Liverpool, Tottenham drop points, Rooney record

LONDON - Liverpool's defensive gremlins returned again as their Premier League title ambitions suffered a painful body blow in a shock 3-2 home defeat by relegation battlers Swansea City on Saturday.

In what turned out to be a great day for leaders Chelsea without kicking a ball, second-placed Tottenham Hotspur battled back to draw 2-2 at fifth-placed Manchester City and Manchester United were held 1-1 at Stoke City.

Wayne Rooney salvaged a point for United with a sublime free kick that made him the club's record scorer with 250 goals, one ahead of Old Trafford great Bobby Charlton.

Rooney's curler four minutes into stoppage time cancelled out an own goal from Juan Mata as United remained in sixth spot.

"It means a hell of a lot. It is a great honour and I am very proud," the 31-year-old Rooney said.

"It is difficult at the minute to be over-pleased because of the result but in the grand scheme it is huge honour."

   
Gylfi Sigurdsson's 74th-minute winner ended Liverpool's 17-match unbeaten league run at Anfield and left Juergen Klopp's side seven points behind leaders Chelsea who can widen their lead against strugglers Hull City on Sunday.

Spain striker Fernando Llorente scored twice shortly after halftime to put Swansea in charge but Liverpool retaliated and two goals by Roberto Firmino dragged them level.

Klopp's side were the first top-flight team to score 50 goals this season but their defensive deficiencies again proved a thorn in their side as memories of a 4-3 defeat at Bournemouth in December came flooding back minutes later.

A Liverpool victory had looked the most likely outcome with half an hour left but Swansea had other ideas and from a rare foray forward the ball fell to Sigurdsson and the Icelander coolly put the Welsh side back ahead.

KLOPP CRESTFALLEN

Liverpool could not respond, leaving Klopp crestfallen.

"The most disappointing moment was the third goal and I can't explain it as we had so many chances to challenge," the German said. "It's really difficult to accept at this moment.

"It is fair Swansea won, no - but was it deserved, yes."

Tottenham's six-match winning run was ended by City but it could have been far worse for Mauricio Pochettino's side in a compelling late kickoff at the Etihad.

City, smarting from last week's 4-0 drubbing at Everton, dominated a scoreless first half and were gifted a two-goal lead within nine minutes of the restart as howlers by Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris allowed Leroy Sane and Kevin de Bruyne to tap in.

Dele Alli and Son Heung-min replied for Tottenham but the visitors enjoyed a huge slice of good fortune seconds before Son's equaliser when Kyle Walker got away with a blatant shove in the back of Raheem Sterling as he seemed set to score.

"It doesn't matter, we had the same argument against Chelsea but we lost because we missed a lot of chances. When you score a goal the ref doesn't matter, the rules here are the rules," City boss Pep Guardiola said, ruing a glut of missed chances.

"We were outstanding, it's a pity. We created so many chances and were not able to score."

Tottenham moved clear in second spot, six points behind Chelsea, although Arsenal could rise above them with victory over Burnley on Sunday.

Improving West Ham United won for the fifth time in seven league games to move into the top half - Andy Carroll again on target with two goals in a 3-1 victory at Middlesbrough.

Sunderland sunk to the bottom after goals by West Bromwich Albion's Darren Fletcher and Chris Brunt condemned them to a fourth defeat in five league games.

Bournemouth drew 2-2 with Watford and Crystal Palace ended the day in the bottom three for the first time this season after a tame 1-0 home defeat by Everton, Seamus Coleman thumping home a late winner for the visitors.

Champions Leicester City are at Southampton on Sunday.

(Editing by Ed Osmond)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Man City, Arsenal the big winners in dramatic finale

LONDON - Manchester City secured fourth place and Arsenal overhauled their arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur to come second on a dramatic final day of the Premier League season when a bomb scare rocked Old Trafford on Sunday.

After Manchester United's game against Bournemouth was abandoned due to a security alert, Manchester City drew 1-1 at Swansea City, Arsenal crushed Aston Villa 4-0 and Spurs capitulated 5-1 at 10-man Newcastle United to blow their chance of finishing above their neighbours for the first time since 1995.

"First of all I would like to apologise to our fans," Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino said.

"I think they don't deserve all that happened today on the pitch and I apologise."

Champions Leicester City drew 1-1 at Chelsea to end the campaign 10 points ahead of the chasing pack, another staggering achievement in a remarkable season for Claudio Ranieri's team.

Manchester City needed a point to make sure of claiming the final Champions League qualifying spot but their game at Swansea started in a strange atmosphere caused by the events at Old Trafford.

Two stands were evacuated 20 minutes ahead of kickoff and the game was abandoned shortly before the scheduled 1400 GMT start. A controlled explosion was later carried out on a suspect package, described by police as "an incredibly lifelike explosive device".

Manchester City made the perfect start when Kelechi Iheanacho fired them ahead after five minutes.

Swansea equalised on the stroke of halftime through Andre Ayew's deflected free kick and the visitors endured a few nervy moments in Manuel Pellegrini's last match in charge before celebrating the point they needed.

"Well into this season we were well in the title race, but we let ourselves down, we will take positives of a trophy and semi-final of the Champions League, which was history for our club," City goalkeeper Joe Hart said.

"I have enjoyed our time under Manuel, it was important we finished off a good three years working with him."

DISMAL AFTERNOON

Spurs, Leicester's closest challengers in the last few weeks, endured a dismal afternoon at relegated Newcastle.

Georginio Wijnaldum and Aleksandar Mitrovic put the hosts 2-0 up at halftime before Erik Lamela pulled one back.

Mitrovic was shown a straight red card for a dangerous foul but Wijnaldum scored his second from the penalty spot and Rolando Aarons and Daryl Janmaat completed the scoring at a disbelieving St James' Park.

Arsenal took an early lead against relegated Villa through Olivier Giroud and the French striker added two late goals to complete his hat-trick before Mark Bunn's stoppage-time own goal completed the rout.

Arsene Wenger's side finished in the top two for the first time since 2005 after a difficult campaign in which the French manager has been heavily criticised.

"We kept our togetherness and that is part of the DNA of this club," said Wenger, who led his team into the Champions League for the 19th consecutive season.

"We kept fighting until the end. Many big teams finished outside the top four this year."

Cesc Fabregas's second-half penalty for Chelsea looked set to condemn Leicester to only their fourth defeat of the season but Danny Drinkwater rescued a point for the champions with a stunning long-distance strike.

"It was a warm welcome for me, it was fantastic at the beginning and the end," Ranieri said on his return to his former club.

"A draw is OK because we have only lost three times this season and that is an amazing achievement."

Southampton climbed to fifth with a 4-1 victory over FA Cup finalists Crystal Palace and West Ham United's hopes of a top-six finish ended following a 2-1 loss at Stoke City.

(Editing by Toby Davis)

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Chelsea held in Bridge storm, five-star City cut gap

LONDON - Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by lowly Burnley as rivals Manchester City thrashed Newcastle United 5-0 to leave Jose Mourinho smoldering with rage after the title race was injected with new life on Saturday.

Leaders Chelsea offered a chink of light to City after a stormy game at Stamford Bridge where Nemanja Matic was sent off for retaliating to an awful challenge from Burnley's Ashley Barnes and the hosts were denied two strong penalty claims.

City made the most of their lifeline, emphatically exposing Newcastle's failings with two goals from David Silva among the highlights of a crushing victory that reduced their deficit at the top of the Premier League to five points.

It was another ominous display from second-placed City who have scored nine goals in their last two games and look back to their very best.

SIMMERING MOURINHO

In typical fashion, all of Saturday's action, that included a 2-1 win for Arsenal at Crystal Palace and defeat for Manchester United at Swansea City by the same scoreline, was largely overshadowed by the simmering Mourinho.

It began so brightly for Chelsea as Branislav Ivanovic's knack of scoring crucial goals looked to have set the hosts on the way to a routine win after 14 minutes.

Then an Ivanovic shot struck Michael Kightly's arm and Diego Costa was pushed over by Jason Shackell but both penalty appeals were waved away by referee Martin Atkinson who then became public enemy number one.

Barnes flew into an ugly challenge on Matic, catching the Serbian enforcer on the shin. The Burnley player escaped without a booking while Matic, who chased the striker before throwing him to the floor, was dismissed with 20 minutes left.

Any sense of injustice may have been mitigated had the home side clung on but Ben Mee rose to power in a header at the back post and Mourinho was left to seethe.

"I am punished when I refer to these situations and I don't want to be punished," he told the BBC.

His mood would not have improved when Manchester City took the lead in Saturday's late game after two minutes, with Sergio Aguero coolly converting from the spot.

Samir Nasri fired into the roof of the net for the second and Edin Dzeko, felled for the penalty, added a third after being fed by Silva.

The Spanish playmaker then scored twice in three minutes at the start of the second half.

SWANSEA DOUBLE

Manchester United will be sick of the sight of Swansea who completed the double over Louis van Gaal's side, having also won on the opening day of the season.

There was an element of role reversal at the Liberty Stadium where United, who have frequently this season played poorly and still won, dominated but were undone when Bafetimbi Gomis deflected in Jonjo Shelvey's long-range strike for Swansea.

United, who took the lead through Ander Herrera before Ki Sung-Yueng levelled, slipped to fourth, 13 points off the top, after only their second defeat in 20 games.

They are a point adrift of Arsenal who made it five league wins out of six by beating Palace.

A Santi Cazorla penalty and an eighth league goal of the season for Olivier Giroud allowed Arsene Wenger's side to survive a late scare when Glenn Murray reduced the deficit in stoppage time.

Tim Sherwood's first match as Aston Villa manager ended in disappointment as his new charges squandered a first-half lead to lose 2-1 at home to Stoke City who scored an injury-time penalty from Victor Moses to snatch the points.

At the bottom of the table Hull City moved four points clear of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win over fellow strugglers Queens Park Rangers who had midfielder Joey Barton sent off in the first half.

Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion drew 0-0.

(Editing by Tony Jimenez)

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Michu set for Spain debut

MADRID, Spain - Swansea City's free-scoring striker Michu is set to make his Spain debut early next year following a sensational start to his career in the English Premier League.

Vicente del Bosque, coach of European and world champions Spain, told Spanish television that the 26-year-old will play in the Feb. 6 friendly against Uruguay in Doha.

Michu will be joined in the Spain squad by Iago Aspas, currently being linked to Swansea, whose manager Michael Laudrup is an admirer of the Celta Vigo forward.

"Iago Aspas and Michu will appear (against Uruguay)," confirmed Del Bosque.

Michu has been prolific since his bargain $3.2 million transfer from Rayo Vallecano in the summer, topping the Premier League scoring charts with 13 goals in 18 games.

He leap-frogged Manchester United's Robin van Persie after scoring the equaliser in Sunday's 1-1 home draw against the league leaders.

Aspas may well be on Laudrup's wish-list for the January transfer window but the expected price tag of around $13 million could put Swansea off.

source: abs-cbnnews.com