Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/228594
52 Sport maltatoday, SUNDAY, 15 DECEMBER 2013 FOOTBALL Manchester City put six past Arsenal A review of Saturday's action in the Barclays Premier League. MANCHESTER City put themselves firmly in the Barclays Premier League title picture with a convincing 6-3 win over leaders Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium. The prolific strikeforce of Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo were again on target while Fernandinho struck twice and David Silva and Yaya Toure also got on the scoresheet. Theo Walcott marked his first start since September with two fine goals to keep Arsenal in contention but Per Mertesacker's late header was mere consolation for a side ultimately well beaten. City, who have now scored 35 goals in their eight home games this season, fully deserved the win to move within three points of the Gunners. The only major downside for Manuel Pellegrini's men was the loss of Aguero early in the second half with what appeared a calf injury. Chelsea remain ahead of City in second after beating Crystal Palace 2-1. Jose Mourinho's side saw off relegation battlers Palace at Stamford Bridge, thanks to goals from Fernando Torres and Ramires. Tony Pulis' gritty Palace side made Chelsea work hard for a 2-1 half-time lead, Marouane Chamakh even drawing the visitors level with his third goal in his last three league appearances. The Blues were put under further pressure after the break but dug in to record their fourth win in five league matches. Seamus Coleman's third Premier League goal of the season secured a 4-1 victory for Everton against Fulham and moved the Toffees up to fourth. Dimitar Berbatov slotted his second penalty in as many league matches to draw Fulham level at 1-1 following Leon Osman's opener in the first half. English Premier league Standings Alvaro Negredo puts Manchester City 2-1 ahead, while Laurent Koscielny suffers a knee injury that ended his match But defender Coleman's finish, a Gareth Barry header and a late Kevin Mirallas goal helped Everton pull off an impressive win. Cardiff broke their three-and-ahalf match goal duck when Peter Whittingham headed Craig Noone's cross home in the Welsh side's home clash with West Brom. After a goalless first half, Malky Mackay's side netted to win 1-0 and bag their first league sucess in six Hellas Verona and Catania share the points in goalless draw HELLAS Verona held bottom club Catania to a goalless draw in the Serie A on Saturday, thanks to the heroics of goalkeeper Rafael. Verona's Brazilian shot-stopper pulled off several saves, notably to deny Sebastian-Leto from pointblank range in the 19th minute. Gino Peruzzi fired the rebound wide of the right upright. Rafael made another close-range save to keep out Pablo Alvarez's header from Pablo Barrientos' free kick. Verona's only real chance came on the strike of halftime when Juanito Gomez collected a deft backheel from Luca Toni and rolled across for Romulo, who shot wide of an open goal. Catania, which remains bottom, snapped a run of three successive defeats and is four points off safety ahead of the rest of the weekend fixtures. Verona remains sixth. - See more at: http://www.nan a i m o d a i l y n e w s . c o m /s p o r t s/ golf/hellas-verona-draws-0-0-atbottom-club-catania-in-serie-athanks-to-goalkeeping-heroics-1 .759554#sthash.0tyxcdk3.dpuf Verona's Luca Toni vies for the ball with Catania's Pablo Barrientos matches. Jay Rodriguez's second-half equaliser saw Southampton scramble a 1-1 draw against Newcastle at St James' Park. Yoan Gouffran had earlier finished well for his sixth goal of the season after Mike Williamson's header to hand Newcastle a 1-0 half-time lead. Guy Demel had the ball in the back of the net for West Ham against Italian Serie A Standings 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Juventus Roma SSC Napoli Inter Fiorentina Hellas Verona Torino Genoa AC Milan Parma Cagliari Atalanta Lazio Udinese ChievoVerona Sassuolo Sampdoria Livorno Bologna Catania 15 15 15 15 15 16 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 16 Today's matches ChievoVerona - Sampdoria Fiorentina - Bologna Genoa - Atalanta Lazio - Livorno Parma - Cagliari Udinese - Torino Juventus - Sassuolo Napoli - Inter 40 37 32 28 27 26 19 19 18 18 18 17 17 17 15 14 14 13 12 10 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 18:30 20:45 Sunderland - but referee Andre Marriner ruled it out for a foul on Lee Cattermole and the match ended in a goalless draw which is little help to either team. There were also no goals in the final match of the day as goalkeepers Asmir Begovic and Allan McGregor took the plaudits as their smart reactions ensured a point each for Hull and Stoke at the KC Stadium. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 P Arsenal 16 Chelsea 16 Manchester City 16 Everton 16 Liverpool 15 Newcastle United 16 Tottenham H. 15 Southampton 16 Manchester U. 15 Swansea City 15 Aston Villa 15 Hull City 16 Stoke City 16 Cardiff City 16 Norwich City 15 West B. Albion 16 West Ham United 16 Crystal Palace 16 Fulham 16 Sunderland 16 Pts 35 33 32 31 30 27 27 24 22 19 19 19 18 17 17 15 14 13 13 9 Steve Clarke sacked by West Brom THE club revealed only late last month that they planned to hold contract talks with the Scot at the start of 2014. However, Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Cardiff was the Baggies' fourth in a row leaving them 16th in the league. The club announced their decision to dispense with Clarke, and place him on gardening leave, was the unanimous decision of the board of directors with the Baggies just two points and two places above the relegation zone. Assistant Kevin Keen has also been placed on gardening leave. The club have won only seven of their 34 Premier League games during the calendar year - a 20 per cent win percentage yielding a total of only 31 points. Joint-assistant head coach Keith Downing will assume control of firstteam affairs while the club search for Clarke's successor. Sporting and technical director Richard Garlick told the club's official website: "We have reluctantly come to the decision to relieve Steve of his duties after very careful consideration. "It has been well documented that we have not had the rub of the green in certain games this season but that does not cloud the generally disappointing points return during this calendar year, culminating in today's fourth-successive defeat at Cardiff. "This club's track record proves we do not take such decisions lightly, having only enforced a change in this position three times in approximately 14 years. "But with key games coming thick and fast, we felt it was important we acted now to give the club the best possible chance of a successful outcome this season. "Our player wage bill is the highest in the club's history and we feel we have built a squad capable of being very competitive in the Premier League. "We now begin the search to find a new head coach who will work within our existing structure, which has been in place for the past six years." He added: "On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Steve and Kevin for their efforts over the past 18 months. "We wish them and their families well for the future." Clarke, who took over at The Hawthorns in June 2012, was out of the contract at the end of the season. The 50-year-old replaced Roy Hodgson, after he had been appointed England manager, at the club in what was his first managerial role having previously been assistant manager at Chelsea, West Ham and Liverpool. While the Baggies are currently struggling, Clarke had guided them to eighth last season.