Ryan Giggs demonstrated his enduring value to Manchester United with the opening goal in a ruthless 2-0 home win over Everton on Sunday that put his side almost out of sight in the Premier League title race.
The 39-year-old Welshman slotted his side in front after 13 minutes to continue his extraordinary feat of having scored in every Premier League season since the competition started 21 years ago.
Robin van Persie was also on target for United before halftime as the leaders took full advantage of champions Manchester City’s shock 3-1 defeat at Southampton on Saturday.
Photo: Reuters
With 12 games remaining, Alex Ferguson’s side have 65 points, 12 more than City, and are closing in on a 20th league title.
“We’ve got to win our games regardless of what happens with City and if we concentrate on our own games we’ll be OK,” Ferguson, whose side face a huge UEFA Champions League match away to Real Madrid tomorrow, told Sky Sports.
“I was going to make about seven changes for the game, but when I saw yesterday’s result I changed that because we knew if we got a result it would put us in a fantastic position,” he said.
At the other end of the table, Aston Villa claimed a vital 2-1 home victory over West Ham United to move out of the bottom three, Christian Benteke and Charles N’Zogbia the scorers.
A remarkable 4-4 draw with Everton in the final weeks of last season’s title race proved United’s undoing as City pipped them on the final day on goal-difference.
However, this time there were no slipups from Ferguson’s side as they recorded a 10th consecutive home league win.
Despite the proximity of the trip to Madrid, Ferguson resisted any temptation to rest key players — a mark of respect for an Everton side chasing a top-four finish and who beat United on the opening day of the season on Merseyside.
With Real manager Jose Mourinho watching in the stands, United produced a clinical performance, even if leading striker Van Persie was guilty of an astonishing miss early on when he took the ball past Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard, but blasted his shot against the outside of the post.
After Van Persie’s miss United did not have to wait long for their opener. The Dutchman picked out Giggs with a pull back and the wily veteran steadied himself, before curling a precise shot in off the post.
Everton enjoyed spells of possession, but on the stroke of halftime rightback Rafael released Van Persie with a clever reverse pass and the Dutchman again rounded Howard before shooting into the empty net, despite Johnny Heitinga’s desperate attempt to keep the ball out.
Villa’s first league win for nearly two months was a welcome relief for manager Paul Lambert, whose side climbed above Reading into 17th place, although Ashley Westwood’s late own-goal meant he had to endure a nail-biting finale.
A turgid opening 45 minutes offered few opportunities for either side, although Andreas Weimann somehow missed an open goal for Villa after West Ham goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen had failed to gather Benteke’s shot.
Benteke was the calmest person in the stadium as he rolled his spot-kick into the net in the 74th minute after Mark Noble was adjudged to have fouled N’Zogbia.
Five minutes later, N’Zogbia sent a sweetly-struck free-kick curling past Jaaskelainen to give Villa breathing space.
Westwood’s own-goal revived West Ham and Villa goalkeeper Brad Guzan twice saved his side in stoppage-time.
“It’s a huge win for us. We have been in positions of being goals up in a few games,” said Lambert, whose side moved a point above 18th-placed Reading.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS