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City sacks Hughes, Fulham fells Man U
Source: Agencies |
December 21, 2009, Monday
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ENGLISH Premier League champion Manchester United was thrashed 0-3 at Fulham on Saturday while neighbor Manchester City sacked manager Mark Hughes and brought in Italian Roberto Mancini.
Goals by Danny Murphy, Bobby Zamora and Damien Duff condemned second-placed United to a second league defeat in eight days. Chelsea can now stretch its lead to six points by beating West Ham United.
A second win in 11 league matches proved in vain for Hughes who watched his City side beat Sunderland 4-3 at Eastlands before being dismissed after the game, which was watched by former Inter Milan boss Mancini from the stands.
"A return of two wins in 11 Premier League games is clearly not in line with the targets that were agreed and set," City Chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak said in a statement.
A day of surprises began with Liverpool's 0-2 reverse at bottom club Portsmouth, its seventh league defeat this season.
Arsenal is third, two points behind United, after a 3-0 win over Hull City. Aston Villa occupies fourth spot after a 1-0 victory over Stoke City.
Tottenham Hotspur, in fifth, followed up its midweek demolition of City with a 2-0 victory at Blackburn Rovers.
United, fielding a makeshift defense because of injuries, went behind after 22 minutes when midfielder Murphy seized possession from Paul Scholes and fired past goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak from long range.
In the 46th in-form striker Zamora met a Clint Dempsey knockdown to half volley past Kuszczak and notch his 10th goal of the season.
United manager Alex Ferguson threw on attacking substitutes Dimitar Berbatov and Danny Welbeck but a superb Duff volley with 15 minutes remaining sealed an emphatic victory for the host.
"We were playing a United side suffering very badly from injuries but we can't do much more I suppose than play as well as we can play and get the best result we can get," Fulham manager Roy Hodgson told Sky Sports.
Manchester City is sixth after a thrilling win over Sunderland which had Michael Turner sent off in stoppage time.
Craig Bellamy set up Roque Santa Cruz for his first league goal for City before Carlos Tevez converted a penalty to make it 2-0 after 12 minutes.
Sunderland hit back to level through defender John Mensah and a rocket shot from Jordan Henderson, only for Bellamy to curl home City's third on 35 minutes.
Kenwyne Jones then headed Sunderland level again before Santa Cruz grabbed his second with 21 minutes to go.
City finished 10th in Hughes' first season at the helm but after spending 115 million pounds (US$186.4 million) on six big signings in the close season, fueled by the petro-dollars of the club's Abu Dhabi owner, expectations went through the roof.
Hughes applauded all four sides of the City of Manchester Stadium and looked grim-faced as he walked down the tunnel for the final time - his fate already sealed.
Brazilian midfielder Denilson's delightful free kick set Arsenal on the way to victory but it had to survive a Geovanni missed penalty after the break before adding two more goals through Eduardo da Silva and Abou Diaby.
A header from Norwegian frontman John Carew sealed Villa's win over Stoke while Peter Crouch's double helped Tottenham sink Blackburn.
Goals by Danny Murphy, Bobby Zamora and Damien Duff condemned second-placed United to a second league defeat in eight days. Chelsea can now stretch its lead to six points by beating West Ham United.
A second win in 11 league matches proved in vain for Hughes who watched his City side beat Sunderland 4-3 at Eastlands before being dismissed after the game, which was watched by former Inter Milan boss Mancini from the stands.
"A return of two wins in 11 Premier League games is clearly not in line with the targets that were agreed and set," City Chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak said in a statement.
A day of surprises began with Liverpool's 0-2 reverse at bottom club Portsmouth, its seventh league defeat this season.
Arsenal is third, two points behind United, after a 3-0 win over Hull City. Aston Villa occupies fourth spot after a 1-0 victory over Stoke City.
Tottenham Hotspur, in fifth, followed up its midweek demolition of City with a 2-0 victory at Blackburn Rovers.
United, fielding a makeshift defense because of injuries, went behind after 22 minutes when midfielder Murphy seized possession from Paul Scholes and fired past goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak from long range.
In the 46th in-form striker Zamora met a Clint Dempsey knockdown to half volley past Kuszczak and notch his 10th goal of the season.
United manager Alex Ferguson threw on attacking substitutes Dimitar Berbatov and Danny Welbeck but a superb Duff volley with 15 minutes remaining sealed an emphatic victory for the host.
"We were playing a United side suffering very badly from injuries but we can't do much more I suppose than play as well as we can play and get the best result we can get," Fulham manager Roy Hodgson told Sky Sports.
Manchester City is sixth after a thrilling win over Sunderland which had Michael Turner sent off in stoppage time.
Craig Bellamy set up Roque Santa Cruz for his first league goal for City before Carlos Tevez converted a penalty to make it 2-0 after 12 minutes.
Sunderland hit back to level through defender John Mensah and a rocket shot from Jordan Henderson, only for Bellamy to curl home City's third on 35 minutes.
Kenwyne Jones then headed Sunderland level again before Santa Cruz grabbed his second with 21 minutes to go.
City finished 10th in Hughes' first season at the helm but after spending 115 million pounds (US$186.4 million) on six big signings in the close season, fueled by the petro-dollars of the club's Abu Dhabi owner, expectations went through the roof.
Hughes applauded all four sides of the City of Manchester Stadium and looked grim-faced as he walked down the tunnel for the final time - his fate already sealed.
Brazilian midfielder Denilson's delightful free kick set Arsenal on the way to victory but it had to survive a Geovanni missed penalty after the break before adding two more goals through Eduardo da Silva and Abou Diaby.
A header from Norwegian frontman John Carew sealed Villa's win over Stoke while Peter Crouch's double helped Tottenham sink Blackburn.
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