Nadal, Venus advance in Miami ATP and WTA

World number one Rafael Nadal advanced to the fourth round of the ATP and WTA hardcourt tournament on Monday with a 7-5, 6-3 triumph over Portugal's Frederico Gil.

In the round of 16, the Spanish star will face the winner of a later match between Swiss 16th seed Stanislas Wawrinka and Russian 20th seed Igor Andreev.

Nadal, who won the year's first Grand Slam event last January at the Australian Open, won 89 percent of his first serve points to just 57 percent for Gil.

Australian Samantha Stosur, ranked 42nd, continued her strong run into the quarter-finals by ousting French 20th seed Amelie Mauresmo 6-4, 6-4.

Stosur, who eliminated Russian world number two Dinara Safina in the third round, will next meet 11th seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, who defeated Hungarian 25th seed Agnes Szavay 6-2, 6-4.

US fifth seed Venus Williams ousted Polish 10th seed Agnieszka Radwanska 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 to reach the final eight.

Danish 13th seed Caroline Wozniacki upset fourth seed Elena Dementieva 7-5, 6-4, to reach the women's quarter-finals. She next faces another Russian, eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, who beat compatriot Alisa Kleybanova 6-2, 6-1.

Others reaching the men's round of 16 included Argentina's sixth-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro, who beat Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, 6-1, and Serbian Viktor Troicki, who ousted Germany's Bjorn Phau 6-4, 6-3.

Woods completes thrilling comeback victory

Tiger Woods came from five strokes behind to overhaul fellow American Sean O'Hair and win his 66th PGA Tour title by a shot at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando on Sunday.

Playing only his third tournament since returning from reconstructive knee surgery, Woods completed a record sixth victory at Bay Hill Club by dramatically sinking a 16-foot birdie putt on the final hole in fading light.

The American world number one, who had been sidelined for eight months following his previous Tour win at the US Open in June, matched his biggest final-round comeback on the circuit.

In 2000, he overhauled a five-shot deficit after 54 holes to win the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Woods finally caught the pacesetting O'Hair with a birdie at the par-four 15th and claimed the outright lead for the first time when his playing partner bogeyed 16 after hitting his approach into water.

Although Woods stumbled on 17, where his tee shot
ended up under the lip of a greenside bunker, he calmly rolled in the 16-footer on the 18th green for a five-under total of 275.

"It feels really good," the 33-year-old said in a greenside interview after celebrating his victory by backing away with a sweeping fist pump before embracing his caddie Steve Williams.

"It feels good to be back in contention again and to feel the rush and to have to deal with everything coming down the stretch. It's been a while but it kind of felt good."

O'Hair, who had been bidding for a third PGA Tour title, had to settle for second place after closing with a 73 with 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson (69) a further two strokes back at two under.

The start of the final round was delayed by an hour and 45 minutes due to the threat of lightning after storms rolled into the area earlier than expected.

Drogba double leads Ivory Coast to easy win

Didier Drogba marked his return to competitive internationals with two goals on Sunday, captaining the Ivory Coast to a crushing 5-0 win over Malawi in their opening World Cup qualifier.

The Chelsea striker, who missed the first six qualifiers due to a knee injury, converted a seventh-minute penalty and followed up with a 27th-minute goal as the Elephants romped home in Abidjan in their Group E opener.

Ghana were also victorious in Group D but two heavily fancied teams, Egypt and Nigeria were held to draws in Sunday's qualifiers.

The Ivory Coast Coast made a perfect start with a first-minute goal from Christian Koffi Ndri before Drogba's double ensured a 3-0 halftime lead. His Chelsea team mate Salomon Kalou added a fourth midway through the first half before Marseille striker Bakary Kone completed the rout.

The Ivorians share top place with Burkina Faso, who claimed a 4-2 home win over Guinea in Ouagadougou on Saturday.

Ghana's Black Stars also scored a first-minute goal in their Group D qualifier against Benin in Kumasi but were unable to add to Prince Tagoe's effort. African champions Egypt suffered a major setback when they let a lead slip in their Group C match at home to Zambia in Cairo.

They were held to a 1-1 draw after taking a first-half lead through striker Amr Zaki, who sneaked behind the defence to convert a clever cross. But a simple corner routine enabled Francis Kasonde to equalise 10 minutes into the second half.

Mozambique had two efforts disallowed in their 0-0 draw at home to Nigeria, who might have snatched an undeserved win at the end of the Group B game in Maputo when Obafemi Martins shot into the side netting.

Nadal sparkles in opening win at Miami WTA

World number ones Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams advanced to the third round of the ATP and WTA Miami hardcourt tournament on Saturday but Serbian third seed Jelena Jankovic was ousted.

Nadal dismissed 72nd-ranked Teimuraz Gabshvili of Russia 6-2, 6-2 while Williams, a two-time defending champion seeking her sixth title in eight years, beat fellow American Alexa Glatch 6-2, 6-3.

"I'm very happy," Nadal said. "I think Gabashvili didn't really play a bad game. He played hard and I think I played well."

The biggest shocker so far at the nine million-dollar event saw Argentina's Gisela Dulko, ranked 35th in the world, eliminate Jankovic 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) to set a third-round matchup against Czech Iveta Benesova.

Nadal seeks a third title this season after capturing the year's Grand Slam start at the Australian Open and last week's event at Indian Wells.

"I didn't practice as well as I did in Indian Wells," Nadal said. "More wind here. It's more difficult to play but it's important to get the rhythm right with the match."

Also advancing after first-round byes were reigning Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, the fifth seed, and British fourth seed Andy Murray

Williams defeated Israel's Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-3, to sustain hopes for an all-Williams semi-final while Murray, who reached last week's final at Indian Wells, dispatched 59th-rated Juan Monaco of Argentina 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Nadal, who made just 10 unforced errors to 32 by Gabshvili, will next face Portugal's Frederico Gil, who ousted Croatian Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-4. Nadal has found his form on hardcourts after his first Slam win on the surface in Melbourne.

"I play more on hard than other surfaces. It's tougher on other surfaces," Nadal said. "I played a little bit behind the court and on this court it's important to play a little bit more inside."

Murray needed a comeback to pull through.

"I was finding it difficult," Murray said. "I don't tend to think the match is finished when you lose the first set but I knew it was going to be tricky. He was playing very well. I was strugling a little bit to get into a rhythm.

"He was getting into a lot of rallies and hitting the ball better than me from the baseline. I knew I needed to change something. I started going for my serve more and won a lot of free points. My serve was really the difference."

The Scotsman will next face Chile's Nicolas Massu, who battled back to defeat US 27th seed Mardy Fish 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2.

Brawn's Button grabs pole in Australian GP

Briton Jenson Button snared pole position just ahead of his teammate Rubens Barrichello as newcomers Brawn GP seized initial control of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Saturday.

Button, backed by just three days' testing with the Brawn team, hastily put together in the wake of a management buy-out of the Honda team, burnt off his rivals for his fourth career pole.

The 29-year-old, with just one victory in 153 GPs over nine seasons, has a marvellous chance for only his second GP triumph in Sunday's Melbourne race, with Barrichello looming as his chief threat for honours. It is the first time since 1970 that a new team has captured the pole in its first F1 race.

"It's fantastic. The team has really stuck together over a tough winter and they have produced a good car at the moment, and I feel they will make it even better," Button said.

Button swept around the Albert Street circuit in one minute, 26.202 seconds, ahead of Barrichello's best of 1:26.505.

Rising German star Sebastian Vettel was third quickest in his Red Bull in 1:26.830 in an eventful hour-long qualifying with world champion Lewis Hamilton a major casualty and now forced to start off on row eight of Sunday's grid.

The British star failed to come out of the McLaren garage for the second section of qualifying and was credited with the 15th position. Renault's two-time world champion Fernando Alonso will start off on the sixth row after his indistinguished 12th place.

World constructors champions Ferrari were also left behind in the slipstream of the two Brawns with Felipe Massa to come off the fourth row after his seventh and Kimi Raikkonen one row behind after his ninth.

Button is wary because the last time he had pole in Australia, in 2006, his Honda ended up limping home in 10th.

England beat Slovakia, Beckham reaches milestone

England brushed aside Slovakia 4-0 in a friendly at Wembley on Saturday, a victory notable mainly for David Beckham's 109th cap and a rare international goal for striker Emile Heskey.

The much-travelled Heskey lasted only 15 minutes before going off injured, but it was long enough for him to touch in Steven Gerrard's low cross for his sixth goal on his 52nd international appearance.

The 33-year-old Beckham, who replaced Aaron Lennon at halftime to move past the late Bobby Moore as England's most capped outfield player, marked his milestone by setting up Wayne Rooney for England's second 20 minutes from time.

Frank Lampard slotted a third England goal late on and Rooney scored again with the last kick of the game to complete the rout and a satisfactory warm-up for Wednesday's World Cup qualifier at home to Ukraine.

Fabio Capello's England top Group Six with a 100 percent record and will go into the clash with Ukraine in good heart, although injuries to Heskey and Carlton Cole, who also limped off after replacing Heskey, took the gloss off the victory.

England dominated the early exchanges and took just seven minutes to go in front when Heskey got the finishing touch to Gerrard's cross to register his first goal in an England shirt for almost six years.

He should have had another a minute later but headed Wayne Rooney's perfect cross over a gaping goal. Slovakia, who like England started the day top of their World Cup qualifying group, offered little.

One shot from Miroslav Karhan forced a sharp save from David James and the keeper spared defender Matthew Upson's blushes shortly before the interval when he saved from Robert Vittek after Upson was caught napping.

Apart from that, it was all England with winger Lennon, winning his first cap for two years, and Gerrard both denied by Slovakia goalkeeper Stefan Senecky.

Cole hobbled off clutching his groin after 34 minutes, meaning Capello had to use Peter Crouch, his final striking option, before halftime. Crouch was also substituted later.

Capello made three halftime substitutions, the most significant being the introduction of Beckham to a huge ovation from the 85,000 crowd. Slovakia's halftime substitute Erik Jendrisek almost made an impact, however, firing wide after a flowing counter-attack.

Federer and Djokovic ease through in Miami

World number two Roger Federer eased into the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over American qualifier Kevin Kim on Friday.

Federer was never in any danger against the 30-year-old Kim, who is ranked 107th in the world, and saved all five of the break points against him on the Key Biscayne hardcourt. With little sign of upsets in the air, third seed Novak Djokovic defeated Canadian Frank Dancevic 6-3, 6-2.

"In most of my first-round games this year I haven't found the right rhythm but I was pretty happy with the way I started this tournament," Serb Djokovic said.

Russian Marat Safin and his sister Dinara Safina also advanced.

Safin, the 22nd seed, put out Spain's Oscar Hernandez 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 and world number two Safina swept aside Mathilde Johansson of France 6-1, 6-3. Fourth seed Elena Dementieva had to fight hard for a 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 win over fellow Russian Anastasia Pivovarova.

Dementieva was pushed hard in the third set by 18-year-old wildcard Pivovarova, who is ranked 172nd in the world. Italy's Flavia Pennetta beat Russian Maria Kirilenko 6-4, 7-5 while Swiss Patty Schynder had to come from a set down to oust Czech Lucie Safarova 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Later on Friday home favourite Andy Roddick, ranked sixth, starts his campaign against Argentine Diego Junquiera. In the women's event, seventh-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic takes on Ukrainian qualifier Mariya Koryttseva.

Sania and Paes in Miami pre-quarters

Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy made a spectacular start to their campaign in the $4,500,000 Miami Masters event as they stormed into the doubles pre-quaterfinals after a crushing 6-2, 6-2 win over Fernando Gonzalez and Juan Monaco.

The fourth seeded Indo-Czech pair took just 46 minutes to dispatch the Chile pair in the first round.

In the women's event, Sania Mirza and Chinese Taipei's Chia-Jung Chuang earned a hard fought 6-4, 7-5 win over the Czech combination of Iveta Benesova and Barbora Strycova Zahlavova to advance to the pre-quarterfinals.

Paes-Dlouhy converted all the four breakpoints and saved three on their own serve to ran away with the first set. The second set too belonged to the winners as they converted both the break points that came their way to seal the issue.

Sania and Chuang converted both the breakpoints in the first set and saved two while saving one. In the second set, seven breaks were traded with the Indo-Taipei pair getting four en route to win.

Mahesh Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles, seeded third, will open their campaign against French pair of Julien Benneteau and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Saina, Jwala-Diju in quarter-finals

Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal thumped Hung Yung Chan of Hong Kong in straight games to sail into the quarter-finals of the Yonex Sunrise Indian Grand Prix on Thursday.

Women's second-seed Saina rode on the unforced errors of her opponent and thrashed her 21-8, 21-8 to set up a quarter-final clash with fifth-seed Xian Wong of Malaysia.

Second-seed Indian mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju also reached the quarter-finals after drubbing Xiaolong Liu and Jinhua Tang of China 21-10, 21-15 in the match lasting 21 minutes.

However, it was end of the road for other women's singles shuttlers as they failed to reach the next round.

PC Thulasi played her heart out but could not get past sixth-seed Yu Hirayama of Japan, while compatriot Sampada Sahastrabuddhe also met her end at the hands of Beiwen Zhang of Singapore. Qualifier Ashwini Ponnappa also hit dead end after losing 16-21, 16-21 against Julia Pei Xian Wong.

Thulasi lost 11-21, 18-21 to Hirayama in a 31-minute battle and Sampada was sent packing 18-21, 17-21 by Zhang in 26 minutes.

Saina used the court well and played better from the nets as her opponent just couldn't gauge the length of the court and kept sending the shuttle out for a walk. Saina grabbed the opportunity to make points from the unforced errors of her opponent and pocketed the first set 21-8.

Chan played better in the next game but could not meet the class of the Indian and kept losing points before Saina sealed the game and match 21-8.

Sania, Yuki exit from Miami event

Sania Mirza's lean patch continued as the Indian ace crashed out of the $4,500,000 Sony Ericsson Open after losing a gruelling first round match against world number 65 Mathilde Johansson of France.

Sania, a wild card entrant, won the first set but could not survive the battle of nerves and lost 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-7 (8) against her rival. Also making a first round exit was India's teen sensation Yuki Bhambri, who put up a valiant fight against world number 73 Diego Junqueira of Argentina.

The 16-year-old Indian wild card showed a steely resolve as he kept his seasoned opponent in fight for one hour and 22 minutes before losing 4-6, 3-6. Sania had failed to move beyond the second round at Indian Wells last week.

The Indian ace, world number 100, will now compete in the doubles event for which she has teamed up with Chinese Taipei's Chia-Jung Chuang. The pair will take on the Czech combination of Iveta Benesova and Barbora Strycova Zahlavova in the opening round.

Yuki earned three breakpoints in the first set but could not convert any apart from dropping serve once. In second set, he was successful breaking Diego once and even saved four breakpoints but could stop Argentine from winning.

In the men's doubles, Mahesh Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles are seeded third and they will open their campaign against French pair of Julien Benneteau and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Leander Paes and his Czech partner are seeded fourth and they are up against Chile pair of Fernando Gonzalez and Juan Monaco.

South Africa to host IPL 2nd season

South Africa was on Tuesday named as the host for the second edition of the Indian Premier League which has been shifted out of India because of security apprehensions.

IPL commissioner Lalit Modi and Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola announced the news formally in a press conference in Johannesburg. The decision to hold the lucrative Twenty20 tournament was taken after a meeting between Modi and Majola at an undisclosed venue.

"We are very happy to confirm that South Africa will host the 2009 Indian Premier League," IPL chairman Lalit Modi said in a statement following a meeting with Cricket South Africa.

The tournament will be held between April 18 and May 24, a delay of about one week from the original schedule of April 10, 2009. Modi thanked CSA for agreeing to host the Twenty20 event in such a short notice.

"We would like to thank Cricket South Africa very much for the support they have given us over the past few days, which has helped us to come to this decision," said Modi. “And we look forward to a successful and exciting tournament being held at venues throughout South Africa," Modi said in the news release.

Six venues have been identified for staging the eight-team tournament and the matches will start at 4 pm IST and 8 pm IST to make it convenient for Indian elevision viewers back home. The tournament will feature 59 matches as planned and the fixtures will be announced shortly.

South Africa pipped England as the venue after the BCCI decided to shift the tournament outside India because of security issues in view of the general elections.

"The organisers can be assured that they have the full support of CSA's structures and the South African public to stage a successful tournament,” said Majola, CEO CSA, during the press release.

"This is a great compliment to both CSA and our nation to be shown this confidence in our ability to hold one of the world's top sporting events at short notice,” continued Majola.

England was initially tipped to be the front-runner but the wet weather there during April and May swayed the IPL officials to consider South Africa as the preferred venue.

Another reason for England's chances receding is the assurance from South Africa government and CSA officials that the tournament will receive full support.

South Africa was considered to be a better option because the cost of running the tournament would be substantially less than in England and their domestic event would have concluded by the time IPL began, sources said.

Gerrard helps Liverpool crush Villa 5-0

Steven Gerrard scored a hat-trick as Liverpool maintained their stunning recent form by crushing Aston Villa 5-0 at Anfield on Sunday to close the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester United to just one point.

Liverpool went 3-0 ahead when Nigel Reo-Coker sent Riera tumbling in the box and Gerrard sent Friedel the wrong way with his first penalty of the game. Gerrard then added a fourth five minutes after halftime when he arrowed a touched free-kick from Alonso wide of Friedel whose afternoon was cut short after 64 minutes.

Referee Martin Atkinson showed Friedel a red card after he sent Torres sprawling and Gerrard easily beat substitute goalkeeper Brad Guzan, making his first Premier League appearance, from the spot.

Two of Gerrard's goals came from penalties, with Dirk Kuyt and Albert Riera adding the others as Liverpool, who beat Manchester United 4-1 last weekend, ensured the title race remained wide open.

Liverpool, who last won the title in 1990 and seemed out of contention a few weeks ago, moved on to 64 points from 30 matches, one point behind United, who lost 2-0 at Fulham on Saturday but who have a match in hand.

Chelsea, beaten 1-0 at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, slipped back to third on 61 points from their 30 games. Arsenal, 3-1 winners at Newcastle United on Saturday are fourth on 55 points while Villa, who have now gone eight matches without a win in all competitions, remain fifth on 52 points with their Champions League hopes diminishing by the week.

Federer sets up semis clash with Murray

World number two Roger Federer beat Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) on Thursday to book a semi-final meeting with Andy Murray at the Indian Wells hardcourt tennis tournament.

Federer, a three-time champion who is seeded second behind world number one Rafael Nadal, took his record to 3-0 over the 10th-seeded Spaniard, but it wasn't plain sailing.

He led the second set 4-1 before Verdasco broke him twice to take a 6-5 lead, forcing Federer to break in the 12th game to avoid a third set.

Federer took a 6-2 lead in the tiebreaker, but needed four match points to put Verdasco away.

Federer, Murray advance at Indian Wells

Swiss star Roger Federer shook off the challenge of Chile's Fernando Gonzalez to reach the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells hardcourt tennis tournament on Wednesday.

The world number two, seeded second here behind world No.1 Rafael Nadal, got past Gonzalez 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.

In the quarter-finals he'll face 10th-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco, a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 winner over unseeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Fourth-seeded Briton Andy Murray reached the quarter-finals as fourth-round opponent Tommy Robredo of Spain retired with a right wrist injury. Murray led 6-2, 3-0 when Robredo decided he couldn't continue.

Murray next faces either Igor Andreev of Russia or Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia.

Fourth-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva booked a semi-final berth with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over ninth-seeded Dane Caroline Wozniacki.

Nadal eases through to fourth round

World number one Rafael Nadal continued his smooth progress at the ATP event in Indian Wells on Tuesday, easing past Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6-3, 6-3 to reach the fourth round.

The Spaniard, who has won three of the past four grand slam titles, clinched victory in one hour, 17 minutes to set up a clash with 14th seed David Nalbandian.

Champion Novak Djokovic survived a testing second set to beat German Tommy Haas 6-2, 7-6, while Juan Martin Del Potro also advanced.

Nadal took time to get into his stride against the Russian but managed to break twice to take the opening set.

Tursunov battled hard at the start of the second set to stay on terms but Nadal grabbed the break in the eighth game. The Russian had one break point chance to stay alive but

Nadal saved it and then won the next two points to book his place in the last 16.

Arsenal beat Hull to reach FA Cup semi-finals

Arsenal's new-found resilience was underlined on Tuesday as Arsene Wenger's side staged a late rally to win an ill-tempered clash with Hull and book a Wembley FA Cup semi-final date with Chelsea.

Nick Barmby's 13th-minute strike had given Hull hope of performing an encore to their September victory at the Emirates in the Premier League.

But Robin van Persie and William Gallas both found the net in the final quarter of an hour to send the Gunners through to the last four of the world's oldest knockout competition, as well as ensuring the club's first appearance at the new Wembley.

Gallas will not have the chance to lead Arsenal out at the national stadium, having been stripped of the captaincy earlier this season, but the France defender underlined his value to the club with his headed winner, six minutes from time, albeit one that was overshadowed by a strong suspicion of offside.

Arsenal had received a pre-match boost with Andrey Arshavin being passed fit to start.

The Russian playmaker had been unplayable against Blackburn on Saturday, but neither he nor Arsenal were to perform with the same fluency as in that 4-0 romp and it was little surprise that Hull took the lead through Barmby, an erstwhile star for their north London rivals Tottenham.

Arsenal's defence hesitated when confronted with a long ball from Andy Dawson, allowing Barmby to find the net with a volley and the help of a deflection off Johan Djourou.

Gunners goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, offered a chance to impress in place of the rested Manuel Almunia, then produced a fingertips save to prevent Hull's Brazilian playmaker, Geovanni, from doubling the lead from a free-kick.

Gradually however the Gunners began to assert themselves and efforts from Arshavin and Abou Diaby went close before van Persie forced Hull keeper Boaz Myhill into a fine save with a perfectly-executed free-kick from 25 yards.

The Dutch striker was not to be denied however, finally finding the net with 16 minutes left thanks to the persistence of substitute Nicklas Bendtner.

The big Dane's dogged determination enabled him to work the ball to Arshavin who provided the cutback from which van Persie fired Arsenal level.

Bendtner then had a close-range shot blocked behind by Michael Ricketts but Arsenal avoided a replay with six minutes left, with Gallas heading home from what replays showed was a blatantly offside position.

Ivanovic reaches fourth round in Indian Wells

Defending champion Ana Ivanovic beat Argentina's Gisela Dulko 6-3, 6-3 to reach the fourth round of the WTA event in Indian Wells on Monday.

The Serbian fifth seed was not totally convincing but did enough to set up a clash with Italian 12th seed Flavia Pennetta.

With Ivanovic making too many errors early on, 31st seed Dulko broke to lead 3-2 in the opening set.

Ivanovic quickly pulled her game together, however, reeling off four straight games for the set before easing through the second to clinch victory.

Pennetta beat American qualifier Angela Haynes 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 while seventh seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and Hungary's 22nd seed Agnes Szavay also advanced to the last 16.

Essien guides Chelsea back into second

Michael Essien confirmed his return could have a major influence on Chelsea's triple bid for honours by striking the winning goal in Chelsea's comfortable 1-0 victory over Manchester City to keep Guus Hiddink's side in second place in the Premier League.

Essien has now scored in each of his two starts after coming back into the Blues side following the serious knee injury that kept him out since last August.

And after helping Chelsea ease their way past Juventus and into the last eight of the Champions League last week, the Ghanaian's winner against City moved his side to within four points of Premier League leaders Manchester United.

Hiddink had maintained in the build-up to this weekend's round of matches that a Liverpool victory over United at Old Trafford on Saturday was crucial to maintaining any semblance of a contest in the title race.

And with Rafael Benitez's side having pulled off an improbable 4-1 victory 24 hours before this game, the prospect of closing the gap on the leaders clearly provided Hiddink's side with all the motivation they needed to easily dismiss City's flimsy challenge and continue their impressive revival under the Dutch manager.

Last week's 2-2 draw against Juventus in Turin remains the only blemish on Hiddink's record since taking over from Luiz Felipe Scolari last month, and the only surprise about the outcome of this game was that the home side hadn't put the game beyond City's reach long before half-time.

Chelsea's strength, pace and power was simply too much for their frail opponents who barely produced an attacking move of note throughout the ninety minutes

Once again Robinho was virtually anonymous away from the comfort zone of the City of Manchester stadium and, having been poised to join Chelsea last summer before City's British record 32million pound deadline day intervention, the Brazilian did nothing to give the London club cause to regret their failure to complete the deal.

Not that the play-maker was the only City player to under-perform.

Mark Hughes's side may be on the verge of reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup but they came out a poor second in all areas of the field and would have suffered a much heavier defeat but for the efforts of keeper Shay Given and defender Nedum Onuoha.

Chelsea had the ball in the net after just 90 seconds when Frank Lampard helped Deco's deflected shot past Given only to be ruled offside. Then minutes later Ricardo Carvalho should have done a lot better when he rose unchallenged to meet Lampard's left-wing corner and wastefully headed wide.

The opening barrage was certain to bring some reward, however, and that came in the eighteenth minute when Essien connected first time with Lampard's drilled free-kick, looping the ball over Given's head.

The strike may have carried more than stroke of luck but it was no more than Chelsea's vibrant opening deserved. The only surprise was that they failed to maintain the momentum and add to their tally.

Nicolas Anelka felt he should have won a penalty when he was brought down by Onuoha, but that apart, Hiddink's side created little in the way of genuine openings although Michael Ballack will wince when he sees replays of his wayward 36th minute shot.

In a rare intervention, Robinho conjured a scuffed shot that was cleared off the line by Jose Bosingwa but City's threat was minimal. The pattern was maintained after the break with Onuoha halting Didier Drogba just as the Ivorian was about to shoot and Juliano Belletti firing against the inside of the post.

But while Chelsea couldn't afford to ease up, their victory sent out a resounding message that the title race is not yet over.

Leander Paes advanced in men's doubles but it was curtains for Sania Mirza who crashed out of the women's singles event after a straight-set loss to 12th seed Italian Flavia Pennetta in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.

Fourth seeds Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy carved out a hard-fought 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 win over unseeded Austrians Julian Knowle and Jurgen Melzer in the opening round.

However, Sania lost 3-6, 4-6 after battling it out for over an hour against the Italian, who now leads the head-to-head record between the two players 3-2.

The loss ends Sania's campaign at the $4.5 million event as she has already been ousted from the doubles event after suffering a first-round defeat.

Paes and Dlouhy will take on another unseeded team of Argentines Juan Martin Del Potro and David Nalbandian in the second round.

Earlier in the tournament, the third seeded pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Bahamas' Mark Knowles had edged past Russians Dmitry Tursunov and Igor Kunitsyn 7-5, 6-3 in their opening-round match.

Liverpool stun United to keep title race alive

Liverpool breathed new life into the Premier League title race with a stunning 4-1 win against 10-man Manchester United on Saturday as the champions suffered their biggest home defeat in 17 years.

Rafael Benitez's side came from behind in an explosive clash at Old Trafford to move within four points of leaders United, who still have a game in hand on their bitter rivals.

Cristiano Ronaldo's 23rd minute penalty gave United the lead, but Fernando Torres capitalised on a mistake by Nemanja Vidic to equalise five minutes later. Steven Gerrard scored from the spot to put Liverpool in front in the 44th minute after the England midfielder was fouled by Patrice Evra.

In the 77th minute, Vidic was sent off for hauling down Gerrard and Fabio Aurelio scored from the resulting free-kick.

Andrea Dossena completed a memorable day for the Reds when he lobbed in the fourth in the 90th minute, handing United their biggest home defeat since QPR ran riot at Old Trafford on New Year's Day 1992.

"We knew we had to win," Benitez said. "We have played better, but not against teams at the level of United so I am really pleased for the players.

"The league is very difficult but at least we now have more options and we are more confident that we can beat anyone and stay closer."

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson added: "It is a hard one to take because I thought we were the better team and the score does not reflect that. "If the league was starting today, you would take a four-point start. Now the thing is to respond."

Sharapova tests shoulder in doubles defeat

Maria Sharapova's first test of her surgically repaired right shoulder proved brief as the Russian dropped a doubles decision Thursday in her first competitive match since August.

Sharapova, the former world number one and 2008 Australian Open champion,was hindered by a right shoulder injury much of last season and skipped the Beijing Olympics and the US Open before having arthroscopic surgery in October.

She was upbeat despite her abrupt dismissal from the $4.5 million tournament, as she and partner Elena Vesnina were beaten 6-1, 4-6 (10/7) by Ekaterina Makarova and Tatiana Poutchek in a first-round match that went to a super-tiebreak after they split the first two sets.

"I'm blessed I can have the opportunity to be here again," she said of her newfound appreciation for her career.

"I don't think I'm going to throw my racquet any more. Just to have the opportunity to step on the court and do what we do."

But Sharapova said she wasn't yet fit enough to play singles - and she refused to be drawn on when she might be.

"It felt good today," Sharapova said. "I think the hump I've got to get through now is to come on court and play two or three sets every day for a week or two weeks.

"Right now I do four days and then I have to take it easy."

After announcing plans to play at the Paris Open and then in Dubai earlier this year, and then deciding she wasn't fit, Sharapova said she would take it as it comes.

"I'm done with setting a timetable for myself," she said.

The 21-year-old said there had been unexpected pleasures as well as frustrations in the wake of her surgery.

"It has been fun in a way. I've gotten to do things and take trips and do things with the family," she said. "I've gotten to appreciate life a little bit more."

However, she has found rehabilitation can be difficult.

"You try to take two steps forward and sometimes you push too much," she said. "My experience is I have a great week practising, or just moving my arm, you feel it's doing really well so you push a little more and then you feel you have to step it down again."

"I can't complain," she added. "I'm a lot better than I was on October 15 when I was under the knife."

Sharapova had been dogged by an injury to her shoulder for more than a year.

Man United enter Champions League quarters

Holders Manchester United soothed a painful old wound for Alex Ferguson by knocking Inter Milan out of the Champions League on Wednesday, as Barcelona mauled Olympique Lyon 5-2 in a thrilling return to form.

Arsenal made it four English teams in the quarter-finals for the second successive year, their youngsters showing great composure to see them home 7-6 on penalties away to AS Roma.

The Stadio Olimpico in Rome will be the stage for the final in May and few would bet against at least one English team being back there to play in it.

United beat Inter Milan 2-0 at Old Trafford thanks to headers early in each half from Nemanja Vidic and Cristiano Ronaldo. The result gave United a record of 21 matches unbeaten in major European competitions and made it a satisfying night for Ferguson against his old nemesis Jose Mourinho.

Five years ago Mourinho danced up the Old Trafford touchline after his Porto team pulled off a shock victory on their way to winning the 2004 Champions League.

Mourinho continued to get the better of Ferguson on a regular basis after taking over at Chelsea and there were times on Wednesday when it looked like being a familiar story.

United and Arsenal joined Liverpool and Chelsea, who scored contrasting wins on Tuesday, when Bayern Munich and Villarreal also came through.

If Tuesday's games were marked by wrecking-ball performances from Liverpool, who stunned Real Madrid 4-0, and Bayern, who beat Sporting 7-1 to notch up a record 12-1 aggregate victory, Wednesday's ties provided much more subtlety and tension.

Federer hires Cahill as coach

Swiss tennis great Roger Federer has hired Darren Cahill as his new coach. Cahill, who has previously coached Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt, will begin his association with Federer at the Indian Wells this week, reports the Australian.

Cahill and Federer, who has been off the circuit for six weeks with a back injury, have been working together in Dubai, where the Swiss star has a base.

Federer has previously worked with other Australian coaches Peter Carter, who passed away in 2002, and Tony Roche.
Federer's agent Tony Godsick confirmed Cahill will guide Federer initially in his comeback but would not say how long the two would work together.

The Swiss maestro hasn't played since losing to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final in January.

"Yes, the two have met in Dubai and played a few balls together," Godsick said to a German magazine. "It is a test for both. One cannot yet say whether it will be something long term. They'll work together now and see how it works out."

"The two had a great respect for each other. It was occasionally discussed. It's a trial. Now that Roger's had a break, anyway, because of his back, the timing was perfect for the test."

Carter coached Federer through his formative years while Roche guided him to six of his 13 Grand Slam titles. Federer has won three successive Indian Wells titles, the last in 2006.

Weather in Arizona

Well Arizona has clouds mostly now and the weather is not so bad. It's been around 75-80 F highs and around 45-55 F in the lows. That is actually a good weather to say when it is so hot in other places. Mostly if u see it is going to be cloudy this week and not much sun. You must relax in a great house with lot of breeze and enjoy the amazing weather. To have such a fun you can look relocate to Scottsdale which will help you a lot.

Weather has to be good for someone to enjoy, but Arizona is also hot sometimes and you cannot take the heat , I know. But at least now the weather is manageable so you must have fun there with a new sweet home. The average rainfall in summer is less than 1in per month. It often rains more in July and August, in a sort of Rainy season. It's nice there.

This post brought to you to relocate to Scottsdale.

Man United host injury hit Inter Milan

Manchester United appear unstoppable as they chase an unprecedented five titles in one season, and Inter Milan's chances of halting the Red Devils in the Champions League have been hit by an injury crisis in defense.

The knockout phase of European football's most prestigious competition resumes with the second legs and Man United goes into Wednesday's game at Old Trafford level at 0-0 but with an embarrassment of riches in attack while Inter has just lost two key defenders and may have two more missing.

Nicolas Burdisso hurt his right leg and tore a ligament in his left knee in Saturday's 2-0 victory over Genoa and Marco Materazzi injured his left leg. Materazzi may miss three weeks, while Burdisso could be out for six weeks.

Mourinho led Chelsea to back-to-back Premier League titles in his first two seasons in English football and also won the FA Cup final against Ferguson's team. Although Inter is seven points ahead in the Serie A title race, it has not won the European title since 1965 and now takes on the defending champions.

United moved into the semifinal of the FA Cup on Saturday with a 4-0 victory at Fulham with two goals from Carlos Tevez and will face Chelsea for a place in the final.

United's triumphs in the Club World Cup in November and last weekend's League Cup took Ferguson's total of trophies to 24 in 23 seasons and his team is also seven points ahead in the Premier League title race with a game in hand.

Ferguson rested Cristiano Ronaldo and put Dimitar Berbatov on the bench to keep them fresh and fit for the return leg against Inter. Defender Nemanja Vidic returns to the side for the second leg after missing the first leg in Milan through suspension.

Held 3-3 by AS Roma and beaten 3-0 by Sampdoria in the Italian Cup semifinals, Inter rallied with a 2-0 victory over Genoa on Saturday with Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring after two minutes having missed those two earlier games.

Among Tuesday's games, Liverpool hosts Real Madrid and is already 1-0 ahead but has fitness fears surrounding striker Fernando Torres. Real Madrid's 10-game winning streak in La Liga ended with a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid on Saturday and, with six points now to make up on Barcelona, may have to concentrate on the Champions League.

"The match is like a final and only a win will do for us," Madrid coach Juande Ramos said. "We'll go there with all the optimism in the world to win a match which will be tough and attractive. The players have a huge desire to make the fans happy."

Ramos could recall his joint-top scorer this season, 14-goal Gonzalo Higuain, who he left on the bench for the Atletico game before fielding him early in the second half. Higuain looks set to replace the cup-tied Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

Facing one of his former clubs, Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri hopes that his team can overturn a 1-0 deficit and believes that Chelsea's away form in this competition is not as good as in domestic competitions.

"English clubs can struggle on the road. Our fans really need to give us a hand," said Ranieri, who rested Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet in Saturday's 1-0 derby win over Torino. "We need to play like we know how and score goals."

Panathinaikos and Villarreal are level at 1-1 but Bayern Munich is virtually through to the quarterfinal, already 5-0 ahead of Sporting Lisbon and with home advantage. Three of Wednesday's games start off level while AS Roma has to overturn Arsenal's 1-0 advantage. FC Porto-Atletico Madrid are level at 2-2 and Barcelona hopes to beat Lyon and make it to the last eight.

Barcelona's four-game run without a victory ended with a 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday and Josep Guardiola's team, now six points ahead in the league and also in the Copa del Rey final, is chasing three titles.

Barcelona's victory over Bilbao was marred by captain Carles Puyol picking up a left ankle sprain which will rule him out for three weeks.

Fulham take heart from Portsmouth's Cup triumph

Fulham will take heart from Portsmouth's unexpected surge to 2008 FA Cup glory when they host mighty Manchester United in Saturday's quarter-final at Craven Cottage.

"Certainly we go in as underdogs," Fulham manager Roy Hodgson said on Friday. "We're realistic but ... if we did want to take solace from the fact this can be done, we've got Portsmouth last year.

"In the Cup everything is possible." United, still on course to win six trophies this season, are likely to include FIFA World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo in attack.

"Ronaldo is a player I respect enormously," said Hodgson. "He's got wonderful ability and if we're going to keep him quiet, which is a very difficult thing to do, we'll have to be very good."

Hodgson side-stepped Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger's comments that Ronaldo's "arrogance" can sometimes make him the target of bad tackles.

"He (Ronaldo) has got a lot of confidence," he said. "Someone who is very confident in his play would always run the risk of being called arrogant."

Hodgson added his players would have to be careful not to give away a penalty by making a rash challenge.

"(Ronaldo) goes at such speed that when he loses control of the ball and people are in there making attempted challenges, the referee has a difficult task," he said.

United manager Alex Ferguson, who has already won the Community Shield, Club World Cup and League Cup this season and is also chasing success in the Premier League and Champions League, said mid-table Fulham would be tricky opponents.

Never forget The Holodomor Truth

In the soviet famine of 1932-1933 millions of people starved to death. The holodomor is a major part of that famine that occurred in Ukraine in that period of time. Estimated death toll in this famine is nearly 10 million which includes a massive peasant population of about 8 million. It was the terrible national catastrophe that affected Ukraine to a great extent.

At that time the major agricultural lands were so much affected that it could not be expressed in words. The food requisition actions carried by the authorities of Soviet resulted in the famine. Some consider the famine was a pre-planned attack on Ukraine. Later it was found that the famine was due to some in ineffective economic policies followed by the communist govenrnments in the Soviet Union. The term 'golodomor' refers to 'great hunger'.

To attract the attention of the world to Ukraine, the term 'golodomor' was transformed into 'holodomor' which sounds similar to 'holocaust'. So this should be taken as a genocide or genocidal famine. But the European Parliament refused to accept the fact that it is an act of genocide instead it treated it as a crime planned by the politicians so as to force through the collectivization policy of the Union. I feel very grateful to get such a information about the Holodomor.

This post brought to you by holodomor.

Ashley Cole arrested after drunken rant

Chelsea and England defender Ashley Cole was arrested for being drunk and disorderly outside a London bar overnight Thursday, police said.

The 28-year-old left-back was detained and held in custody for some three hours after reportedly swearing at police outside a bar and restaurant in London's plush South Kensington area, near Chelsea's Stamford Bridge ground.

He was later given a spot fine of 80 pounds (113 dollars, 90 euros) and released.

"At about 2.15am on Thursday, a man was arrested in Brompton Road, South Kensington, on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly and taken to a central London police station," a police spokesman said when asked about the incident.

"He was later issued with a fixed penalty notice for being drunk and disorderly and released at 5.37am".

The spokesman did not directly identify the man, in line with regular British police policy.

A spokesman for Chelsea confirmed that Cole had been detained but added: "We will want to establish all the facts before commenting."

Earlier in the evening, Cole attended a charity fundraising event co-organised by his club. He then went to the bar with Chelsea and England captain John Terry and other teammates, according to its general manager.

Cole's wife Cheryl, a member of pop group Girls Aloud, is currently climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania for charity with a team of other British celebrities.

Cole has a bad boy reputation both on and off the pitch -- last year, he was widely condemned for turning his back on a referee while being booked after an ugly tackle, and his private life regularly features in tabloid newspapers.

United beat Newcastle, restore 7-point lead

Manchester United took another big step towards a third straight English title after coming from behind to beat Newcastle 2-1 and reclaim a seven-point lead at the top of the table.

Wins for Liverpool and Chelsea 24 hours earlier had encouraged thoughts of the title battle being opened up once more, which were further encouraged by Peter Lovenkrands 9th-minute opener for Newcastle.

But the stumble United's rivals had hoped for failed to materialise as United hit back through Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov. United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admitted his side had not been at their best but paid tribute to his players' determination.

"It wasn't a great performance," admitted the Scot. "We got off to a terrible start, and Newcastle were pumped up for it. "But coming from 1-0 down was a good result for us. It required a lot of grit."

As well as a seven-point cushion, United have a game in hand over their rivals as they seek to close out the campaign. A stoppage time winner by substitute Manucho, the Angolan striker on loan from Manchester United, earned Hull an unlikely 1-0 win at Fulham and halted Phil Brown's side's slide towards trouble.

AC Milan hopeful of Beckham loan extension

AC Milan are working to extend David Beckham's loan from Los Angeles Galaxy until the end of June with an eye to signing him permanently next year, chief executive Adriano Galliani said on Monday.

"Negotiations are getting more intense. I hope to manage to arrange for him to stay here at least until June 30 on loan," Galliani told the club's in-house TV channel.

"Then he could return to Los Angeles and come back in January. It's a complicated path, as we have always known, but I'm trying."

The clubs are close to an agreement for the loan extension which should be finalised by the end of the week, the Los Angeles Times reported on its website.

Beckham is due to return to Galaxy on March 9 if a deal is not reached. The clubs had been in talks over a permanent transfer but were unable to agree on a fee.

The 33-year-old midfielder initially joined Milan to stay in contention for England selection during the US close season but enjoyed playing top class football again so much he set his sights on a long-term stay.

Beckham has settled well, scoring two goals in nine Serie A games, although the level of his recent performances has dipped as Milan have run into some poor form. They were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Werder Bremen last Thursday and are 12 points behind league leaders Inter Milan.

Foster shines as United beat Spurs on penalties

Manchester United squeezed past holders Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 on penalties to win the English League Cup on Sunday after the Wembley final finished 0-0 after extra time. Third-choice keeper Ben Foster was the United hero, diving to his left to save Jamie O'Hara's penalty and inspire the shoot-out win.

David Bentley also dragged his effort wide for Spurs before Anderson fired the winning penalty to make it a perfect weekend for United after Liverpool's defeat by Middlesbrough on Saturday left them seven points clear in the Premier League.

After adding the League Cup to FIFA's Club World Cup
in Japan, United are still chasing a clean sweep of five trophies but manager Alex Ferguson played down the quintuple chances.

Ferguson made special mention of Foster, one of several reserves in the United team. He was the busier of the two keepers, saving well from Aaron Lennon in normal time, Darren Bent in extra time and then O'Hara's penalty.

"Without Ben Foster we would have lost today," Ferguson said. "He will be England's keeper for many seasons if he has a bit more luck with injuries."

United, with Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick not even in the squad, were the better side early on. Cristiano Ronaldo fired a free kick over from 25 metres and Paul Scholes launched a superb long pass for Danny Welbeck but the teenaged reserve striker was closed down.

Ferguson beefed up United's midfield with Brazilian Anderson in the second half as the game meandered towards extra time. Ronaldo was booked for diving, although replays suggested Spurs skipper Ledley King was lucky not to concede a penalty.

Tottenham improved as the half wore on and Lennon had their best chance with 20 minutes to go. The ball was worked to him on the edge of the area and after setting himself and taking aim, he thumped a shot that Foster did well to beat away past the despairing lunge of Bent.

Ronaldo almost won it in stoppage time, his shot cannoning off the post and Carlos Tevez hitting the rebound wide.

Tottenham won the trophy last season against Chelsea in extra time and had the chance to repeat that feat when Bent found space but Foster saved his shot with his legs. As penalties loomed Modric jinked through United's defence before a last-ditch tackle and Patrice Evra crashed a half-volley over the crossbar.

United had happy memories of their last penalty shoot-out, having clinched the Champions League against Chelsea on spot kicks, and there was an inevitability about the conclusion once O'Hara's effort was turned away by Foster.

Liverpool's latest slip-up means United are well placed to complete a hat-trick of league titles. Tottenham, on the other hand, have just a relegation fight to look forward to.

Liverpool's title hopes dashed

Liverpool's lingering Premier League title hopes virtually disappeared on Saturday when they lost 0-2 at Middlesbrough as the home side secured their first league win in 15 matches.

Liverpool's second league defeat of the season leaves them on 55 points, seven behind leaders Manchester United, who play Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup final on Sunday and now have a game in hand.

Roared on by a rare full house, Boro went ahead after 32 minutes when Stewart Downing's cross hit Xabi Alonso's thigh and flew in for an own goal.

The second came after 64 minutes when Jeremie Aliadiere escaped down the right and cut the ball back for their Turkey forward Tuncay, who calmly converted.

Morocco's Nabil El Zhar missed a sitter for the visitors when he fired over the bar from close range, while Dirk Kuyt also missed a great opportunity late on.

Both chances were created by Steven Gerrard but the midfielder, making his first start for almost a month, limped off 15 minutes from time with what appeared to be cramp.

Chelsea climbed above Liverpool into second place on goal difference after am injury-time header by Frank Lampard gave them a 2-1 home win over Wigan Athletic.

Aston Villa, fourth on 51, host Stoke City on Sunday and Arsenal's chance of catching them took another dent when they were held at home by Fulham for their fourth successive goalless Premier League draw.