Football
West Brom showed why they have been so difficult to beat lately as they
pushed Chelsea all the way, before Antonio Conte’s side sneaked a 1-0 win that
extends their winning run in the Premier League to nine matches.
Arsenal remain second, three points behind, after coming from behind to
beat Stoke 3-1.
However, Manchester City and Liverpool both lost ground. Liverpool’s
frailties in defence and in goal were again evident as they could only draw 2-2
at home to struggling West Ham, and are now six points off the pace.
Manchester City meanwhile were hit by a Jamie Vardy hat-trick as he
broke his run of 16 matches without a goal for Leicester City. Leicester
stormed into a 4-0 lead, and Manchester City could only manage two late
consolation goals. Pep Guardiola’s side are now seven points behind Chelsea.
After an uncertain start, Henrikh Mkhitaryan is demonstrating exactly
why he was voted Player of the Year in the Bundesliga last season. The Armenian
midfielder scored a superb goal to give Manchester United a 1-0 win over
Tottenham.
Burnley won at home once again, seeing off Bournemouth 3-2.
There were also goals galore at the KCOM Stadium, where a late equaliser
from Fraizer Campbell secured Crystal Palace a 3-3 draw and deprived Hull of
what would have been a vital win.
After three wins in four matches, Sunderland suffered a setback as they
lost 3-0 at fellow strugglers Swansea. Fernando Llorente again scored twice.
Sunderland return to bottom spot, one point behind both Swansea and Hull and
two behind West Ham.
Southampton beat Middlesbrough 1-0, but less welcome news for the Saints
is that leading scorer Charlie Austin could be out for as long as four months
after dislocating his shoulder when they exited the Europa League against
Hapoel Beer Sheva last Thursday.
Watford’s Italian striker Stefano Okaka scored his first two goals for
Watford as they continued Everton’s recent woes by beating them 3-2 at Vicarage
Road.
Saturday’s six Premier League games produced a total of 29 goals, with
the home team scoring at least three in all of these matches. Sunday’s four
matches produced less in the way of goalmouth action, with three resulting in
1-0 home wins.
Newcastle remain one point clear of Brighton at the top of the
Championship after both sides won this weekend. The Magpies thrashed Birmingham
4-0 and Brighton beat Leeds 2-1.
Cricket
India won the fourth Test in Mumbai by an innings and 36 runs to take an
unassailable 3-0 lead in the series. England thought they had made a solid
total of 400 batting first, with Keaton Jennings making 112 on debut. However,
India replied with a mammoth 631 – Murali Vijay made 136 opening the innings
and the damage was really done when Virat Kohli (235) and Jayant Yadav (104)
added 241 for the eighth wicket. Second time around, England could only manage
195, despite defiant half-centuries from Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.
Ravichandran Ashwin took 12 wickets in the match.
Rugby Union
England captain Dylan Hartley faces the prospect of being banned for the
start of the Six Nations after being sent off in Northampton’s 37-10 defeat to
Leinster in the European Cup. The result leaves Northampton needing to win all
three remaining group matches to stand a good chance of reaching the
quarter-finals.
Saracens thrashed Sale 50-3 to maintain their 100% record in Pool Three
of the same competition, and Sale now require a miracle to progress. In the
same pool, the hopes of Llanelli Scarlets hang by a thread after their 31-20
loss to Toulon.
Exeter also require a miracle in Pool Five in order to qualify, as they
went down to their third defeat, losing 13-7 to Bordeaux-Begles. Ulster won a
thriller against Clermont Auvergne in the same group, and their 39-32 win keeps
the group wide open.
Wasps moved to the top of Pool Two after beating Connacht 32-17.
Glasgow had an excellent win away to Racing 92, winning 23-14, while
Pool One leaders Munster beat Leicester 38-0, leaving Leicester with no room
for error in their remaining matches, having now lost twice.
Boxing
Britain's Anthony Joshua retained
his IBF world heavyweight title with a third-round stoppage of American Eric
Molina. The bout was stopped shortly after Joshua had sent his opponent to the
canvas. Joshua can now look forward to a showdown with former WBA, IBF and
WBO champion Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium on April 29.
On the same bill at the Manchester Arena, Britain gained
another world champion when Kal Yafai beat Panama’s Luis
Concepcion to become the WBA super-flyweight title holder. Concepcion had been
stripped of the title prior to the fight after failing to make the weight, but
Yafai opted to carry on with the bout anyway, and claimed the crown with a
unanimous decision, winning by large margins on all three judges' scorecards.
Another Briton in line for a
possible world heavyweight title is Dillian Whyte, who beat Dereck Chisora by
the smallest of margins after that fight also went to the judges. The bout was
an eliminator for Deontay Wilder’s WBC world heavyweight title.
Tipster Street.
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