Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/286290
56 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 MARCH 2014 FOOTBALL SURFSKI Sport John Terry's own goal blows title race wide open MANCHESTER City missed the chance to usurp Chelsea at the top of the Barclays Premier League as Arsenal battled to a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium. Following Chelsea's shock 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace earlier on Saturday afternoon, Manuel Pel- legrini's men, who still have match- es in hand, would have gone ahead on goal difference with victory over the out-of-form Gunners. However, despite taking an early lead through David Silva, it was Arsenal who showed the greater desire as they recovered to turn in a strong second-half display and level through Mathieu Flamini. Liverpool host Tottenham on Sunday and now have the champi- onship destiny in their own hands, with key clashes against City and Chelsea at Anfield still to come. Earlier, John Terry's own goal blew the race for the title wide open as Crystal Palace snatched an un- likely three points against Chelsea at Selhurst Park. The former England defender turned Joel Ward's 52nd-minute cross into his own net under pres- sure from Joe Ledley to hand the Eagles a precious win in their bat- tle for survival. It was no more than Palace de- served from a performance of real character and endeavour on a day when Jose Mourinho's men were far from at their best. Victory lifted Tony Pulis' side one place to 16th, but crucially five points clear of the drop zone. It proved to be a good day too for beleaguered Manchester United manager David Moyes as a Wayne Rooney double in a 4-1 victory over Aston Villa helped to lift some of the pressure from his shoulders. On a day when a group of dis- gruntled fans chartered a plane to display the message "Wrong One - Moyes out", Rooney cancelled out Ashley Westwood's fine 11th- minute free-kick with a deft header and then fired United into the lead from the penalty spot after Juan Mata had been felled. Mata's first goal for the club gave the home side breathing space and substitute Javier Hernandez wrapped up a 4-1 win at the death. Southampton continued their pursuit of United with a compre- hensive 4-0 victory over Newcastle which saw them leapfrog the Mag- pies into eighth. The Saints had to wait until stop- page time at the end of the first half to take the lead after being repeat- edly thwarted by keeper Rob Elliot, standing in for the injured Tim Krul. However, once Jay Rodriguez had opened the scoring there was no way back for Alan Pardew's men as fellow England World Cup hopefuls Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana helped themselves to a goal apiece before Rodriguez sealed victory at the death with his second. But perhaps the game of the day took place at the Hawthorns as West Brom and Cardiff fought out a six-goal thriller. The Baggies looked to be cruising to victory when they went 2-0 up within nine minutes of the kick-off after Morgan Amalfitano f loated an outrageous second-minute opener over goalkeeper David Marshall before Graham Dorrans extended their advantage. However, the Bluebirds dragged themselves back into the game on the half-hour through Jordon Mutch's strike, and levelled 17 minutes from time when defender Steven Caulker powered home a header from Gary Medel's free- kick. But there was still drama to come when Thievy Bifouma looked to have snatched victory for the home side three minutes into added time, only for Mats Daehli to deny them with virtually the last kick of the game. South Wales neighbours Swansea enjoyed a much more comfortable afternoon as they eased to a 3-0 victory over Norwich which left the Canaries looking anxiously over their shoulder once again. Jonathan de Guzman's first-half double laid the foundation with Wayne Routledge's second-half strike completing the job. Peter Odemwingie continued his fine goalscoring form as Stoke re- corded their third successive vic- tory with a 1-0 triumph over Hull at the Britannia Stadium. Odemwingie struck in the 62nd minute, firing in from the edge of the box after collecting the ball from a stray Ahmed Elmohamady pass to register his fourth goal in three games, and fifth since joining the Potters from Cardiff in Janu- ary. The hosts had earlier been in- debted to their goalkeeper Asmir Begovic when he kept out a David Meyler shot that had taken a wick- ed def lection, and in the first half Hull defender Liam Rosenior failed to make the most of a good chance. Overall, though, Stoke were good value for a win that takes them to 40 points for the campaign with six more games to go. Chelsea's John Terry tries to disappear after scoring an own goal to give Crystal Palace the lead Camilleri eyeing clean sweep CHRIS Camilleri claimed his fifth victory in the surfski 'King of the Bay' series with a composed effort. The fifth leg of the series featured ten competitors, who were pleased to find much friend- lier weather conditions to the ones experienced earlier in the series. After the usual running beach start, a small group of pad- dlers got some separation from the pack, as the familiar pairing of Chris Camilleri and Matthew Schem- bri jockeyed for the lead. Ger- ald Degaetano managed to edge closer to them, and would shadow them for most of the race. Nicki Camilleri, the only female in the competition, battled Simon Gauci for fourth in another reprise from the fourth leg. She was stronger against the wind, while Gauci took advantage of the waves, mak- ing for an interesting battle. Chris Camilleri eventually re- lied on a final f lourish to cement his lead, while Matthew Schembri managed to hold off Gerald Dega- etano - who claimed third place. The 'King of the Bay' series, supported by the Seabank Hotel & Spa, now heads into its final round with Chris Camilleri look- ing to stay perfect in the competi- tion.