and Olivier Giroud sealed victory with a header five minutes from time.

Elsewhere, Swansea City saw their unbeaten start to the season ended in a 1-0 defeat at promoted Watford.

Norwich City beat fellow promoted side Bournemouth 3-1 to claim their first home win of the campaign.

The day's other game saw Southampton draw 0-0 at West Bromwich Albion.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Arsenal optimism checked as West Ham claim shock win

LONDON - West Ham United capitalized on mistakes by new Arsenal new goalkeeper Petr Cech to secure a surprise 2-0 Premier League victory at the Emirates and leave the Gunners deflated on Sunday.

Philippe Coutinho's stunning late strike gave Liverpool a 1-0 victory at Stoke City to avenge their 6-1 defeat at the Britannia Stadium on the final day of last season.

Steve McClaren's reign as Newcastle United manager began with a 2-2 home draw against Southampton.

Arsenal, full of opening-weekend optimism, knew the importance of a good start to the season after five draws and a defeat in the first eight games of the last campaign left them too far behind eventual champions Chelsea.

Victory over Chelsea in the Community Shield fuelled hopes that Arsene Wenger's side could improve on last season's third place but goals from Cheikhou Kouyate and Mauro Zarate earned West Ham victory in Slaven Bilic's first league game in charge.

Arsenal were booed off at the final whistle with Cech culpable in both West Ham goals.

The former Chelsea keeper was signed during the close season to shore Arsenal up defensively but the experienced Czech had a day to forget in the north London sunshine.

Just before halftime he came flying out to punch Dimitri Payet's free kick but was beaten to the ball by the head of Kouyate. Twelve minutes after the restart Zarate's low strike sneaked past him at the near post.

West Ham, who gave a Premier League debut to 16-year-old midfielder Reece Oxford, were deserved winners.

"We are all very pleased and it is great start for us. Not only for the three points but points against a team that are the title contenders," former West Ham player Bilic said.

"If you add to that a London derby, it makes it an even bigger win. This is very special."

Wenger described the result as an accident.

"We know fitness-wise West Ham were ahead of us, they had already played competitive games (in the Europa League). You never get the same intensity," the Frenchman said.

"Today we have been hurt mentally and it is a good opportunity to respond."

COUTINHO MAGIC

Humiliated by Mark Hughes's side in their last Premier League outing, Liverpool's return to Stoke was a much calmer affair.

Brendan Rodgers came under fire from fans after finishing sixth last term and the Liverpool boss invested heavily in a wealth of attacking options tasked with increasing the number of goals scored from last season's paltry 52.

Striker Christian Benteke, the pick of the bunch as a 32.5 million-pounds ($50.4 million) signing from Aston Villa, was starved of service but Coutinho came to Liverpool's rescue in a match of few chances.

The little Brazilian eased past two Stoke players in the 86th minute before unleashing an unstoppable drive past the Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland.

MISSING KOEMAN

As Newcastle boss McClaren stepped foot in a dugout as a Premier League manager for the first time since 2006, his opposite number Ronald Koeman was nowhere to be seen after undergoing an operation for a ruptured Achilles this week.

The Saints seemed unaffected by their manager's absence and took the lead in the 24th minute when Italian striker Graziano Pelle rose highest to plant a header past Tim Krul but Newcastle equalised just before halftime through Papiss Cisse.

New signing Georginio Wijnaldum headed in Gabriel Obertan's perfectly-weighted cross to swing the advantage in Newcastle's favour but Shane Long equalised in the 79th minute with another headed goal.

($1 = 0.6454 pounds) (Editing by Martyn Herman and Ed Osmond)

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Is Sterling the real deal for City?

LONDON - Manchester City are about to find out whether Raheem Sterling has the ability to justify his enormous price tag or is just another over-rated young English footballer motivated purely by his bank balance.

City are investing 49 million pounds ($76.2 million) on the fleet-footed and tricky forward in the hope that he can provide the sparkle to bring the Premier League trophy back to the Etihad Stadium.

Sterling, 20, will become the the most expensive English player ever when he completes his move from Liverpool, the club where he made his name before controversially rejecting a new contract.

Liverpool have first-hand experience of the pitfalls of splashing out big money on unproven young English players.

In 2011 they paid Newcastle United 35 million pounds for striker Andy Carroll but sold him to West Ham United for less than half the price two years later.

City finished eight points behind Premier League champions Chelsea last season and manager Manuel Pellegrini knew he had an ageing group of players.

Sterling's arrival will inject energy and youthful exuberance to a squad with an average age of around 29.

The England winger, who signed for Liverpool as a 15-year-old from Queens Park Rangers in 2010, can operate on the right, left or down the middle and will give City the option of playing with a 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 formation.

If Sterling can strike up the same partnership with City striker Sergio Aguero as he did with Luis Suarez during the Uruguayan's spell at Liverpool, then Pellegrini's side could challenge Chelsea.

However, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher believes City have paid over the odds for Sterling.

"At Liverpool, sometimes he was outstanding, but in the second half of last season he tailed off a bit," Carragher told Sky Sports. "The same thing will happen at Man City because he's still only young.

"Raheem Sterling -- at this stage of his career and what he's done up to now -- is possibly worth around 30 million pounds.

"In the next three or four years, if Sterling can take City to a couple of Premier League titles, more success in the Champions League, they will say he's been worth it." ($1 = 0.6431 pounds) (Editing by Ed Osmond)

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Liverpool and Man City agree £49m Sterling move: reports

LONDON -- Liverpool have reached an agreement with Premier League rivals Manchester City over the £49 million ($76 million, 68 million euro transfer) of England forward Raheem Sterling, the BBC and other British media reported Monday.

However, the 20-year-old's proposed move is still subject to personal terms and a medical.

Sterling was left behind by Liverpool when the club flew out to Thailand for a pre-season tour on Sunday, fuelling speculation that a move to City was imminent, despite being named Saturday in a 30-man squad for a trip that also includes matches in Australia and Malaysia.

Earlier this month it was reported that Liverpool had turned down a £40 million bid for Sterling from City, with only an offer closer to £50 million likely to tempt them to let the wantaway forward leave Merseyside.

Sterling's refusal to commit to Liverpool has angered the club's supporters, who jeered him at an end-of-season awards dinner.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers's relationship with Sterling cooled considerably when the player turned down a lucrative new contract worth £100,000 per week in January this year.

In February, Rodgers said Sterling had been offered an "incredible deal".

Two months later, Sterling's relationship with the Liverpool hierarchy became even more strained when, in an interview with the BBC given without the club's approval, he confirmed he had rejected the Reds' latest contract offer.

Sterling's agent, Aidy Ward, then added to the growing rift by saying his client would not sign a new deal with Liverpool even for "£900,000 a week".

Amid the row over whether he would or should sign a new Liverpool deal, Sterling was involved in controversy after photographs emerged of him appearing to puff on a shisha pipe, and then allegedly inhaling laughing gas, were published.

But it is the contract dispute and Sterling's recent absence from training which have angered Liverpool fans above all else.

Liverpool great Steven Gerrard, Sterling's captain at Anfield until the end of last season, was decidedly unimpressed by the behaviour of his former team-mate.

"It looks very disappointing from where I'm sat. The fans have shown him great support, they want him to stay and I believe that he should too," Gerrard told Sky Sports from Los Angeles where he made his debut for LA Galaxy on Saturday.

Sterling returned to training on Friday after a two-day hiatus when he said he was ill.

"I'm not happy with all that carry-on. He needs to go in and see the owners. You don't have to throw in illness, or refuse to go on tour," said Gerrard.

Sterling joined Liverpool from QPR's academy in 2010 and has since scored 23 goals in 129 senior appearances for the club.

He made his senior England debut in 2012, scoring one goal in 16 appearances.

Liverpool finished sixth in the Premier League last season and so missed out on the Champions League, whereas runners-up City have qualified for European football's elite club competition.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Liverpool prepare for life after Gerrard

LIVERPOOL, UK - Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers braced supporters for a close-season rebuilding process after long-serving captain Steven Gerrard played his final home game for the club.

Gerrard, 34, declared himself "devastated" following Saturday's 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace at a sold-out Anfield and must now prepare for his last ever Liverpool appearance at Stoke City next weekend.

Gerrard's departure echoes that of his fellow stalwart Jamie Carragher, who bowed out in 2013, and with Luis Suarez still to be satisfactorily replaced following his move to Barcelona last year, Rodgers knows there is a pressing need to bolster his squad.

Asked if it would be possible to replace Gerrard -- who joins the Los Angeles Galaxy in July -- with one player, Rodgers told his post-match press conference: "I dont think there is that.

"He is a player and a person who is irreplaceable for the club. What he's given over his time here and the standards he's set are second to none.

"We'll go forward at the end of the season and we'll have to plot a way to improve in the summer. That's our challenge."

Having pushed Manchester City all the way in last season's title race, Liverpool have slipped back in 2014-15 and are yet to secure even the consolation of a Europa League place after missing out on a Champions League berth.

But asked if he felt optimistic about the future, Rodgers replied: "We have to (be).

"In my time here, we've lost a couple of players with 700-odd games for the club in Jamie Carragher (737) and Steven Gerrard (709).

"Those two guys have been monumental players for the club, so losing both of those is a big blow. Throw in a world-class player like Luis Suarez, and of course it's difficult.

"This year has been very difficult for us in many aspects. But the players have given everything they possibly can and hopefully in the summer we can add that quality that the group clearly needs and take the opportunity next year."

- Pardew targets top eight -

Should Liverpool falter again next season, they should not necessarily expect Gerrard to appear on a white charger.

There is a feeling that Gerrard could return to Anfield on loan -- following the examples of David Beckham and Thierry Henry during their stints in Major League Soccer -- but he told the BBC that he would only consider returning in an "emergency situation".

Rodgers's side took a 26th-minute lead when Adam Lallana seized on a misplaced pass from former Liverpool player Martin Kelly before beating Wayne Hennessey.

But Palace equalised through Jason Puncheon's free-kick just before half-time and second-half goals from substitutes Wilfried Zaha and Glenn Murray secured a first league win at Anfield since November 1991.

Rodgers complained with justification that Zaha had been offside when he tapped in Yannick Bolasie's low cross on the hour and that the foul on Zaha by Lucas Leiva that led to Murray's stoppage-time penalty had occurred outside the box.

But he also conceded that his side had been "punished" for committing "poor defensive errors".

Former Palace midfielder Alan Pardew has rejuvenated the club since returning as manager in January and he hopes that performances such as Saturday's win will help the club make transformative signings.

"For the chairman (Steve Parish) and the board, it must be quite exciting," said Pardew, whose side had lost their four previous games.

"We're in a good position financially. Put two or three quality players into that group and we could attack the top eight, top 10.

"I want to be knocking on (Parish's) door. He's been receptive to my opinions. It's still difficult to get quality players through the door, and I think today's performance will have helped us.

"Players abroad can see we've produced performances against top teams. Now we need that little bit of extra quality. Hopefully we've shown players in Europe that they can come here and have a great future."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Brilliant Coutinho lifts Liverpool to victory over City

LONDON - Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho produced a moment of Brazilian magic to dent Manchester City's Premier League title aspirations in a 2-1 home win on Sunday as Arsenal moved up to third with a 2-0 victory against Everton.

Coutinho found the corner with a stunning curling effort to extend Liverpool's unbeaten run to 11 league games after Henderson's excellent first-half strike had been cancelled out by City's Edin Dzeko.

It was a serious blow to City manager Manuel Pellegrini and his second-placed team's hopes of retaining their title as they missed the chance to close the five-point gap on leaders Chelsea, who play Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup final later on Sunday.

Arsenal got over Wednesday's 3-1 home defeat by AS Monaco in the Champions League when France striker Olivier Giroud, who missed a glut of chances in that loss, swept in a corner after 39 minutes in a tight game against Everton at the Emirates Stadium.

Substitute Tomas Rosicky added a late second with a long- range strike to make sure of the win for the north London side.

Victory meant Arsene Wenger's team leapfrogged Manchester United in the table and moved to 51 points, four behind second-placed City. Liverpool nudged ahead of Southampton into fifth, a further three points adrift.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers had expressed concerns over the fitness of his team ahead of City's visit after they had just two days to recover from a penalty shootout loss at Besiktas in a Europa League last-32 tie on Thursday.

Yet they showed no ill-effects from that match when Henderson, who passed a late fitness test, bent an excellent effort from 20 metres into the top corner to give the hosts the lead after 11 minutes, shortly after Adam Lallana had a goal ruled out for offside.

BRILLIANT GOAL

City equalised when Dzeko slotted the ball past Simon Mignolet after Sergio Aguero and David Silva had combined well to create the chance.

Lallana saw another goal chalked off nine minutes after the interval when he was again flagged for offside after he tapped in Martin Skrtel's headed knockdown from close range.

As both teams appeared to be tiring after an open and attacking match, Brazil's Coutinho found the breakthrough with a brilliant goal, curling the ball beyond a despairing dive from Joe Hart with 15 minutes remaining.

"I have to take my hat off to the players," Rodgers told Sky Sports. "To get back at half four in the early hours of Friday morning -- by the time they got to bed it was six, and they had to sleep all of Friday.

"We then did some light work yesterday, but to come out and play like they did -- they were relentless."

For City, who last week had gained two points on Chelsea as the leaders drew, it was another step backwards and a further disappointment after Tuesday's 2-1 Champions League home defeat against Barcelona.

Arsenal had to contend with their own misery in Europe but they set about 14th-placed Everton in the mood to atone for their mistakes.

Many had questioned Giroud's finishing after a dismal display against Monaco but the Frenchman had no problems putting 14th-placed Everton to the sword.

The visitors, who at times looked jaded after their 3-1 home win against Young Boys in the Europa League on Thursday, threatened occasionally through Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku but Rosicky's goal quelled their hopes of a late equaliser.

"You could see we suffered on Wednesday night against Monaco and that was still in our mind but we were patient, that got us a good chance and we got a good win today," Wenger told the BBC.

(Reporting by Sam Holden, editing by Ed Osmond and Toby Davis)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com