Team of The Week
FORMATION : 4-4-2
GK : David James - Portsmouth
RB : Ledley King -Totenham
CB : Christopher Samba - blackburn
CB : Michael Dawson - Tottenham
LB : Gareth Bale - Tottenham
RM: Michael Brown - Porsmouth
CM: Luis Nani - Man. United
CM: Morten Gamst Pedersen - Blackburn
LM: Will Atkinson - Hull
ST : Craig Bellamy - man. City
ST : Nicolas Anelka - Chelsea
Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure has been linked with a move to Arsenal this summer, according to the Ivorian's agent.
The Ivory Coast international's agent, Dimitri Seluk, admitted he couldn't rule out the possibility his client would be heading to the Emirates Stadium, with Gunners chief Arsene Wenger a keen admirer of the combative midfielder's abilities.
"Yaya [Toure] is happy at Barcelona and will only leave for a big project at a big club", Seluk told The People.
"But in England there are sides with great prestige and that could be decisive.
"Arsene Wenger knows Yaya, and I am convinced he could be a success with Arsenal."
The Catalans giant have made no secret of their desire to bring their youth product Cesc Fabregas back to the Nou Camp, but Wenger has consistently rebuffed any advances for his stellar performer and captain.
However, it remains to be seen whether Toure will play a part in persuading the Frenchman to part with his most prized asset.
(taken from goal.com)
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Manchester City look set to take full advantage of the financial uncertainty at Liverpool by launching a £40 million bid for striker Fernando Torres.
According to the Sunday Mirror, City are prepared to offer a cut-price deal to take the Spanish international to Eastlands.
Despite Reds chairman Martin Broughton giving assurances that the club do not need to sell any of their prized assets this summer, City are believed to be in pole position to sign the former Atletico Madrid star, with Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti ruled out a move in midweek.
“[Fernando] Torres is a fantastic player, but comes with a very expensive price tag," Ancelotti said.
"I won’t go for him in the summer because, with Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka in the squad, it’s difficult to think about signing him.”
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Gareth Bale has signed a new four-year contract with Champions League qualifiers Tottenham Hotspur.
The 20-year-old has been in superb form for Harry Redknapp's side this season and has agreed a new deal tying him to White Hart Lane until 2014.Spurs clinched their top-four place and Champions League qualification with a 1-0 win at Manchester City on Wednesday.
Bale can play at left-back or on the left wing and has been an integral member of the Spurs team which has broken into the top four this term. He has made 32 appearances, scoring two goals.
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Tottenham Hotspur qualified for the Champions League after a 1-0 win at Manchester City.
Peter Crouch headed Tottenham into the Champions League with an 82nd-minute winner.
After surviving an early City onslaught, Tottenham slowly began to gain the upper hand at Eastlands.
And by the time Crouch was on hand to finish off a deflected Tom Huddlestone cross, Spurs were already worthy of a place at Europe's top table, consigning City to the Europa League.
(taken from premierleague.com)
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Stoke City earned an impressive away win at Fulham on Wednesday evening.
Matthew Etherington latched on to Ricardo Fuller's cross to smash his drive past Mark Schwarzer to inflict Fulham's fifth home defeat of the season and move Tony Pulis' side up to 10th in the table.
Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic had to react quickly to deny Clint Dempsey in the second half but Fulham otherwise lacked any killer instinct in what was largely a dull match.
(taken from premierleague.com)
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Blackburn Rovers came from behind to beat Arsenal at Ewood Park.
Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski's vulnerability in the air was exposed on a number of occasions before Rovers captain Chris Samba took advantage to head home a 69th-minute winner.
Robin van Persie's first goal since 31st October, having been sidelined for five months with an ankle injury, had put the Gunners ahead early in the first half only for David Dunn to equalise from close range just before the interval.
(taken from premierleague.com)
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Hull City are officially relegated after an entertaining draw at Wigan Athletic.
Steven Gohouri's dramatic stoppage-time equaliser stole a point for Wigan and confirmed Hull's relegation from the Barclays Premier League.
The Tigers fell behind after half an hour when Victor Moses curled the ball in off the post, his first strike for the Latics since joining from Crystal Palace.
Hull looked to have turned the match around as youngsters Will Atkinson and Mark Cullen also opened their Barclays Premier League accounts, but Gohouri - another Wigan first-time scorer - struck with a late acrobatic effort to send the visitors down.
(taken from premierleague.com)
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Chelsea have reportedly joined the race to sign Valencia winger Pablo Hernandez, according to the News of the World.
The Spaniard has been impressive this season in the Primera Division, and looks set to launch a late bid to be included in the Spanish national squad heading to South Africa this summer.
Hernandez reportedly has a £45 million minimum-fee release clause in his contract, but with Valencia’s financial woes set to continue, they may face having to sell star players in order to balance the books.
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Fulham's marvellous season continued with a 3-2 home win over West Ham United.
Clint Dempsey opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time and an own goal by Carlton Cole put them 2-0 ahead shortly after the re-start.
Cole redeemed himself when he headed West Ham back into the match but substitute Stefano Okaka made it 3-1 to Fulham in the 79th minute. West Ham substitute Guillermo Franco scored an injury-time goal for the visitors but it was to no avail.
(taken from premierleague.com)
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Nani's goal ensured that the Barclays Premier League title race will go to the final day.
The Portugal international's 28th-minute strike was enough to claim the win for Manchester United and reduce Chelsea's lead to a single point with one match each left to play.
However, United might have won comfortably had striker Dimitar Berbatov made the most of any of the three gilt-edged chances which fell his way.
(taken from premierleague.com)
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Chelsea edged closer to the Barclays Premier League title with a 2-0 victory over Liverpool at Anfield.
An error by Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard handed Didier Drogba a simple opening goal in the first half and Frank Lampard added a second after the break.
The result ensured Chelsea remained in pole position to win their first championship for four years but also finally put paid to the Merseysiders' hopes of securing Champions League football next season..
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Tom Huddlestone scored the only goal as Tottenham Hotspur beat Bolton Wanderers at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham took another step towards Champions League qualification with a 1-0 win over Bolton thanks to a superb strike from Huddlestone.
With seven minutes of the first half left, the England midfielder picked up Benoit Assou-Ekotto's pass to hammer a 22-yard strike past Jussi Jaaskelainen in the Bolton goal. Bolton spent most of the match on the back foot thanks to the pace and agility of Gareth Bale, who put in yet another outstanding performance for the north London club, who can now go to rivals Manchester City on Wednesday full of confidence.
(taken from premierleague.com)
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Stoke City and Everton shared the spoils after a 0-0 draw at the Britannia Stadium.
Everton's hopes of Europa League slot are over even though they stretched their unbeaten run to 10 league matches, equalling a club record.
They thought a victory had been secured in the 72nd minute when Phil Jagielka found the net but his effort was ruled out.
That came after Rory Delap missed a good chance for Stoke side-footing the ball wide with only goalkeeper Tim Howard to beat.
(taken from premierleague.com)
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Relegated Portsmouth signed off their home fixtures with a win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Aruna Dindane fired the FA Cup finalists into the lead after 20 minutes before Kevin Doyle bundled home an equaliser on the half hour.
Pompey were back in front within five minutes as John Utaka spun in from the right to squeeze his left-foot shot between the goalkeeper's dive and the near post. On 67 minutes, Portsmouth extended their lead with a well-crafted goal. Frederic Piquionne broke down the right, and his cross was nodded down by Tommy Smith to Michael Brown who sent a low strike into the far corner.
(taken from premierleague.com)
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Manchester City came from behind to beat Aston Villa and boost their hopes of finishing fourth.
John Carew had given Aston Villa the lead after 16 minutes and then struck the crossbar. But Carlos Tevez levelled from the spot on 41 minutes.
Emmanuel Adebayor gave the home side the lead two minutes later with Adam Johnson playing a key role in both goals.
Villa, needing to win to keep alive their own hopes of a Champions League place, threw everything forward but City sealed the points a minute from time through Craig Bellamy.
(taken from premierleague.com)
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Birmingham City rounded off their home programme with a comfortable victory over Burnley.
Ecuador striker Christian Benitez scored his first goal at St Andrew's as Alex McLeish's side took charge against their already relegated opponents.
Benitez, on loan from Santos Laguna, doubled City's lead four minutes from the interval.
An own goal from Brian Jensen had given Blues the lead on 29 minutes. The Burnley keeper diverted the ball in at close range under pressure from Cameron Jerome and Benitez.
Steven Thompson beat the offside trap to slot home a tidy finish for a Clarets consolation three minutes from time. But it was not enough to prevent Burnley becoming the first Premier League side to lose 17 away matches in a season.
(taken from premierleague.com)
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