Villa leapfrog Arsenal into Champions League position

Aston Villa leapfrogged Arsenal into the last Champions League placing on Tuesday as an own-goal by Kamil Zayatte gifted them a 1-0 victory over Hull City in the last Premier League match of the year.

Zayatte turned his attempted clearance past goalkeeper Boaz Myhill to extend Villa's unbeaten sequence to eight while Hull must be staring anxiously at the bottom three as they have only won once in their last 11 games.

They looked to be on course to salvage a point in time added on when referee Steve Bennett awarded them a penalty for handball but after consulting with a linesman he correctly rescinded his decision as former Real Madrid target Ashley Young had not handled the ball, though he did raise his arm as the ball went over the bar.

Hull's veteran former England striker Nicky Barmby thought he might have got the opener early in the first-half but Bennett adjudged correctly that he had barged Villa keeper Brad Friedel - who was making his 172nd successive Premier League appearance - before stabbing the ball home.

Indeed despite Villa playing the most creative football it was Hull that were slightly more effective in the danger areas and it took a desperate headed clearance by Curtis Davies 10 minutes from the break to stop Hull capitalising on a fine move.

The second-half was a similar period to the first where Villa played the pretty football but were unable to impose themselves as Hull's players stopped them every time they looked dangerous.

Sharapova hopes to be fit for Australian title defence

Maria Sharapova says she hopes to be fit to defend her title at the Australian Open in January, despite pulling out of an exhibition event in Hong Kong next month.

In a statement posted on her website, Sharapova said she regretted pulling out of the JB Group Classic team tennis tournament, scheduled for January 7-10 in Hong Kong.

"It's with much disappointment that I have to withdraw from Hong Kong. I've been using this event for the last five years to get match fit and ready for the new season, in fact Hong Kong has been successful in preparing me for the Australian Open," she said.

Sharapova launched her 2008 season in style with a triumph at the Australian Open.

But the 21-year-old was hindered by a right shoulder injury much of the year. She skipped the Beijing Olympics, the US Open before having arthroscopic surgery in October.

"I'm just not ready to play against the top class competition in Hong Kong, although I remain hopeful for Australia where I'm the defending champion," she said.

The Australian Open, first Grand Slam of the season, starts in Melbourne on January 19. "Believe me, it's been a very difficult decision, but I only started practicing 16 days ago," she said.

The Hong Kong event has a new format this year, featuring four teams - Europe, Russia, Team Americas and Asia Pacific. Top players slated to appear include world number one Jelena Jankovic and Wimbledon champion Venus Williams.

Berbatov gives United more Christmas cheer

Dimitar Berbatov still to hit it off at Manchester United since arriving from Spurs in September, settled a tense clash with a 69th minute volley to give the Champions League holders a 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough on Monday.

And it ensured that Premier League champions United, who extended their run without conceding a league goal to ten hours and two minutes, remained well in contention for the title going into the New Year.

United's 1-0 victory at Stoke on Friday, courtesy of a late goal from Carlos Tevez, kept the champions within touching distance of leaders Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.

But United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was without the Argentinean forward for this game after allowing him to return to South America to deal with a 'family issue' in Buenos Aires.

Still, with Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov and Cristiano Ronaldo available up-front, United certainly possessed ample firepower with which to overcome Middlesbrough. But in a wasteful first-half, chances went astray and Ronaldo was the main culprit.

United could at least console themselves by their heavy dominance of possession, but Middlesbrough had the ability to hurt them on the break and Brazilian striker Afonso Alves almost embarrassed them when he shot narrowly over the crossbar after skillfully escaping the attentions of defender Nemanja Vidic.

The game exploded in first-half stoppage time, however, when referee Martin Atkinson enraged Ronaldo by failing to award a penalty after the United man had been dragged to the ground by Emmanuel Pogatetz.

It was a real let-off for United and they made it count seven minutes later when Berbatov broke the deadlock with only his third goal for the club since his £30.75m September arrival from Spurs.

Park's tenacity led to Michael Carrick crossing into the penalty area and, when David Wheater failed to clear, Berbatov volleyed past Turnbull from close range to open the scoring and take United three points closer to Liverpool at the top of table.

Liverpool's Steven Gerrard arrested over assault

England and Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard has been arrested on suspect of assault, a police source said on Monday.

Gerrard, 28, was one of six men arrested in the early hours of the morning after police were called to a disturbance at a bar in the centre of Liverpool in north west England.

Merseyside Police confirmed they had arrested a 28-year-old man from the Formby area north of Liverpool on suspicion of assault and said he remained in police custody.

The other five men arrested, also for assault, all came from Liverpool and were aged 33, 31, 29, 19 and 18.

Police said a 34-year-old man from Southport, north of Liverpool, was taken to hospital with facial injuries.

Gerrard scored twice in Sunday's 5-1 Premier League victory over Newcastle United.

Gallas's late winner sinks Pompey

William Gallas's goal nine minutes from time enabled Arsenal to reclaim fourth place in the Premier League with a 1-0 win over Portsmouth at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Victory saw the Gunners move ahead of Aston Villa, who do not play until Tuesday, on goals scored, although they remain 10 points adrift of leaders Liverpool.

The win also ended a run of three successive drawn games that had also seen captain Cesc Fabregas ruled out until March by injury.

Portsmouth, managed by former Arsenal captain Tony Adams, frustrated Arsenal for long periods but had no answer to Gallas's 81st-minute header. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger made three changes from the side that drew 2-2 at Villa on Boxing Day.

Alex Song missed out through injury but Robin van Persie and Kolo Toure found themselves on the bench as Gael Clichy, Nicklas Bendtner and Emmanuel Adebayor returned, with the latter having served a one-match ban following his sending off in last week's 1-1 draw with leaders Liverpool.

Wenger sacrificed Emmanuel Eboue for an extra attacker in the 66th minute but it was the teenager Carlos Vela who came on, not van Persie. James made a fine save with a leg to deny Nasri, who fired in a shot from a tight angle, before Arsenal Aaron Ramsey replaced Diaby with 15 minutes left.

Nadir Belhadj forced a rare save from Almunia following a Crouch back-heel.

But hopes of an away win were dashed when Diop rashly fouled Vela near the left touchline and France
defender Gallas headed home Denilson's free-kick, with James again failing to make any contact after coming off his line.

There was a further blow for the away side when Diop, taken off on a stretcher, was hurt as Denilson challenged.

Lahiri on top in suspended third round of BILT Open

Anirban Lahiri continued his rampaging form and was four-under at the 17th hole while Jeev Milkha Singh was three-under when play was suspended with 15 golfers still to complete the third round of the BILT Open on Saturday.

Overnight leader Rahil Gangjee completed 17 holes in the third round, three-under with a total of 12-under to stay on course for the title.

Out of the 38 golfers who completed the third round, Gaganjeet Bhullar carded a flawless four-under 68 for the third successive time to emerge as the club house leader with a total of 12-under 204, while one shot behind was Jyoti Randhawa (68,69,68).

Lahiri had a roller-coaster front nine. The Bangalorean was off the blocks with a birdie and followed it up with a birdie hat-trick from the fourth to sixth hole.

But a double-bogey at the tricky par-three seventh hole spoilt his broth after his tee shot slided down the hilltop before his small putts went haywire.

However, the 21-year-old made a dramatic comeback, firing two birdies on the eighth and ninth hole to take the turn at four-under.

Lahiri's back-nine was equally topsy-turvy as he dropped a shot at the 12th but picked up a birdie on the 15th to end the day on a positive note at 17th.

In contrast, Jeev had a see-saw front nine. He sank a birdie at the fourth but stumbled on the seventh, picked up a shot at the ninth but again dropped a bogey at the 13th before finding an eagle at the 15th. He was on the greens at the 17th hole at the end of day's play.

Gangjee started with a bogey in the first but followed it up with birdies at the fourth, sixth, 12th and 15th.

Jyoti, who won the four PGTI event he participated, sank birdies on the second, fourth, 10th, 12th, 14th and 15th against two bogeys on the 13th and last hole 18th.

Earlier in the day, resuming at three-under, Lahiri ended the second round with a total of 13-under 131 to emerge as the leader, while Jeev brought home an identical six-under 66 to grab the second spot with a total of 11-under 133.

Keane double helps Liverpool stay top

Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United celebrated the festive season with victories on Friday while Arsenal, the other member of the 'big four', squandered a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at Aston Villa.

Liverpool beat Bolton Wanderers 3-0 at Anfield with Robbie Keane scoring twice to give the leaders 42 points, one ahead of Chelsea as the Premier League season reached the halfway point.

Manchester United won 1-0 at Stoke City to go third on 35 points, ahead of Villa on goal difference after they equalised in stoppage time in the evening match to hold Arsenal who remained fifth on 32.

Chelsea briefly went top when they beat bottom club West Bromwich Albion 2-0 at Stamford Bridge in an early kickoff with goals from Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard.

Liverpool ended the day in first place after two goals from Keane and one by Albert Riera sank Bolton. Liverpool played superbly at Anfield, where they had drawn their last three matches, and were well worth the victory over Bolton as Keane scored twice in five minutes early in the second half to take his tally to three in two matches.

Chelsea put pressure on Liverpool

Didier Drogba ensured Chelsea enjoyed an unusually trouble-free afternoon at Stamford Bridge by setting up a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion on Friday.

The Ivory Coast international, restored to the starting line-up in tandem with Nicolas Anelka, struck early to put Luiz Felipe Scolari's side in control in west London
before Frank Lampard completed a comfortable victory late in the first half.

Victory saw Chelsea move back to the top of the English Premier League and put pressure on Liverpool, the previous leaders, who were not in action against Bolton
until later in the day.

Scolari will also be reassured at the sight of Drogba and Anelka working well in tandem. The French striker might have been in fine form this term but Chelsea can appear one-dimensional when deprived of Drogba's muscle and menace.

His return here for just his second league start of what has been an injury and suspension-ravaged season was decisive and he wasted no time in reminding Chelsea's supporters what they have been missing, with a third minute header which put the Blues ahead.

True, he was helped by West Brom defending which bordered on the bewildering - the visitors allowed Joe Cole ample time and space to curl in a delicious cross from the right while Gianni Zuiverloon was out-muscled far too easily by Drogba at the back post.

In the 38th minute the England left-back, rampaging forward to his heart's content, was picked out on the left of the penalty area and struck a sweet left-footed shot which cannoned into the post via Scott Carson's fingertips.

The goalkeeper scrambled to his feet just in time to collect Cole's follow-up, which appeared to be scudding wide regardless.

Lampard should have done better than chip tamely into Carson's hands moments after the re-start while Drogba wasted two golden opportunities to add to his personal tally.

The striker blazed wide at the near post and then drove straight at Carson after neat approach play from Anelka had put him clear in the area.

Drogba was withdrawn soon afterwards and Chelsea were on cruise control for the final 20 minutes. Sterner tests await but there was still enough here to suggest that Stamford Bridge can, once again, be a fortress.

Pakistan's Rehan Butt named Asia's best hockey player

Pakistan's experienced striker Rehan Butt has been named Asia's hockey player of the year, the Pakistan Hockey Federation announced on Sa
turday.

Butt, a former national captain, was picked ahead of leading players from India, South Korea and Malaysia
. The Lahore-based forward was also recently selected in an All-Star World XI that was picked by the International Hockey Federation.

PHF secretary Asif Bajwa received the award on Butt's behalf at a ceremony on Saturday on the sidelines of the Asian Hockey
Federation Congress in Kuala Lumpur. Besides Bajwa, PHF president Qasim Zia also attended the Congress.

Pakistan hockey legend MH Atif, who passed away earlier this month, was awarded a Life Time Achievement Award by the AHF.

The Pakistani officials earlier met with hockey officials of India, China, Malaysia, South Korea, Bangladesh and Oman and they assured full support to the PHF.

Liverpool facing Premier endurance test

It was legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly who said the race for the English league title is a "marathon not a sprint".

But lasting the distance has proved a problem in recent seasons for the club the Scot moulded into one of the giants of the English game.

Liverpool head into the busy festive period, which sees them welcome Lancashire rivals Bolton Wanderers to Anfield on Friday, with a one-point lead at the top of the table.

However, not since 1990 have Liverpool, who've won the title a record 18 times, been able to call themselves champions of England.

Sammy Lee, now back at Anfield as assistant manager to Rafael Benitez following an ill-fated spell in charge of Bolton, said: "People ask and expect more, and they are entitled to want that.

Liverpool, who could have star striker Fernando Torres back in their side for Friday's Boxing Day clash, haven't lost to top-10 team Bolton at Anfield since 1954.

Twice in successive games have second-placed Chelsea failed to take advantage of Liverpool draws to go top themselves.

But should Benitez's side, held to a 1-1 draw by Arsenal last time out, drop more points it is hard to see Chelsea being quite so generous at home to bottom-of-the-table West Brom, even though the Baggies come into the game on the back of a win over fellow strugglers Manchester City.

Chelsea will, however, be without inspirational captain John Terry after the England centre-half was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Leon Osman during Monday's goalless stalemate against Everton.

Manchester United, buoyed by winning the Club World Cup in Japan, returned to domestic action away to Stoke.

Sir Alex Ferguson's English and European champions are seven points off top spot but with two games in hand.

Stoke are one of several clubs above the bottom three who, even now, are involved in a scrap for survival in the lucrative top tier of English football.

Nepal lifts ACC U-19 Women's Championship

In their first international victory, Nepal's women cricket team celebrates victory at Chiang Mai, Thailand, after defeating Malaysia in the final match of ACC U-19 Women's Championship on Tuesday, Dec 23 08.

Nepal routed Malaysia by seven wickets, reaching the 46 run target in just 12 overs. Nepal's Sonu Khadka took three wickets while Rekha Rawal and Keshari Choudhari took 2 wickets each.

Invited to bat first after losing toss, Malaysia lost its wickets in 16.2 overs.

Nepal remained unbeaten in earlier matches of the tournament, sidelining Bhutan, Singapore, Kuwait and China.

"We always knew we had the team to win, we've been playing a long time and have enough confidence in matches," ACC's website www.asiancricket.org quoted Nepal's captain Nary Thapa as saying on her team's victory.

"We played very well," reacted Nepal's coach Jameel Ansari.

Last year, Nepal had lost to Bangladesh in the ACC U-19 Championship.

Bhutia named AIFF's Player of the Year

He was inspirational in India's win in the AFC Challenge Cup that fetched him the most valuable player award and it came as no surprise when Bhaichung Bhutia was chosen the All India Football Federation's Player of the Year.

The India and Mohun Bagan skipper, who won the award the first time in 1995, is the only player after IM Vijayan to win it twice. Vijayan was bestowed the honour thrice ever since its inception in 1992.

The decision was taken in the AIFF's Annual General Meeting on Tuesday.

The meeting was chaired by Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, also the senior vice-president of the AIFF.

Patel, who would be the acting chief in absence of the indisposed AIFF President Priyaranjan Dasmunshi, he was re-elected unanimously for another term on Tuesday, hinted that secretary general Alberto Colaco will be continuing.

"We won't have any major upheavals," confirmed Patel, who addressed the media. Colaco's tenure comes to an end in December but it is likely that he will get an extension.

The Civil Aviation Minister said he would be looking into Air India's commercial entity criteria that has so far been in the doldrums.

Arsenal frustrate Liverpool with a draw

Arsenal survived Emmanuel Adebayor's controversial dismissal to hold on for a 1-1 draw against Liverpool that left their title hopes hanging by a slender thread on Sunday.

Arsene Wenger's side were reduced to 10 men early in the second half at the Emirates Stadium when referee Howard Webb showed Togo striker Adebayor a second yellow card for barging into Alvaro Arbeloa.

Adebayor made little contact but the intent was there and Arsenal had to settle for a point that left both sides unsatisfied.The Gunners had taken the lead through Robin van Persie's superb strike but Robbie Keane punished poor defending to draw Liverpool level before half-time.

Suddenly there was more energy to Arsenal. They snapped into tackles and zipped the ball about with intent before conjuring a sublime goal in the 24th minute.

Samir Nasri took possession just inside his own half and unfurled a sumptuous long pass towards van Persie. As Daniel Agger and Jamie Carragher dithered, van Persie controlled on his chest, turned away from Carragher and lashed a superb strike past Jose Reina.

The number of phone conversations going on down on the Liverpool bench suggested Benitez, in touch from his sick bed, wasn't a happy man. But he would have been celebrating in front of the television as Liverpool snatched an equaliser against the run of play in the 42nd minute.

Liverpool picked up where they left off before the break and Lucas's powerful shot from the edge of the area forced a fine save from Almunia.

Wenger's side had just begun to build up a little momentum when Adebayor, already on a booking, sent Arbeloa sprawling in the 57th minute. Webb hesitated for a moment, then showed Adebayor a second yellow card to the fury of Wenger and the home fans.

It was no surprise when van Persie and Bacary Sagna were booked for crude challenges born out of pure frustration. Liverpool struggled to press home their advantage and only Agger, with a long range effort, and substitute Nabil El Zhar, who glanced his header wide, went close to snatching the win.

Villa go third after own goal sinks West Ham

Aston Villa took full advantage of the absence of the other Premier League high-fliers on Saturday, winning 1-0 at West Ham United to climb to third.

A deflected James Milner shot 12 minutes from time gave Villa 34 points from 18 games and pushed them above Manchester United (32).

Liverpool, who lead on 38 points, visit Arsenal (fifth on 30) on Sunday while second-placed Chelsea (37) travel to Everton on Monday night.

Bolton Wanderers scored twice in the first three minutes en route to a 2-1 home win over Portsmouth while Fulham beat Middlesbrough 3-0.

Sunderland hit four for the second successive game and climbed out of the relegation zone when they triumphed 4-1 at Hull City.

In the evening game at Upton Park, Villa had the best of the first half but were on the defensive for most of the second as the hosts wasted several good chances.

The game seemed to be heading for a draw until Milner's speculative cross-shot hit West Ham defender Lucas Neill and looped over keeper Robert Green.

The own goal secured Villa's sixth away win of the season and condemned West Ham to their fifth home defeat.

"I'm delighted to be third," Villa manager Martin O'Neill told the BBC. "We created quite a number of chances on the break in the first half but the game was really open and could have gone either way.

Saina Nehwal loses in World Super Series semi-final

Saina Nehwal played her heart out but lost to world number six Chen Wang of Hong Kong in an edge-of-the-seat semi-final of the World Super Series Masters Final on Saturday.

The world number 10 Indian used every trick from her arsenal but failed to match the experience of her third seed Hong Kong opponent and went down fighting 21-15, 14-21, 16-21 to bring down curtains in the prestigious tournament.

An attacking player, Wang rode on her smashes and better net play to wrest the match as Saina huffed and puffed helplessly all across the court.

However, the 18-year-old Indian raised her game and rallied to pocket the first game 21-15.

The third game was a cliff-hanger as the two rivals fought tooth and nail. At one point, Wang opened up a four point lead but Saina narrowed down the gap pocketing two quick points.

Finally, however, it was the Hong Kong girl who had the last laugh as she sealed the match in 42 minutes.

Saina became the first Indian to reach the semifinals of the World Super Series Masters Finals on Friday when she beat Hongyan Pi of France in straight games and later edged out local favourite Mew Choo Wong in a thrilling contest on a single day.

The Beijing quarter-finalist will next play in the Malaysian Super Series and the Korean Super Series in January next year.

Spurs survive to enter knock-out phase

Tottenham made it into the UEFA Cup knock-out stages with a gritty come-from behind 2-2 draw over Spartak Moscow at White Hart Lane on Thursday following the final group matches.

Spurs became the third Premier League side to survive the group round after Aston Villa, in action 24 hours earlier, and Manchester City.

Spurs went into the break with boos ringing in their ears though as they trailed 2-0 to Spartak after Artem Dzyuba drilled a loose ball through keeper Heurelho Gomes' legs with the Russian then doubling up into an empty net.

Luka Modric, one of the players who has enjoyed a revival since Redknapp's arrival, cut the deficit after making the most of a great run from half-time substitute Aaron Lennon in the 67th minute - the Croat's first goal for Tottenham.

Other clubs to book the last six berths available for the round of 32 on Thursday were Paris Saint Germain, Olympiakos, VfB Stuttgart, NEC Nijmegen, and Sampdoria.

Mark Hughes' Man City turned up at Racing Santander already qualified, which is just as well as they were trounced 3-1 by the Spaniards.

Hughes rang the changes in Spain, with seven new faces from the side that lost to Everton at the weekend, including Kasper Schmeichel replacing Joe Hart in goal and Tal Ben-Haim in at centre-back for captain Richard Dunne whose wife is due to give birth this week.

But to no avail as Santander went two goals clear inside half an hour via Jonathan Pereira and Oscar Serrano with Juan Valera turning the screw after the break.

Felipe Caicedo grabbed City's consolation in injury time. Despite the reverse City held on to top spot in Group A clear of already through FC Twente and PSG.

Rooney sends Manchester United into Club World Cup final

Manchester United hit three goals in a pulsating five-minute spell to overpower Japan's Gamba Osaka 5-3 in their Club World Cup on Thursday.

United substitute Wayne Rooney scored twice moments after coming on, getting his first goal seconds after Gamba striker Masato Yamazaki had pegged the score back to 2-1 in the 74th minute.

Darren Fletcher also got on the scoresheet after coming off the bench as the game exploded into life after Nemanja Vidic and Cristiano Ronaldo headers had given United a 2-0 halftime lead.

"The fans got their money's worth," United manager Alex Ferguson said. "I don't know what the score could have been. Edwin van der Sar's made three tremendous saves."

Ferguson angrily rejected the latest speculation linking Ronaldo with a move to Real Madrid, with Spanish media reporting that there was an agreement between the clubs.

"They've got no chance. There's no agreement whatsoever between the clubs," Ferguson said.

European champions United, heavy favourites to become the first British team to win the seven-team FIFA tournament, will face Ecuador's LDU in Sunday's final in Yokohama.

Yasuhito Endo pulled back a goal from the penalty spot for J-League side Gamba before Hideo Hashimoto smashed his side's third, the sixth goal in 17 crazy second-half minutes.

Ronaldo, resplendent in a pair of lime green boots, mesmerised the crowd of 67,000 with some dazzling stepovers but was overshadowed by Rooney.

The England striker made an immediate impact on the match after coming on, producing a clinical left-foot finish with his first touch.

Rooney's second followed Fletcher's neat near-post header when he latched on to an excellent through ball from Ryan Giggs to sweep home five minutes later.

Ferdinand writes off Arsenal title hopes

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has written off Arsenal's title hopes, believing it will become a three-way battle between the defending champions, Chelsea and Liverpool.

Arsenal are eight points behind leaders Liverpool, seven adrift of Chelsea
and two off United.

"I presume us, Chelsea and Liverpool will start pulling away a bit after Christmas," Ferdinand told BBC radio from Tokyo where United are competing in the Club World Cup of continental champions.

"It's not beyond them (Arsenal), it's just my personal opinion that it will be between us three this season."

Arsene Wenger's side are languishing in fifth place after surrendering the lead in a tame 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough on Saturday.

At the same time, Aston Villa's 4-2 win over Bolton Wanderers took Martin O'Neill's side into fourth.

United, who drew 0-0 with Spurs last Saturday, will miss next weekend's round of Premier League matches, but Ferdinand said everyone would be keeping a close eye on what was happening.

"We'll be looking and seeing what's going on," he said.

"Last weekend we were disappointed, especially after our game, but when you look back on it you can take it that we came out of it better than anyone else because we drew away and the other teams drew at home. We can take some comfort from that but it would have been nice to have got the three points. We would have been sitting a lot prettier than we are now.

"It looks like teams will drop points. Hull going to Anfield and getting a draw is a massive result for them. Who would have said that before the season kicked off? West Ham getting a draw at Chelsea was a surprise as well. There have been quite a few unusual results this season but I am sure it is good for the fans."

Nadal ended Federer's five-year reign as the ruler of the All England Clu

In Wimbledon's murky gloom on a Sunday in July, men's tennis hailed Spanish king Rafael Nadal, the muscleman from Mallorca who ended Roger Federer's five-year reign as the ruler of the All England Club.

The five-set thriller, already regarded as the greatest Grand Slam final of all time, proved to be one of many thrilling high points in a year to remember on the ATP Tour.

By the time 2008 came to a close, the 22-year-old Nadal, already with a fourth French Open safely tucked away, had claimed a 31st career title by taking Olympic gold and had also deposed Federer as world number one.

Such was the influence of Nadal that he even helped Spain win the Davis Cup despite being absent from the final against Argentina because of a recurrence of his worrying knee injury.

Nadal won eight titles in 2008 although, like his great rival Federer, he suffered a slow start, losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the Australian Open semi-finals and waiting until Monte Carlo in April to break his duck for the year.

He then virtually swept through the claycourt season, adding Barcelona, Hamburg and another Roland Garros (where he has never lost) to his CV before claiming his first grasscourt tournament at Queen's.

That was just the appetizer to his stunning victory in the Wimbledon final, the first by a Spanish man to triumph in south-west London in over 40 years.

He also became only the third man to capture the French Open and Wimbledon titles in the same year as Federer's 65-match, six-year winning streak on grass came to a shuddering halt.

Both Federer and Nadal are set to remain the dominant forces in 2009 but there is a host of young pretenders waiting to pounce.

World number three Djokovic is just 10 points behind Federer in the world rankings and is almost six years younger.

Nepal U-19 ladies cricket team off to Thailand

Nepal U-19 ladies cricket team has left for Thailand to compete in the ACC U-19 Women Cricket Tournament starting from 13th December to 23rd at Chiang Mai.

Versatile athlete Nary Thapa, who is also the national champion in badminton, is leading the team while Maya Rawat is her deputy. Sarita Diswamagar, Sita Ranamagar, Keshari Chaudhary, Sabina Karki, Gita Chudal, Mamata Thapa, Trishna Singh, Roshani Bohara, Sonu Khadka, Rekha Rawal, Sushminta Chaudhary and Binu Budhamagar are the other players.

The substitutes are Benja Rayamajhi, Samjhana Sharma, Sarita Magar and Rachita Ojha.

Nepal is drawn into Group B along with Malaysia, Singapore, Kuwait, China and Bhutan. The top two teams from each group will make their way to the semifinal round.

Nepal is slated to play its first match against Malaysia on December 13, second match against Bhutan on December 14, third match against Singapore on December 16, fourth match against Kuwait on December 17 and fifth match against China on December 20.

Member Secretary of National Sports Council Jeevan Ram Shrestha and President of Cricket Association of Nepal Binaya Raj Pandey bade farewell to
the team.

Meanwhile, talking to Nepalnews, skipper Nary Thapa said that China and Malaysia are the real threat in the tournament. Bangladesh had defeated Nepal in the previous edition.

Chelsea miss chance to go on top

Gianfranco Zola stopped his old club Chelsea from returning to the top of the English Premier League as his West Ham side claimed a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

On his return to Chelsea, where the former Italy striker holds legendary status, the fledgling manager's Hammers team gained a well-earned point in a fiercely contested London derby.

Wales striker Craig Bellamy gave the visitors a 33rd-minute lead with a well-taken strike but France forward Nicolas Anelka rescued a point for Chelsea in the 51st minute with his 100th Premier League goal.

The result means Chelsea remain second in the Premier League table, one point behind Liverpool, while West Ham's struggle to pull away from the relegation zone is helped by a useful point gained away from home. Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari had treatment for a kidney stone problem overnight but was well enough to take charge on the touchline.

Despite substitute Didier Drogba scoring the winner in Chelsea's 2-1 victory over Romania's CFR Cluj that put them into the last 16 of the Champions League on Tuesday, Scolari kept the Ivory Coast forward on the bench with Anelka remaining as the sole striker. Frank Lampard came in for Salomon Kalou in the only change to the Blues line-up.

Zola was given a warm welcome back to Stamford Bridge by the home fans, and the Sardinian's exit from the tunnel was delayed by several warm exchanges with Blues backroom staff.

Germany captain Michael Ballack missed the first scoring chance of the game, firing over the bar after Lampard dummied.

Lampard them combined with fellow former West Ham midfielder Joe Cole, sending his England team-mate through but Cole's shot from close range deflected wide off former Blues midfielder Scott Parker.

Both sides were struggling to create goalscoring opportunities and convert corners into dangerous chances. But fired-up forward Bellamy broke the deadlock with a well-taken strike in the 33rd minute.

Parker headed a 79th-minute effort off the line as Chelsea upped the pressure and Scolari brought on Kalou and Juliano Belletti in a bid to capitalise on their dominance. Lampard was seemingly clipped in the penalty box by Hammers captain Lucas Neill but referee Mike Riley waved away his penalty claims.

In injury time, Carlton Cole could have hit a shock winner after being played through by Valon Behrami but Cech saved his low shot to secure a point for Chelsea in their bid to recapture the Premier League title.

Liverpool, Man Utd and Arsenal drop points

Steven Gerrard performed yet another rescue act for Liverpool by twice scoring for the Premier League leaders as they came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against surprise package Hull City at Anfield on Saturday.

Liverpool were left two points clear of Chelsea but the Londoners will go top by a point if they beat a West Ham side managed by former Blues hero Gianfranco Zola in Sunday's capital derby at Stamford Bridge.

Manchester United, in the reigning champions' last match before heading to Japan for the Club World Cup, remained six points behind Liverpool after a goalless draw away to Tottenham Hotspur in the day's late kick-off.

But it needed a superb, last minute, save from Spurs keeper Heurelho Gomes to deny United all three points after he tipped a curling Ryan Giggs free-kick onto the crossbar. Aston Villa leapfrogged Arsenal into fourth place by coming from behind to beat Bolton Wanderers 4-2 after the Gunners lost ground with a 1-1 draw away to Middlesbrough - a result that left them eight points off top spot. Under-pressure Blackburn Rovers manager Paul Ince saw the second-bottom side lose their sixth straight league match in a 3-0 defeat away to Wigan.

Hull, who've already won away to Arsenal, Newcastle and Tottenham in their first top-flight season, stunned Liverpool when Paul McShane headed the Tigers into a 12th minute lead at Anfield. And they were 2-0 in front thanks to an own-goal from Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher. However, barely two minutes later, Reds captain Gerrard scored from close range following a pass from Albert Riera.

England midfielder Gerrard, as he's so often done before, continued to drag Liverpool back into the game with his second goal in the 32nd minute after Dirk Kuyt's cross fell into his path.

Late Barca show leaves Real title bid in tatters

Late goals from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi helped Barcelona defeat Real Madrid 2-0 in 'El Clasico' at a rain-soaked Camp Nou on Saturday to move 12 points clear of their archrivals in the title race.

Former Real old boy Eto'o had seen Iker Casillas save his penalty on 70 minutes but picked himself up to break the deadlock seven minutes from time and Messi produced a delicate chip in stoppage time to spark wild celebrations.

It was Barca's first win over Real since November 2005 and was sweet revenge for last season when Real did a league double and Barca had to perform the guard of honour to salute Real as champions at the Santiago Bernabeu before losing 4-1.

For new Real Madrid coach Juande Ramos, who took over from Bernd Schuster four days ago, it was a bitter pill to swallow and the former Tottenham Hotspur manager has a mammoth task to help Real win a third consecutive title.

It is a complete turnaround from last season when Real opened up a seven-point cushion with a 1-0 victory at Camp Nou before strolling to the title.

Although Barcelona controlled proceedings it was Real who had the best chance of the first half through Roysten Drenthe on 25 minutes.Dani Alves sold his goalkeeper short with a prodded backpass but Drenthe lacked composure and Victor Valdes guessed correctly to save his side.Sneijder was forced off injured after 35 minutes and 20-year-old Miguel Palanca came on for an unforgettable debut.

On 70 minutes Barca thought they had their breakthrough when Michel Salgado blocked Sergi Busquets and the referee pointed to the penalty spot.Eto'o sucked up the blow and showed a real predator instinct to get a slight touch to prod the ball in after Carles Puyol kept a corner alive. Messi then rubbed salt in their wounds with a 91st minute chip.

Barcelona play Villarreal next weekend while Real entertain Valencia praying for the Christmas break.

Rooney could receive Champions League ban

Manchester United are set to find out on Monday whether they will be deprived of the services of Wayne Rooney for a Champions League second round tie which could pit them against either Real Madrid or Inter Milan.

Rooney was fortunate to escape a red card over an incident on Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Aalborg in which he appeared to trample on the chest of midfielder Kasper Risgard.

But he could yet face disciplinary action after UEFA has reviewed the video of the match between the Champions League holders and Danish club Aalborg, a process the European football governing body has now said it expects to be completed by Monday.

Risgard was convinced the England striker should have been sent-off.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, asked on Friday to comment on the incident ahead of the English champions Premier League match away to Tottenham on Saturday, which Rooney will miss after receiving five bookings, instead rounded on reporters at a news conference.

Rooney's discipline, or the lack of it, has long been a talking point but Ferguson said too many members of the media had seized on the latest incident to rake over the 23-year-old's past.

India draw 2-2 with Argentina

A last-minute equaliser from winger Pramod Kumar saved India the blushes as they drew 2-2 with world champions Argentina in the third under-21 'Test' match at Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires.

This was the second drawn encounter in the four-match series after India had won the opener on Monday.

India led 1-0 at the breather but failed to score from six penalty corners and messed up their attack with over indulgence in individual play.

They were indeed lucky to get away with the draw. Skipper Diwakar Ram was totally off colour and could not strike from his drag-flicks.

However, from his fourth attempt, Mandip Antil scored from a rebound by Argentina goalkeeper Ezequiel Olivero to give India the lead in the 32nd minute.

Earlier, the Argentine defence held out and foiled the onslaughts from strikers Jay Karan and Pramod Kumar. Two crosses from Danish Mujtaba went abegging as they were too angular.

Host goalkeeper Olivero's good run under the bars continued as he repeatedly denied India the space to score.

Even though India was the more dominant side in ball possession, their central mid-fielders Vivek and Vikas Sharma left enough gaps to enable Argentina to work their way into India's 23-meter area with short bursts of acceleration.

Their efforts bore fruit when Guido Barreiros converted two penalty corners in the 64th and 67th minutes.

Coach AK Bansal was disappointed with the result but hoped that his boys would come good and play to their potential in the remaining games.

India will now play a one-off Test against Holland on Saturday.

United left sweating on UEFA verdict on Rooney

Manchester United face a nervous wait to learn whether they will be deprived of the services of Wayne Rooney for a Champions League secon
d round tie which could pit them against either Real Madrid or Inter Milan.

Rooney was fortunate to escape a red card over an incident in Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Aalborg in which he appeared to trample on the chest of the Danish side's midfielder Kasper Risgard, but he could yet face disciplinary action once UEFA reviews the video of the match.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson claimed not to have seen the incident but was happy to see his side top their group, ensuring they will play second leg of their last 16 tie at home.

Atletico Madrid, Sporting Lisbon and Lyon, the side United beat at the same stage last season, are the other possible second round opponents for the holders, who cannot be drawn against another English club.

Wednesday's match left Ferguson with concerns over his side's finishing as they failed to kill off the Danes after being given a third-minute lead through Carlos Tevez.

United won only two matches in their group but the draw ensured they extended their unbeaten run in the competition to 19 matches, matching the record held jointly by Ajax and Bayern Munich.

United dominated after Tevez's opener and had the chances to kill the match but they were left stunned when Aalborg equalised just after the hour mark through Michael Jakobsen's backwards header.

The incident between Rooney and Risgard came just before half-time and the Danes grabbed the lead minutes later when Jeppe Curth headed in deep into stoppage time.

Rooney hauled his side back on to level terms when he rifled in from 20 yards after being released by Brazilian midfielder Anderson but United were unable to conjure up a winner and will have to raise their game if last season's triumph is to be emulated.

Why would you want to increase your Alexa rank?

Alexa.com is a subsidiary of Amazon.com and is a website which provides information on traffic levels for websites. The Alexa rank is measured according to the amount of users who’ve visited a website with the Alexa toolbar installed.

Alexa ranking is heavily twisted towards websites which have a large webmaster/tech audience. This is because webmasters or web savvy audiences are much more likely to have the Alexa toolbar installed than websites whose visitors are unaware of Alexa.

As such, many have indicated that Alexa is a vastly inaccurate method of measuring a website’s reach, traffic and potential. I disagree.

Alexa is a silly way to measure web traffic but unfortunately, in an imperfect world Alexa is still heavily used by webmasters and ad networks when measuring the value of advertising on your website.

I understand the defects of Alexa’s ranking system and I’m not going to go into more detail about it here. What’s primarily important to me is that the Alexa Rank has become a central element in site monetization strategies.

I’m not concerned with the utility and value of Alexa but it’s perceived importance in the eyes of potential advertisers.

There are two easy ways to start using Alexa. If you are using Internet Explorer, visit this page and download the Alexa Toolbar. If you’re using Firefox, download the SearchStatus extension which displays the Alexa Rank, Google PageRank as well as other useful features.

Drogba saves Chelsea from embarrassment

Didier Drogba became Chelsea's top scorer in the Champions League with his 19th goal in the competition that sealed a 2-1 win over CFR Cluj on Tuesday and sent last season's beaten finalists through to the last 16.

Ivory Coast striker Drogba, who has had a torrid season marred by injuries and suspension, sent Chelsea into the knockout phase for the sixth successive season with a 71st-minute winner.

Drogba produced a clinical finish after Yssouf Kone had cancelled out Salomon Kalou's opener.

The result also completed a clean sweep for English teams in the group stage as Chelsea, who finished runners-up in Group A, joined holders Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool in the knockout stage which starts in February.

AS Roma joined Chelsea in the last 16 as the Group A winners after classy second-half goals from Matteo Brighi and Francesco Totti secured a 2-0 home win over Girondins Bordeaux.

Brighi scored from close range after a good run and cross by Simone Perrotta and Totti drilled in the second with the outside of his foot from a superb through ball from Jeremy Menez.

Victory over West Ham gives Tottenham 15th place

Tottenham pulled clear of the Premier League's relegation zone with a 2-0 win at London rivals West Ham on Monday.

A header from captain Ledley King midway through the second half and a last-minute 25-yard strike from substitute Jamie O'Hara settled a disappointing derby and lifted Harry Redknapp's revitalised side three points clear of the bottom three, leapfrogging both Newcastle and West Ham in the process.

Tottenham were strengthened by the return of Luka Modric, who had been sidelined for three weeks with a groin injury.

But the Croatia midfielder's rustiness saw a golden opportunity go begging within two minutes after Aaron Lennon got clear of Lucas Neill to break into the Hammmers box.

Lennon's cross found David Bentley, who teed up Modric, but the playmaker's tame shot never threatened to beat West Ham's on-form goalkeeper Robert Green.

West Ham had the better of the early exchanges with Craig Bellamy looking lively and the home side thought they had taken the lead after 22 minutes when Jermaine Jenas inadvertently knocked the Welsh forward's corner past Tottenham keeper Heurelho Gomes.

Pavlyuchenko made way for Darren Bent ten minutes into the second half and the substitute should have put Spurs ahead at the end of a slick move involving Modric, Jenas and Lennon but screwed his shot wide after going past James Collins in the box.

Didier Zokora then saw his strike blocked as Tottenham began to turn the screw and the pressure paid off in the 68th minute.

Lennon's cross was perfectly measured and King outjumped the Hammers back four to send a header beyond Green.

That appeared to have settled the contest but the visitors were able to add to their score as their hosts pressed frantically for an equaliser right at the end.

Having survived a goalmouth scramble at the other end, Spurs broke straight down the pitch and O'Hara unleashed a memorable strike to put the contest beyond doubt.

Young double steers Aston Villa to victory

Ashley Young's goal in the third minute of stoppage-time secured a 3-2 victory for Aston Villa over Everton in a dramatic Premier League clash at Goodison Park on Saturday.

When Joleon Lescott struck in acrobatic style after the 90-minute mark to net his second goal of the game, it seemed as if Everton had done enough to earn a point.

But with just 12 seconds left on the clock, Young sped clear to finish in style as Villa went back to fifth in the table. "Our strength is that we never give up," Villa captain Martin Laursen said afterwards.

Defeat saw Everton drop down into eighth place.

There was goalmouth action as early as the first minute when Steve Sidwell put Villa ahead with the fastest Premier League goal this season through a 25-yard shot after 31 seconds.

Lescott levelled on the half-hour mark before Young restored Villa's lead in the 54th minute.

The game was still in its infancy when a neat passing move involving Young, James Milner and Gabriel Agbonlahor ended with the ball coming to Sidwell, who struck a rising shot past Everton keeper Tim Howard.

The Merseysiders drew level when Jagielka headed the ball into the box, Cahill touched on and Lescott volleyed past Friedel. Several Villa players lay on the turf dejectedly but there was still one more twist.

From the kick-off the Midlands side attacked and, following a flick-on from Agbonlahor, Young outpaced the defence before shooting low past Howard to score his second and seal a remarkable win.

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Liverpool stay on top as Vidic keeps United in touch

Liverpool remained in pole position in the English Premier League as the top four in the table all won on Saturday.

The Reds' 3-1 victory away to struggling Blackburn Rovers kept them a point ahead of Chelsea after the Londoners beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0.

Reigning champions Manchester United remained six points behind Liverpool in third place although it needed Nemanja Vidic's stoppage-time goal to secure a 1-0 win over managerless Sunderland at Old Trafford.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who saw Vidic shoot into an unguarded net after after Michael Carrick's deflected strike hit the post, said: "We deserved to win simply because we were the team that wanted to win and Sunderland, understandably, to survive."

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was pleased by his side's return to winning ways after their goalless draw on Monday against lowly West Ham.

Portsmouth's Euro dream crashes

Portsmouth's first UEFA Cup campaign ended in heartbreak on Thursday with a 3-2 defeat at Wolfsburg which featured another embarrassing howler from England goalkeeper David James.

Pompey surrendered a 2-1 lead in the Group E clash and their fate was sealed when Sporting Braga defeated Heerenveen 2-1 to secure the third qualifying place in the pool behind AC Milan and their German conquerors.

Fellow English Premier League side Aston Villa made sure of their place in the last 32 despite suffering a shock 2-1 home defeat to Slovakia's MSK Zilina.

Their passage to the knockout round was assured when SV Hamburg defeated Slavia Prague 2-0 which allowed Ajax, who didn't play on Thursday, to also qualify from Group F.

Portsmouth, who had squandered a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with AC Milan at Fratton Park last week, needed to win in Germany.

But Wolfsburg, with two wins from their first two games, were ahead after just three minutes when Edin Dzeko scored from Christian Gentner's right-wing cross.

Pompey then stormed into a 2-1 lead with Jermain Defoe finding the net from Armand Traore's cross in the 11th minute before Arnold Mvuemba scored with a long distance drive three minutes later.

Gentner then levelled for Wolfsburg after 23 minutes with Zvjezdan Misimovic hitting the decisive third in the 74th minute after a terrible mistake by James.

The England stopper gifted the goal when he allowed Misimovic to take the ball off his feet and roll it into the net.

James then partially made amends when he saved an 80th-minute Misimovic penalty which was awarded when Sol Campbell chopped down Dzeko.

Serena, Tsonga to play in Sydney tournament

Six of the top ten ranked women's players and five of the men's top 20 stars are confirmed to play in next month's Sydney International, organisers said on Thursday.

Nine-time grand slam winner Serena Williams and world No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will be the top seeds for the mixed WTA/ATP tournament from January 11 to 17.

Williams heads a strong women's field along with other top-tenners Dinara Safina (3), Elena Dementieva (4), Vera Zvonareva (7), Svetlana Kuznetsova (8) and Agnieszka Radwanska (10).

Tournament director Craig Watson said rising WTA stars Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azarenka, Alize Cornet and Dominika Cibulkova will be playing along with senior campaigners Amelie Mauresmo, Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama.

World No.7 Gilles Simon will join compatriot and Australian Open runner-up Tsonga in the men's draw along with world no.11 David Nalbandian, Igor Andreev (19), Tomas Berdych (20), Tommy Robredo (21), Mardy Fish (24) and Richard Gasquet (25).

Russian defending champion Dmitry Tursunov, Spanish Davis Cup star Feliciano Lopez and four-time Sydney champion and Australian No.1 Lleyton Hewitt, who has a wildcard entry, are also in the field.

The women's main draw ranking cut-off is 40 and 41 for the men.

Manchester United's Ronaldo wins Ballon d'Or

Manchester United and Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded the Ballon d'Or on Tuesday after inspiring the English club to the Champions League and Premier League double this year.

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi came second and Liverpool striker Fernando Torres third in a poll of 96 journalists from all over the world organised by France Football.

The 23-year-old Ronaldo follows former United greats Denis Law (1964), Bobby Charlton (1966) and George Best (1968) as a winner of the prize previously known as the European Footballer of the Year award. He scored 42 goals for the club last season.

He also became this year only the second player to win England's Footballer of the Year award in successive seasons.

However, he failed to make an impact at the European Championship in Austria and Switzerland as Portugal bowed out to eventual runners-up Germany in the quarter-finals.

During a pre-season dominated by speculation about a move to Real Madrid, Ronaldo underwent ankle surgery but he has scored eight goals in 11 league games since returning to action in September.

Ronaldo, who was second to Brazil playmaker Kaka last year, is the first Portuguese to win the award since Luis Figo in 2000 and the first Premier League player since Michael Owen the following year.

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Milan defeat hands dominant Inter six-point lead

AC Milan crashed 3-1 at Palermo on Sunday to hand city rivals and reigning champions Inter Milan a six point lead at the top of the Serie A table following their 2-1 success over Napoli.

Milan remain third on goal difference behind Juventus who beat Reggina 4-0 on Saturday in a match which saw veteran Italian striker Alessandro Del Piero hit his 250th goal for the club.

AS Roma continued their recovery with a narrow 1-0 home victory over Fiorentina, their third straight success in the league.

Palermo dominated for an hour in Sicily but Milan had the better chances of the first half.

Home goalkeeper Marco Amelia saved a Ronaldinho penalty on 27 minutes after he had clattered into Pato.

Ronaldinho also hit the bar in first half stoppage time direct from a free-kick but Palermo had enjoyed more pressure.

Five minutes into the second period Fabrizio Miccoli faked to shoot on the edge of the box, made space and then curled a right-footer around Christian Abbiati.

Just before the hour mark Fabio Liverani chipped the ball into the area and Brazilian forward Edison Cavani rose above Paolo Maldini to head home.

Brazilian Simplicio was left completely unmarked in the box to head in the third 10 minutes from time from a Federico Balzaretti cross.

Ronaldinho scored a consolation from the spot seven minutes from time after he was brought down by Cesare Bovo.

At the San Siro, Inter coach Jose Mourinho blasted the club's fans for jeering Brazilian full-back Maicon.

One of those was Fiorentina who went down to a goal from Roma captain Francesco Totti just before the hour mark.

The capital-based club may be down in 14th place but are now only seven points behind Napoli and a Champions League qualification finish is looking a real possibility despite their early season troubles.

Saina lose in Hong Kong Open

India's challenge in the Hong Kong Super Series ended with Arvind Bhat and Saina Nehwal losing their quarter-final matches.

Bhat lost to Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana 26-28, 22-20, 14-21 while Nehwal went down to Hong Kong's Chen Wang 25-27, 21-24, 15-21.

Ponsana will meet third seed Chinese Jin Chen, who beat third seed Weijie Gong 21-8, 21-10.

Wang will face her second seed compatriot Mi Zhou, who got the better of Pui Yin Yip 13-21, 21-16, 21-14.

Liverpool, Inter and Atletico through to last 16

Former European champions Liverpool and Inter Milan sealed their berths in the Champions League last 16 but last season's finalists Chelsea still have work to do after a 1-1 draw at Girondins Bordeaux on Wednesday.

Inter advanced from Group B despite a surprise 1-0 home defeat to Panathinaikos that left their manager Jose Mourinho fuming while victory put the Greek side in an excellent position to progress to the knockout stage.

"Panathinaikos's win is absolutely deserved," Mourinho said. "People say they were lucky but I don't agree. After that performance we don't deserve to go through and we must be angry with ourselves."

The Italian champions were left on eight points after Jose Sarriegi struck in the 69th minute to lift Panathinaikos into second place on seven and they need only a draw from their final match at home to Cypriots Anorthosis Famagusta, who have six.

In Group D, five time winners Liverpool sealed their passage with a 1-0 home win over Olympique Marseille after captain Steven Gerrard scored his fifth goal in this season's competition.

Liverpool were joined in the last 16 by Atletico Madrid, who beat PSV Eindhoven 2-1 in an empty Calderon as they served a one-match crowd ban in their home game against Marseille.

Barcelona, the 2006 winners, sealed top spot in Group B after a 5-2 away drubbing of also qualified Sporting while Jadson hit a hat-trick for Shakhtar Donetsk who clinched a place in the UEFA Cup last 32 with a 5-0 home rout of Basel. Early goals from Thierry Henry and Gerrard Pique sent Barca on their way while Lionel Messi and Bojan Krkic were also on target for the Catalan side either side of a Marco Caneira own-goal.

Captain Gerrard fit to face Marseille

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has told his players to secure qualification for the Champions League knockout stages on Wednesday night when he will re-write the Anfield record books.

French club Marseille's visit to Merseyside will see Benitez take charge of Liverpool for a 66th European tie, taking him past the record previously held by Bill Shankly, the legendary Scot who managed Liverpool between 1959 and 1974.

A victory for Liverpool will guarantee their presence in the last 16, with one group game remaining, and even a draw could be good enough to secure their passage should Atletico Madrid beat PSV Eindhoven in Spain.

But Benitez wants nothing left to chance and is keen to ensure there is no possibility of Liverpool needing a result in the last game of the group stages against Eindhoven in Holland next month.

Liverpool are on course for a possible Premier and Champions League double this season. Despite a disappointing goalless draw against Fulham last Saturday, they are level on points at the top of the Premier League and Benitez believes his squad have the quality to maintain a strong challenge for both titles.

Gerrard missed the Fulham game with a groin strain, but the Liverpool captain trained on Tuesday and is set to start against Marseille. "Gerrard was training this morning and I think he will be fit," said Benitez.

Liverpool's Spanish full-back Alvaro Arbeloa has warned his team-mates that they cannot afford to underestimate Marseille. The French club is fighting to stay in the competition after taking three points from the first four group games.

But Arbeloa witnessed the damage Marseille inflicted on their last visit to Anfield in October 2007, when Mathieu Valbuena's late goal earned the visitors a memorable victory.

Spain success for the Davis Cup victory

Spain overcame the absence of world No. 1 Rafael Nadal to clinch the Davis Cup on Sunday when Fernando Verdasco beat Jose Acasuso t
o give them a 3-1 win over Argentina in the final.

Verdasco, brought in to replace Spain's off-form No. 1 David Ferrer, won 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to hand Argentina their third defeat in three final appearances and their first home loss for 10 years.

The Davis Cup victory extends this year's sporting success for Spain after its athletes won cycling's Tour de France, the Wimbledon Championship and soccer's European Championship.

Acasuso, ranked 48th, was thrown into the fray after Argentina's No.1 Juan Martin del Potro was ruled out with a pulled muscle in his right leg.

"It's a dream. I've wanted this chance since I was a boy, few get it and even fewer take it," said an elated Verdasco after defying a partisan 11,000 crowd at the indoor Islas Malvinas arena.

Troubled Arsenal beaten as top four fire blanks

The top four failed to muster a goal on Saturday as Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United drew 0-0 while Arsenal went down 3-0 at Manchester City.

Premier League leaders Chelsea could find no way through Newcastle United at Stamford Bridge. Liverpool had the same problem at home to Fulham and third-placed Manchester United were held 0-0 in a lively game at Aston Villa.

Troubled Arsenal's season went from bad to worse as they slid to fifth.

With captain William Gallas dropped for questioning the fighting spirit of his team mates, injury-hit Arsenal capitulated with Stephen Ireland, Robinho and Daniel Sturridge on target for City.

Arsenal are 10 points behind Chelsea and Liverpool who are locked together on 33 points from 14 matches although Chelsea have a superior goal difference. United are eight points behind with a game in hand while Villa rose to fourth.

Arsenal's season appears to be unravelling fast.

City went ahead in first-half stoppage time when a mistake by Gael Clichy gifted Ireland a goal after the City midfielder had burst into the area.

Robinho made it 2-0 early in the second half after a splendid pass from Shaun Wright-Phillips and Sturridge won and converted a late penalty to condemn Arsenal to a second consecutive defeat without scoring a goal.

Comeback king Lopez levels Davis Cup final

Feliciano Lopez, who had been handed the unenviable task of replacing injured world number one Rafael Nadal, stormed to Spain's rescueon Friday when he levelled the Davis Cup final against Argentina.

The stylish left-hander defeated Argentine number one Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to make the score 1-1 after David Nalbandian had put the home side ahead with an easy 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 win over David Ferrer in the opening singles rubber.

Lopez overcame a passionate 11,000-strong home crowd at the Estadio Islas Malvinas to see off the 1.98m (6ft 6in) giant Del Potro, the world number nine, who ended the match with a crippling groin injury which could rule him out of Sunday's reverse singles.

Del Potro, who had secured Argentina's final place with a live fifth rubber win over Igor Andreev in September's semi-final against Russia, had cruised through the first set with a break in the fifth game.

But Lopez, seven years the Argentine's senior, then took two nerve-tingling tie-breaks, defying the wild support of the local crowd who were repeatedly warned by the umpire to curb their enthusiasm.

Del Potro hurt his groin when he went 2-4 down in the fourth set and he never recovered with Lopez taking the match after 3 hours 20 minutes when the home player netted a comfortable forehand.

Drogba banned for three games

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba was banned for three games by the Football Association (FA) on Tuesday.

The Ivory Coast international's suspension came after he admitted a charge of violent conduct for throwing a coin back into the crowd at Stamford Bridge during last Wednesday's League Cup defeat against Burnley.

Drogba will serve the suspension with immediate effect.

That means he will miss the Premier League leaders' match at home to Newcastle this Saturday, the London derby against Arsenal on November 30 and the match away to Bolton on December 6.

Drogba, who was shown a yellow card for his actions, said after the match: "There is something I want to make clear. I tried to celebrate the goal and I received some things at me.

"The big mistake I did was to throw it back so if someone was hurt, I just want to apologise for it.

"This is not something I should show in a football match and I want to apologise. It was an incident in the heat of the moment and I regret it. It was just a mistake and nothing more."

The incident that saw Drogba banned happened after he'd scored the opening goal in the fourth round tie. He also appeared to make an obscene gesture at the away fans.

That goal against Burnley was Drogba's first of a season where a knee injury has restricted him to just five league appearances.

Burnley, who play in English football's second-tier Championship, went on to equalise 20 minutes from time and then pulled off a shock win, 5-4 on penalties after extra-time.

Liverpool title surge gathers pace, beat Bolton 2-0

Goals by Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard ensured Liverpool's title surge gathered momentum as Rafa Benitez's side recorded a hard-fought 2-0 win at Bolton on Saturday.

Kuyt's seventh goal of the season set his team on the way before Gerrard struck after half-time to send Liverpool three points clear at the top of the Premier League
table - if only for a few hours.

Benitez surprisingly left star striker Fernando Torres out of his starting line-up, three days after the Spain striker had made his first start for five weeks during the League Cup defeat at Tottenham.

The prospect of Torres being omitted seemed unthinkable not long ago.

But the belief oozing through Benitez's side is such that the manager can afford to leave him out, especially as he believes the Spain striker is still three weeks from returning to peak form after recent hamstring problems.

Yet Torres still managed to play a key role in the win as he provided the cross for Gerrard to score after climbing off the substitutes bench.

But Liverpool would have won by a more handsome margin had the lively Kuyt not been denied by the crossbar while Gerrard and Robbie Keane were both guilty of glaring misses.

Liverpool's second goal arrived in the 72nd minute, Torres producing a superb cross for Gerrard to glance a header past Jaaskelainen.

The Bolton keeper then made fine saves to deny the lively Torres and Alonso as Liverpool finished strongly.

Beckham may not play for Milan, says Seedorf

AC Milan's Clarence Seedorf believes it's quite possible that new loan signing David Beckham won't play a single match for the Italian giants.

Beckham, 33, is due to arrive at the San Siro in January after agreeing a temporary move from LA Galaxy during Major League Soccer's
close season.

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder hopes this will keep him in the thoughts of England manager Fabio Capello, who has made it clear he won't pick players for February's friendly against Spain unless they are actively involved with a club team.

However, Seedorf told Sky Sports on Thursday: "I don't even know if he'll be able to play for us. I mean the first goal is for him to get fit and in the best shape possible.

Nevertheless Seedorf, said he was looking forward to welcoming Beckham, now just one short of 1966 World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore's England record of 108 caps for an outfield player, to Milan.

Meanwhile Milan's Brazil star Ronaldinho, who played against Beckham when at Barcelona, said he would have no qualms about handing over free-kick duties to the Englishman, one of his few rivals as a dead-ball expert.