Barclays Premiership Update

Chelsea maintained their lead at the top of the Premiership with a 2-0 victory over Wolves at Stamford Bridge thanks to goals from Florent Malouda and substitute Salomon Kalou, but the victory was not as comprehensive as was widely expected as Wolves battled hard throughout the game. Meanwhile, in the battle for second position Arsenal gave Manchester City a footballing lesson following the early dismissal of centre back Dedryck Boyata for a desperate lunge on Marouane Chamakh when through on goal. Following the sending off the Gunners were rarely troubled by City who also lost their captain Carlos Tevez early in the second half due to injury, and goals from Samir Nasri, Alex Song and Nicklas Bendtner sealed the comprehensive victory. At the Britannia Stadium Manchester United suffered another defensive lapse to allow Tuncay to equalise following a great moment of opportunism from Javier Hernandez. However, Utd were not to be denied with a second goal from their young inform striker who was given his second start of the season due to Wayne Rooney’s absence because of injury. A similar situation was evident at Anfield where Liverpool won only their second match of the season against Blackburn Rovers thanks to a much needed goal from Fernando Torres. The Reds were leading thanks to a second goal in as many matches from Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos but were pegged back as a El-Hadji Diouf shot was deflected back into the goal off the face of the hapless Jamie Carragher. For the latest league table click here

Tottenham Hotspur 1 – 1 Everton

Birmingham 2 – 0 Blackpool

Chelsea 2 – 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Sunderland 1 – 0 Aston Villa

West Bromwich Albion 2 – 1 Fulham

Wigan Athletic 1 – 1 Bolton Wanderers

West Ham United 1 – 2 Newcastle United

Stoke City 1 – 2 Manchester United

Liverpool 2 – 1 Blackburn Rovers

Manchester City 0 – 3 Arsenal

Wayne Rooney statement

Here is Wayne Rooney’s account of recent events:

"I met with David Gill last week and he did not give me any of the assurances I was seeking about the future squad.

"I then told him that I would not be signing a new contract.

"I was interested to hear what Sir Alex had to say yesterday and surprised by some of it.

"It is absolutely true, as he said, that my agent and I have had a number of meetings with the club about a new contract. During those meetings in August I asked for assurances about the continued ability of the club to attract the top players in the world.

"I have never had anything but complete respect for MUFC. How could I not have done given its fantastic history and especially the last six years in which I have been lucky to play a part?

"For me its all about winning trophies - as the club has always done under Sir Alex. Because of that I think the questions I was asking were justified.

"Despite recent difficulties, I know I will always owe Sir Alex Ferguson a huge debt. He is a great manager and mentor who has helped and supported me from the day he signed me from Everton when I was only 18.

"For Manchester United's sake I wish he could go on forever because he's a one off and a genius."

Round 2 begin!

Champions League Update

A Gareth Bale second half hat trick almost brought 10 man Tottenham an incredible draw against Inter Milan at the San Siro after early goals from Javier Zanetti, Samuel Eto’o x2 and Dejan Stankovic left Spurs looking embarrassed at half time, but time ran out as the hosts held on to win 4-3. Meanwhile at Old Trafford Nani scored the winner winning a curling shot from outside of the box against a stout Bursapor defence as Manchester United won 1-0 but the match only provides temporary relieve for Sir Alex Ferguson as he meets with chief executive David Gill to discuss the future of Wayne Rooney this morning. Elsewhere, Barcelona overcame a battling FC Copenhagen side with 2 goals from Lionel Messi. For the latest league tables click here

FC Twente 1-1 Werder Bremen

Inter Milan 4-3 Tottenham

Lyon 2-0 Benfica

Schalke 3-1 Hapoel Tel-Aviv

Man Utd 1-0 Bursaspor

Rangers 1-1 Valencia

Barcelona 2-0 FC Copenhagen

Panathinaikos 0-0 FK Rubin Kazan

Jessica Ennis shortlisted for IAAF World Athlete of the Year

Jessica Ennis has been shortlisted for the prestigious World Athlete of the Year award following her exploits at the European Championships in Barcelona back in July. The winner will be announced on 21 November at the IAAF World Athletics Gala in Monaco. Missing from the men’s shortlist is Usain Bolt, although given his lack of form this season that really isn’t the biggest of surprises. The full shortlist for both men and women [to be reduced to 3 next month] is:

[Men] - David Rudisha,Tyson Gay, Christophe Lemaitre, Andreas Thorkildsen, Christian Cantwell, Steven Hooker, Bernard Lagat, David Oliver, Zersenay Tadese,Teddy Tamgho.

[Women] - Jessica Ennis,Blanka Vlasic, Allyson Felix, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Milcah Chemos Cheywa, Meseret Defar, Fabiana Murer, Nadezhda Ostapchuk, Olga Rypakova, Anita Wlodarczyk.

Serena out for the rest of the season

Serena Williams has confirmed that she will not be competing for the rest of the season after the injury she received to her foot back in July. It was hoped that following the cut glass incident in Munich the former World number one and 13 Grand Slam winner would be back in time for the WTA Championships in Doha and subsequently would be competing for the United States in the Federation Cup tie against Italy next month. However, it would appear that Serena has pushed herself a bit too hard in her efforts to regain fitness and that she has re-torn the tendon in her foot.

For more details check out Serena’s website here