People Much More Polite

          

   Neil Ashton picks up the baton from his sub-editor to write: 'Roy Hodgson issued an astonishing defence of his misfiring England team, claiming they failed to beat their main World Cup rivals because they are 'not robots.We could go on. There's plenty of it around in the other papers, so in some ways we should apologise for just picking on The Mail (we won't though, because we're just not sorry).Right. Yes. Well...they aren't robots. Hodgson's point was that these are fallible human beings, and occasionally they lose. Not this time, we should remind Ashton and all other newspapermen and newspaperwomen, because this time they drew. That's drew. That's the result slightly better than losing but slightly worse than winning.Of course, England have problems. Of course, they might have to go through the - SHOCK, HORROR - playoffs. Hell, they might even not qualify.It isn't really, because firstly if England win all their games they absolutely, definitely will finish top of the group. Secondly Hodgson's men are, frankly, a sh*te sight better than QPR (to use crude logic, if you extrapolated England's form over the 30 games QPR have played, they'd have 60 points). Thirdly England must play Ukraine, Montenegro, Poland and Moldova (the latter three at home), whereas QPR's last three league games are against Arsenal, Newcastle and Liverpool.

Confident City cruise

         

    David Silva added another before the interval and further goals from returning captain Vincent Kompany and a James Perch own goal after he deflected Yaya Toure's cross were just reward for City's dominance.Silva was in the thick of things again as he released Clichy on the left and the full-back's teasing low cross was forced home at the far post by Tevez.The first half had reached the midway point before anything noteworthy happened when a rare foray forward by Newcastle ended with Papiss Cisse striking the post from a narrow angle following a fine pass by Vurnon Anita.Newcastle returned for the second half with a much more positive approach and were almost rewarded within three minutes after Yohan Cabaye flashed a shot wide following a clever pass by Moussa Sissoko.City responded immediately and should have taken the lead, only for Gareth Barry to side-foot over from close range after Edin Dzeko's shot had been blocked by Newcastle keeper Rob Elliot.Things got worse for Newcastle on 69 minutes when Toure muscled his way into the box, and his attempted cross deflected off half-time substitute James Perch and flew beyond Elliot.The hosts were in control of the game and Gael Clichy's well-struck effort was beaten out by Elliot, who was spoken to by referee Neil Swarbrick on 36 minutes for timewasting.The Magpies' momentum was checked, though, on 56 minutes by a third City goal as Kompany's flick, from Barry's deflected shot, nicked Danny Simpson on its way past a helpless Elliot.Tevez and Barry combined well on the edge of the box to play in Silva on 38 minutes, but he swept home from an offside position before City deservedly went ahead four minutes before half-time.

Mirallas magic

           

   Ryan Shotton's long throw into the box was met by Huth's head with Howard palming it away as he threw himself to his left, with Jon Walters, who lined up in midfield in Tony Pulis' 4-4-2 formation, scrambling his follow-up effort against the underside of the bar.Stoke, meanwhile, have now lost eight times in their last 11 Premier League outings and have slipped to 13th in the table, only four points above the increasingly congested battle against the drop.Leighton Baines had come close to providing Jelavic with the ammunition to test Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic on more than one occasion before Everton took the lead courtesy of a majestic solo effort from Mirallas.Everton welcomed goalkeeper Tim Howard and Phil Jagielka back into their starting line-up and they were joined in the team by Nikica Jelavic as Moyes made three changes and opted for a 3-5-2 formation with Marouane Fellaini and Steven Pienaar suspended.The Belgian collected possession deep inside his own half as Howard fisted away a Stoke free-kick, wriggling away from the attentions of Steven N'Zonzi before switching on the after-burners and embarrassing Geoff Cameron as he turned the last defender inside and out before slotting under Begovic.Everton could have extended their lead in the 63rd minute when Jelavic's far post header from Darron Gibson's cross went straight at Begovic, before the Croatia striker brought a finger-tip save out of the Potters keeper with a free-kick from the edge of the box.Howard had to be alert again as the interval approached, plunging away to his left to push away a stinging effort from Walters from outside the box with Stoke remaining a threat to Everton's back three.

Saints shock Blues

            

Chelsea's shock loss allowed Tottenham to leapfrog into third place with a 2-1 win at Swansea, while Arsenal narrowed the gap behind them to just two points after crushing Reading 4-1.Nigel Adkins' debut as Reading boss turned out to be one to forget as his side were sunk 4-1 by the resurgent Gunners and dropped to the bottom of the table on goal difference.Mauricio Pochettino's men gave their survival prospects a might boost as they clung on for the points thanks to a superb save from substitute keeper Kelvin Davis to deny Victor Moses.Giroud increased the Gunners' lead before Hal Robson Kanu gave the visitors a glimmer of hope in the 68th minute.Former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas watched another superb display by Gareth Bale inspire Spurs to a valuable win in Wales.Sir Alex Ferguson's men had temporarily gone 18 points clear at the top after Titus Bramble's 27th-minute own goal gave United a 1-0 win over sinking Sunderland in the lunchtime kick-off at the Stadium of Light.Bale set up Jan Vertonghen for his seventh minute opener then flicked home a superb 21st-minute effort to increase his side's lead. Michu had given Swansea hope with a 71st-minute header.

More Match Results

Saturday, 30 March 2013

15:00
Clyde         2-0     E Stirling
   
Peterhead     2-0     Annan    

Queen's Pk     0-1     Elgin City
   
Stirling       1-0     Berwick
   
12:00

Montrose     0-0     Rangers
   
Saturday, 23 March 2013

15:00
Berwick     0-2     Peterhead
   
E Stirling     1-2     Montrose
   
12:00

Rangers     0-0     Stirling    

Saturday, 16 March 2013

15:00

Annan       0-1     Clyde    

E Stirling     0-3     Berwick     

Hammers win

         

   West Ham were playing on home turf for the first time since the confirmation of their move away from the Boleyn Ground to the Olympic Stadium.When Carroll rose above the West Brom defence to head the ball past a helpless Ben Foster, Jaaskelainen's save was put into context, and Mohamed Diame went close to doubling the lead seconds later with a rasping shot that tore past a static Foster to go just over the bar.Maintaining their Premier League status between now and August 2016 is of the utmost importance, and three of the five points Sam Allardyce had targeted from their remaining nine games would go a long way to allaying any nagging fears of a swift return to the Championship.Matt Jarvis shot over from close range, but West Ham did add to their lead on 28 minutes through a rapid counter-attack from a West Brom corner. Vaz Te teased the West Brom defence before finding O'Neil, who looped the ball across and beyond Foster with a sublime finish.A lively start saw both sides exchange chances before Carroll did open the scoring. Ricardo Vaz Te wasted an opening when he lashed a volley to the right of the post, and West Brom saw a goal rightfully disallowed when Gareth McAuley bundled the ball in at a corner, having collided with Jussi Jaaskelainen in the process.The arrival of Peter Odemwingie, booed by some West Brom fans for his recent Twitter outburst, upped the Baggies' tempo and the home fans were becoming anxious when Carroll settled the match with a moment of outstanding skill.The home keeper then made a brilliant save that doubled in value shortly afterwards. Romelu Lukaku's free-kick took a deflection that wrong-footed the former Bolton veteran, but he flung out his right hand to touch the ball onto the post and back into his hands.

Barclays Premier League

    Team                 P     GD     PTS
1     Man Utd       30     39     77
2     Man City      30     29     62
3     Tottenham     31     15     57
4     Chelsea         30     27     55
5     Arsenal        30     26     53
6     Everton        30     12     51
7     Liverpool     30     18     45
8     West Brom     31     0     44
9     Swansea        31     1     40
10     Fulham        29     -4     36
11     West Ham     30     -9     36
12     Southampton     31     -9     34
13     Stoke City       31     -9     34
14     Norwich         31     -19     34
15     Newcastle      31     -15     33
16     Sunderland     31     -10     31
17     Wigan              30     -20     30
18     A Villa             30     -25     30
19     QPR              30     -22     23
20     Reading          31     -25     23

Match Results

Saturday, 30 March 2013

17:30

Everton       1-0     Stoke City
   
15:00

Arsenal     4-1     Reading
   
Man City     4-0     Newcastle
   
Southampton     2-1     Chelsea
   
Swansea     1-2     Tottenham
   
West Ham     3-1     West Brom
   
Wigan        1-0     Norwich
   
12:45

Sunderland       0-1     Man Utd
   
Sunday,           17 March 2013

16:00

Chelsea     2-0     West Ham
   
Wigan     2-1     Newcastle    

Wigan climb clear

         

  The win sees Roberto Martinez's side climb above Aston Villa on goal difference with 30 points, four behind Norwich.This was shown when he saved his team after a misunderstanding allowed Kamara to run free only for Alcaraz to nick the ball quite brilliantly.Last season a point at Carrow Road in March provided the impetus for the Latics to win seven of their last 10 games and engineer a great escape and Martinez will be hoping for more of the same with three league wins now out of their last four matches.Wigan went down the other end and again it was Kone with the shot, which was parried away by Camp, although it may have been going wide anyway.The visitors are also not clear of the relegation scrap and they began well, with striker Kei Kamara looking a threat, but they did not trouble Joel Robles in the home goal.In the second period, Maloney worked himself into a great position from a corner but fired a long way over the bar while, at the other end, Bradley Johnson was much closer with a shot just past Robles' post.The hosts were also struggling to make an impact but they did put together a fine move in the 27th minute as Shaun Maloney turned and found Emmerson Boyce who set up Kone for a shot just wide.Alcaraz then rose highest to meet Jean Beausejour's corner but his header was cleared from near the line by Jonny Howson.Alcaraz had been a doubt for the match, with Martinez keen not to overplay him after he missed six months of the season with a groin tear, and the Paraguayan's calmness in defence has been much missed.

Tigers down Town

           

   Mackay's men have now won just one in their last five in the npower Championship and from a previous position of strength are now left peering anxiously over their shoulders at the chasing pack.Starting the day second from bottom, Wolves were helped on their way by a 17th minute Stephen McManus own goal before Grant Leadbitter dragged Boro level eight minutes laterAron Gunnarsson swept the Welshman in front after 23 minutes but Posh substitute McCann equalised from the spot on 72 minutes after Mark Little was fouled by Don Cowie in the box.Bjorn Sigurdarson gave Wolves back a lead which Leadbitter cancelled out again, before Kevin Doyle struck to claim three priceless points for his side when he headed home a Roger Johnson cross on 70 minutes.McCann netted his second penalty seven minutes later after a foul by Matthew Connolly on Dwight Gayle which proved enough to send Posh out of the relegation zone on the back of six games without defeat - and complete the double over the leaders after their 1-0 win in south Wales earlier in the season.Sheffield Wednesday hung on for a 2-1 win over Barnsley in the South Yorkshire derby at Hillsborough despite finishing the match with 10 men.In the day's late game, Steve Bruce's Hull troops moved to within four points of the Bluebirds after George Boyd grabbed the winner against Huddersfield in the 46th minute.Substitute Lewis McGugan equalised for Forest eight minutes from time only for Will Buckley to put Brighton back in front. Forest salvaged a point when Henri Lansbury's injury-time effort squirmed through Ankergren's hands.Struggling Wolves also boosted their survival prospects with a dramatic 3-2 win over free-falling Middlesbrough at Molineux.

Red Gossip

     

  They do base this entirely on some quotes from Thiago's old man, former Brazilian player Mazinho, so here they are:The Daily Mail report that Manchester United could make a move for under-used Barcelona midfielder Thiago Alcantara."Thiago has the quality to succeed at Barca. But he'd play a lot more at another club. He'd get into any other team in the world.My son would play a lot more in any other team in the world. He's learning a lot playing with great players but Thiago is very ambitious and needs to play.I don't know if Barca are buying more players in the summer. They already have a lot of players who can play in the middle. Also, [his brother] Rafinha will be part of the first team squad next season."No-one knows what might happen in the future. Football changes a lot and anything can happen. If Thiago wants to go to the 2014 World Cup, he needs to play much more.

Burton lose

                

At the Pirelli Stadium, Drew Talbot's 52nd-minute goal gave Chesterfield a narrow victory over automatic promotion hopefuls Burton Albion.York crawled off the bottom of the table after battling to a goalless draw at Bristol Rovers, but Plymouth's win means the Minstermen still find themselves three points off safety.Gillingham stretched their lead at the top of the table to six points despite being forced to settle for a 2-2 draw at play-off hopefuls Fleetwood.Banton's effort went in off the post, while Jamie Cureton missed a great chance for Exeter late on.Starting the day five points clear of closest rivals Port Vale, it took Gills just three minutes to open the scoring when Danny Kedwell fired home from the edge of the box.Jason Banton's 45th-minute strike in front of a Devon derby crowd of 13,251 at Home Park lifted the Pilgrims to 20th place, four points above the drop zone - and John Sheridan's side also have a game in hand.Jamille Matt equalised for Fleetwood just past the half-hour and after Charlie Allen put the visitors back in front, Matt struck again to seal a point.

Lazio win too

         

   Blerim Dzemaili saw the first of his two hat-trick goals at the Stadio Olimpico cancelled out by Paulo Barreto and then Jonathas from the penalty spot.At the bottom of the table, Palermo closed to within three points of safety with a shock 2-0 win over Roma. A 15-match winless streak had seen the Rosanero sliding towards relegation but an early goal from Josip Ilicic gave the home faithful reason to believe. Fabrizio Miccoli then rubber-stamped all three points against an under-par Roma side who never really got going.Marek Hamsik had missed his first-half spot-kick and it looked like Napoli would live to regret it as Riccardo Meggiorini gave Torino the lead midway through the second half. But the introduction of Edinson Cavani from the bench inspired Dzemaili to a third goal before the Uruguayan striker notched twice in the last six minutes to keep his side firmly in the title race.Palermo are now three points shy of 17th-placed Genoa, who drew 2-2 against Siena, while Roma drop to sixth.Meanwhile, Riccardo Montolivo's first-half goal was enough for third-placed AC Milan to claim a 1-0 win over Chievo. There was then a red card for Dario Dainelli as Chievo ended the day nine points above the drop zone.Pescara are now bottom of the pile as goals from Yohan Benalouane, Gabriel Paletta and Amauri fired Parma into 10th place with a one-sided 3-0 victory at the Ennio Tardini.A Nicola Legrottaglie own goal and a late Antonio Candreva strike earned Lazio a dramatic 2-1 win over top-three rivals Catania.Elsewhere, Antonio Di Natale missed a penalty in Udinese's goalless draw against Bologna, with mid-table Sampdoria also drawing a blank at Atalanta despite Pedro Mba Obiang going close at the death.A brace from Mauricio Pinilla saw Cagliari seal a 2-1 victory over Fiorentina.

KO for McCartney

         

The full-back hobbled off in injury time after suffering the same problem.At least the three points were some consolation as an Andy Carroll double and Gary O'Neil's strike steered the London side up to 11th and six points from the drop zone.It's a recurrence of the same injury, his medial ligaments, which is a very big disappointment for him and for us. We are disappointed for him because he has waited so long to get back, and get on the pitch.I would have thought he will miss the rest of the season," Hammers boss Sam Allardyce said.It is a massive blow for McCartney who came off the bench in the 78th minute to make his first appearance since suffering medial ligament damage in his knee four months ago.We thought we would give him a run out and give the lads who had done so well a rest, but sadly he went down with the same injury.

Van Persie

      

  With Fulham playing in the evening, the kick-off even had to be brought forward so the teams will meet at lunchtime.It has been a while," he said. "It has been nine years since we last won it and we want to win the double.It is not ideal," Van Persie told MUTV. "Normally on the second day your muscles are quite bad but now we have to play at this certain time.We made a big step today but we want to go for both. We have a chance to reach the semi-final against City.It is a shame but we can't do anything about it because there are Champions League games in midweek and Chelsea are still in the Europa League.Both sides played on Saturday, but with Chelsea still in the Europa League, there was little option but to fit in the quarter-final replay at Stamford Bridge two days after a set of Premier League fixtures.We just have to deal with it. People have to realise they can't expect a great game of football because it is not possible.United have not won the competition since 2004 and Van Persie hopes the squad will be inspired to move one step closer to the double, with the Premier League title seemingly in the bag.

Schalke win

            

Hamburg's goals, from Jeffrey Bruma and Heiko Westermann, made it 8-1 and then 9-2 and did nothing to ease the misery.Two goals apiece for Stefan Kiessling and Andre Schurrle ensured Leverkusen maintained a six-point cushion over Schalke.The win moved Bayern 20 points clear of Borussia Dortmund with seven games to go and victory at Eintracht Frankfurt next Saturday will wrap up the title.The fifth goal in the game also came from a visiting player, Daniel Schwaab's own goal all Fortuna had to show for their efforts.Dortmund kept Bayern waiting for another week at least by winning 2-1 at Stuttgart.Mainz dropped three points behind Schalke as they had to settle for a 1-1 draw with Werder Bremen, despite going ahead after 12 seconds.Lukasz Piszczek gave Dortmund the lead in the 29th minute, but Alexandru Maxim's first Bundesliga goal brought the Swabians level before a red card to Georg Niedermeier tipped the scales back in Dortmund's favour.Third-bottom Augsburg failed to improve their chances of avoiding the drop as they lost 2-0 at home to Hannover.Robert Lewandowski grabbed the winner eight minutes from time.They did it all without leading scorer Mario Mandzukic, who was left on the bench ahead of Tuesday's Champions League quarter-final meeting with Juventus.Bayer Leverkusen kept a strong hold on third with a 4-1 win at Fortuna Dusseldorf.

Real drop points

           

The Argentina international is no stranger to treading new ground and his 73rd-minute goal meant he has scored in 19 successive Primera Division matches.Neither side could go on to force a winner in the second half, with Marcelo hitting the post for Madrid and both goalkeepers making a number of vital interventions.In doing so he has found the net against every other side in the competition - the first player to ever do that in consecutive matches - and he has 29 goals from his last 19.Weligton gave Manuel Pellegrini's side the lead but Piti levelled for the hosts from the penalty spot.It would not be the winner, though, with Borja Oubina's late header earning Celta a point, with Naxto Insa's opener having been earlier scrubbed out by Cristian Tello's goal.Former Real Madrid forward Julio Baptista scored his first goal in 18 months to restore Malaga's lead early in the second half before Pedro Morales secured all three points with a wonderful goal.Real Madrid missed the chance to make things slightly less comfortable for Barca at the top of the standings as they were held by relegation-fighting Real Zaragoza at La Romareda.Levante edged out Sevilla in the battle of the two mid-table teams with Ruben Garcia scoring the only goal of the game with a low strike from outside the box in the 40th minute.Madrid could have trimmed their arch rivals' lead to 11 points if they could beat Zaragoza and claim a seventh successive league victory

Neill sacked

                       

  A statement on the Sunderland club website read: "The club would like to place on record its thanks to Martin and wishes him well for the future.His start was just what owner and chairman Ellis Short was looking for as a run of seven victories in his first 10 league games eased the club out of relegation trouble and sent spirits soaring.A run of eight league games without a win which has yielded only three points ultimately cost O'Neill his job after a little more than 15 months at the helm.The Black Cats ran out of steam towards the end of the campaign, but with their top-flight status secured and the promise of a summer rebuilding programme, attention turned to the new campaign with genuine optimism.The Black Cats' last victory came at Wigan on January 19, and with trips to European champions Chelsea and rivals Newcastle to come ahead of bogey team Everton's visit to the Stadium of Light on April 20, things could get worse before they get better.That only increased when Short provided O'Neill with a total of £22million with which to buy Scotland international striker Steven Fletcher and England winger Adam Johnson, and the American put his hand in his pocket once again in January to add Danny Graham and Alfred N'Diaye to the squad.O'Neill, of course, was the man whose appointment Sunderland fans had craved for years, and his arrival at the Stadium of Light in December 2011 was greeted with delight.However, only Fletcher, who was this week ruled out for the remainder of the season with ankle ligament damage, has hit the ground running with his 11 goals a major contribution to the 31 points they have claimed to date.The Northern Irishman had never made any secret of his boyhood affection for the club and the chance to manage them fulfilled a long-held dream.

Wenger optimistic

       

  Wilshere's injury is not better or worse. It was an inflammation of his (ankle) bone and we had such history with him (that) we are a bit more cautious than we would be with you or with me said Wenger. "We deferred a little bit his rehab by one week. We gave him one more week rest because it was wise medically to do it.Jack had a difficult moment of course when you told him because he didn't feel any special pain, but he knows he has to take care of his future. because he is a very young player, I think he accepts it.He added: "Honestly, it's very difficult (to say when he will be back). I believe in two weeks on Sunday, that means not the next game, the game after.Wenger revealed that forward Theo Walcott is also set for more treatment on what was described as a "minor hip/groin injury" sustained training with England ahead of the San Marino World Cup qualifier. Arsenal also saw midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - away with England - scoring in the 8-0 rout of San Marino.Wenger insisted that given Wilshere's injury record, having been sidelined for more than a year with a different ankle problem, the club's medical staff would take no chances.I have no conversation with the (England) manager, especially when it's a competitive game. When they fight for points, he uses the players like he wants to. I don't interfere in that," Wenger said. "When it's a friendly, you try to influence a bit in your favour when it's needed. I believe that every manager does that.We will rest him when it is needed. He has regular scans and as soon as we have an alert we will respect it no matter what is at stake, Wenger said.

Wilshere progress

             

  Wilshere has not played since Arsenal's 2-1 loss at north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on March 3 and had been expected to feature against Reading on Saturday after a period of rehabilitation that included a visit to Dubai.Wilshere missed the whole of last season with knee and ankle problems, and Wenger said that as a result, Arsenal are unwilling to take any chances with him.However, Wenger says that he will not be ready to return for at least two weeks.We will rest him when it is needed. He has regular scans and as soon as we have an alert, we will respect it no matter what is at stake," Wenger said.Wilshere's injury is not better or worse. It was an inflammation of his (ankle) bone and we had such history with him, we are a bit more cautious than we would be with you or with me," Wenger told reporters at a press conference on Thursday.Wenger also revealed that Theo Walcott is due to receive more treatment after picking up what the Arsenal manager described as a "minor hip/groin injury" while on international duty with England.We deferred a little bit his rehab by one week. We gave him one more week rest because it was wise medically to do it.