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Steven Gerrard keeps Liverpool title hopes alive

LONDON: Steven Gerrard fired Liverpool title hopes of the Premier League and then voiced optimism that rivals Manchester United could yet slip up in the final stages of the season.

Two first-half goals from Gerrard and a late strike by substitute Ryan Babel gave Rafael Benitez's side a comfortable 3-0 win at West Ham and lifted them above United on the strength of their superior goal difference.

With games against Wigan and Arsenal on Wednesday and next Saturday respectively.

United could have wrapped up their 18th English title by the time Liverpool next play, at West Brom on May 17. But Gerrard is refusing to give up hope.

At the other end of the table, West Brom gave their supporters reason to believe another great escape from relegation could be possible after a 3-1 win over Wigan. The victory, combined with Hull's 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Stoke, lifted West Brom to within three points of safety with two matches - at home to Liverpool and away to Blackburn - left to play, a situation that has echoes of 2005 when Bryan Robson's side beat the drop from an apparently hopeless position.

On-loan striker Marc-Antoine Fortune was West Brom's hero, scoring the Baggies' first and third goals as well as earning a penalty which Chris Brunt converted on the rebound from his own spot-kick. Colombian striker Hugo Rodallega had claimed his first goal for Wigan to cancel out Fortune's opener.

Hull's fall continued as a first-half strike from Ricardo Fuller and a stunning long-range effort from Liam Lawrence secured three points which guarantee Stoke, back in the top flight for the first time since 1985, will stay there next season. Stoke boss Tony Pulis was delighted to see his players confound the pundits who had almost unanimously predicted an immediate return to the Championship.

Andy Dawson scored a stoppage-time consolation goal for Hull, who have won just once in 20 matches and could fall into the drop zone depending on the result of Monday's meeting between Newcastle and Middlesbrough. Blackburn are virtually - if not quite mathematically - safe after moving to 40 points with a 2-0 win over Portsmouth that was sealed by a second-half penalty by South Africa striker Benni McCarthy.

Norwegian playmaker Morten Gamst Pedersen had opened the scoring before the interval with what was his first goal since the last day of last season and John Utaka missed a late penalty for Pompey, who cannot completely relax yet but should be safe on 38 points.

Sunderland pulled five points clear of the drop zone after a goalless draw at Bolton but that margin could be cut to two points if either Middlesbrough or Newcastle win Monday's high-stakes encounter at St James' Park.

Fulham inflicted further pain on Aston Villa, who have now won just once in 11 matches after a 3-1 defeat at Craven Cottage. Ashley Young cancelled out Danny Murphy's early penalty but Fulham were always on top and took the points thanks to Diomansy Kamara's second-half double.

Villa's latest setback meant Everton had a chance to leapfrog them into fifth place but David Moyes's side were unable to overcome Tottenham at Goodison Park in a match overshadowed by news that the remains of Spurs midfielder Wilson Palacios's abducted brother had been found in Honduras.

 
Ijaz Bit leaves for Dubai to attend ICC meeting
LAHORE: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ijaz Butt has left here on Monday for Dubai to attend the meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Besides Ijaz Butt, other of... more
Aisam back home after winning doubles event in SA
LAHORE: Pakistan tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq has returned home after winning the doubles event in the South African Open Tennis Tournament, held in Johannesburg.

Aisam with Rohan Bopanna... more
Warne tells Aussies to take part in IPL
LONDON: Shane Warne has urged his fellow Australians to play in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) despite threats from an Indian political party.

The Mumbai-... more
Pawar meets Thackeray, asks to drop ban on Aussie cricketers
MUMBAI: Sharad Pawar, India's minister for agriculture and president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association, met the founder of Shiv Sena, Bal Thackeray, and his son, Udav, here on Sunday an... more
India 66-2 after South Africa enforce follow-on
NAGPUR: South Africa were eyeing victory after Dale Steyn picked a career-best 7-51 to trigger a dramatic India collapse on the third day of the first Test on Monday.

The right-a... more
Wasim Akram included in committee to probe team’s poor performance
KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has included former skipper Wasim Akram in an inquiry committee formed last week to probe the national team's poor performance in Australia.

... more
Cilic retains ATP Zagreb title
ZAGREB: Top seed Marin Cilic of Croatia retained his ATP Zagreb indoor tournament title here on Sunday defeating German journeyman Michael Berrer 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3 in just over two-and-a-h... more
Chelsea on top again, beating Arsenal in English Premier League
LONDON: Didier Drogba's double returned Chelsea to the Premier League summit with a 2-0 victory over Arsenal on Sunday that left its London rival nine points adrift.

The Ivory Coa... more
Fabregas wants Barca return ‘one day’
BARCELONA: Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas has said he hopes to go back to his boyhood club Barcelona in the future.

The London team’s captain told Catalunya Radio on Friday that he... more
Kipkorir wins Oita marathon
OITA, Japan: Jonathan Kipkorir edged past fellow Kenyan runner Daniel Njenga to win the Beppu Oita marathon on Sunday.

Kipkorir and Njenga were in a shoulder-to-shoulder battle in th... more
India’s Bhullar wins Tour opener
BANGKOK: Gaganjeet Bhullar of India produced a brilliant course record eight-under-par 64 to win the season-opening Asian Tour International by one shot on Sunday.

Starting the final... more
Langeveldt added to SA squad for ODI
NAGPUR, India: South Africa have added medium-pacer Charl Langeveldt to their one-day squad for the three-match series against India later this month.

“We do not believe that we have... more
Tait is Australia’s new Thommo, says Hogg
MELBOURNE: Former Australian Test quick Rodney Hogg has hailed South Australian Shaun Tait as the new-age Jeff Thomson and says he will pilot Australia to Twenty20 World Cup supremacy with h... more
Crowe made New Zealand batting advisor
WELLINGTON: Martin Crowe, the former New Zealand captain, will assist the new national coach Mark Greatbatch as a batting advisor to some leading players, with a particular focus on Test cri... more
Scott Styris striving for national return
WELLINGTON: Scott Styris, the New Zealand allrounder, has been overlooked for the series against Bangladesh but new coach Mark Greatbatch, who is also a selector, said it was partly because ... more
England Lions to play T20s against UAE, Pakistan
DUBAI: England Lions arrived in Dubai to play four Twenty20 cricket matches against United Arab Emirates and Pakistan A, before an intriguing match-up in Abu Dhabi with full England side, wh... more
Proteas sacrifice records in India
NAGPUR: South Africa put match strategy ahead of chasing records as it declared its first innings at 558-6 on day two of the second Test against India on Sunday.

The total was five r... more
Proteas make India follow-on in Nagpur Test
NAGPUR: Fast bowler Dale Steyn blew India away with a career-best seven for 51 to allow South Africa to force the follow-on on the third day of opening Test on Monday.

Steyn took five... more
Pak squad announced for T20 matches against England
LAHORE: Pakistan on Monday left out coach Intikhab Alam and wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal from its 14-man side to face England in two Twenty20 matches.

There is speculation Alam will... more
South Africa pacemen rattle India
NAGPUR: Dale Steyn picked two quick wickets to derail India's reply on the third day of the first Test against South Africa on Monday.

The express paceman got rid of Sachin Tendulkar ... more
Intikhab accepts blame for Australian defeats
KARACHI: Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam said Sunday he accepted full responsibility for his team’s dismal performance on its tour of Australia last month, and vowed not to run away from any in... more
PCB summons coach, captain
KARACHI: An evaluation committee issued a demand on Sunday for Pakistan cricket coach Intikhab Alam and captain Mohammad Yousuf to explain the team’s dismal performance on their tour of Aust... more
Pakistan beat India for SAG gold
DHAKA: Defending champions Pakistan retained their gold medal in the 11th South Asian Games Hockey competition when they came from behind to overpower arch-rivals India 4-3 in a penalty shoo... more
It was a terrible display, says Gayle
MELBOURNE: A horror start and a lifeless tail-end saw West Indies tumble to a 113-run defeat in the first one-day international against Australia at the MCG here on Sunday.

Chasing an att... more
Asif not cleared for UAE trip
KARACHI: Paceman Mohammad Asif will not be able to play in the United Arab Emirates as its authorities have refused to revoke a travel ban on him, an official said on Sunday.

The 27-year-... more
Miandad was paid Rs8.4 m for seven days of work: Butt
LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt dropped another bombshell on board’s director general Javed Miandad saying that the former captain was paid Rs8.4 million for a we... more
I may never bowl again: Lee
SYDNEY: Australian and New South Wales fast Bowler Brett Lee has said that there is a distinct possibility of him not bowling in competitive cricket again, as he is yet to recover from a ser... more
Give Shahid Afridi a break
LAHORE: Cricket is a great leveller. Nothing better exemplifies this truism than Shahid Afrid’s shocking fall from grace. It took a fleeting moment of madness for him to become the villain o... more
India’s absence contributed to T20 flop-show, says Azam Khan
MIRPUR: Pakistan may be the ICC Twenty20 world champions but their under-21 team failed to make the 11th South Asian Games’ Twenty20 final, attributing their lack of motivation to the absenc... more
Raikkonen revelling in new Swede challenge
PARIS: Finland has produced a long line of great Rally drivers but never one quite with the pedigree or potential of 2007 Formula One world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

The 30-year-old former... more
Patrick finishes sixth in debut
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida: IndyCar driver Danica Patrick survived a spinout to finish sixth in her stockcar debut at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday.

“That was fun,” Patrick, the ... more
Defending champion Spain get Czechs in Euro draw
WARSAW: Defending champion Spain will have the Czech Republic and Scotland among its rivals in qualifying for the 2012 European Championship in Poland and Ukraine.

Lithuania and Liechtens... more
Kaka ends barren spell as Real close gap
MADRID: Brazilian superstar Kaka scored his first league goal in three months as Real Madrid closed back to within five points of pacesetters Barcelona at the top of the Spanish top-flight w... more
‘Ferdinand’s England captaincy will boost United’
MANCHESTER: Sir Alex Ferguson believes Manchester United can benefit from Fabio Capello’s decision to make Rio Ferdinand the new England captain.

Ferdinand served the second game of his f... more
Inter juggernaut rolls on, Milan draw
MILAN: Inter Milan roared 10 points clear at the top of Serie A after an easy 3-0 win over Cagliari on Sunday.

Goran Pandev and Walter Samuel scored simple goals in the first half before ... more
Five-star Manchester United go top, Kuyt sinks Everton
LONDON: Manchester United stormed to the top of the Premier League with a 5-0 demolition of struggling Portsmouth at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side moved one point cle... more
Drama in Dubai as Jimenez wins
DUBAI: Spanish veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez won the Dubai Desert Classic for the first time on Sunday defeating European No 1 Lee Westwood on the third hole of a drama-packed playoff.

The... more
Pakistan to fight for second spot in SAG
KARACHI: Pakistan placed themselves in a good position to fight for an overall second place behind the invincible India when they lifted six more gold medals on Sunday during the 11th South ... more
Willis wins indoor mile
BOSTON: New Zealand’s Nick Willis, who hadn’t run a competitive mile in nearly a year, used a last-lap sprint to overhaul Will Leer and capture the mile run at the 15th Boston Indoor Games o... more
IOC defiant on dopers: experts
VANCOUVER: As the clock ticks down towards the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, doubts are being raised over the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) promise to wage a pitiless war against the dr... more
Spaniard Lopez ends long drought
JOHANNESBURG: Spaniard Feliciano Lopez ended a six-year trophy drought with a 7-5, 6-1 triumph over French fighter Stephane Robert in the South African Open final on Sunday.

The only prev... more
Stosur leads Australia to Fed Cup victory over Spain
ADELAIDE: Samantha Stosur inspired Australia to a 3-2 win over Spain in their Fed Cup World Group II first round tie at Memorial Drive here on Sunday.

The world number 11 Stosur featured ... more
Oudin seals US Fed Cup semis spot
LIEVIN, France: Melanie Oudin sealed the United States’ passage to the semi-finals of the Fed Cup on Sunday with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 win over Julie Coin to establish an unassailable 3-0 lead ov... more
Zvonareva heads Pattaya Open field
BANGKOK: Defending champion Vera Zvonareva heads the field at the 220,000-dollar Pattaya Open this week and the Russian appears to have a comfortable draw as she bids to win her ninth career... more
Djokovic looks to bounce back from Aussie Open
ROTTERDAM, The Netherlands: Novak Djokovic will strive to show that his recent case of indigestion at the Australian Open was just a case of bad luck, with the Serb world number two returnin... more
Australian team weakest for years, says Imran
KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan has described the Australian team as one of the weakest he has seen in years.

“This is one of the weakest Australian teams I have seen play, t... more
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