Young bags a brace as Man Utd swamp Spurs 3-1

AT THE DOUBLE: Ashley Young proved his worth for Manchester United with two goals in their away defeat of Tottenham Hotspur.

Two Ashley Young goals helped Manchester United to a clinical 3-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur and sliced Manchester City's lead at the top of the Premier League back to two points.England winger Young scored twice in nine minutes at White Hart Lane after Wayne Rooney's 44th-minute header had given United a fortunate halftime lead against third-placed Spurs who worked tirelessly throughout the game but lacked a cutting edge.Substitute Jermain Defoe scored a late consolation for Tottenham who suffered their second convincing defeat in eight days after last week's 5-2 thrashing at north London rivals Arsenal.With 11 games remaining champions United have 64 points to the 66 of City with Tottenham on 53, four ahead of Arsenal in the race for an automatic Champions League spot."We had a bit of luck," United manager Alex Ferguson, taking charge of his 986th league game to go ahead of the club record he shared with Matt Busby, told Sky Sports."Scoring right on halftime it was probably our first chance at goal. That was a killer for Tottenham because they must have been sitting there wondering how they are losing 1-0."Chelsea, who sacked manager Andre Villas-Boas on Sunday, are a further three points behind.Newcastle United's hopes of challenging for a top-four spot suffered a blow with a 1-1 draw against 10-man Sunderland, Shola Ameobi scoring a stoppage-time leveller for Newcastle.Sunderland took the lead through Nicklas Bendtner in a bad-tempered north-east derby but the visitors had Stephane Sessegon sent off for an elbow.Wolverhampton Wanderers slipped into the relegation zone after a 5-0 drubbing at Fulham, for whom Russian Pavel Pogrebnyak scored a hat-trick and Clint Dempsey two.Ferguson had identified the fixture at White Hart Lane as a massive game in his side's quest to prevent City stealing their title and after taking the points despite not playing well his side now look perfectly placed for the final sprint to the line.Tottenham, bidding for a first win over United since 2001, were without Welsh winger Gareth Bale, Dutchman Rafael van der Vaart and midfield workhorse Scott Parker but were the better side in the opening period.Lacklustre United offered virtually no attacking threat and Ferguson's 986th halftime team talk in a league match might have involved his dreaded hair dryer had it not been for Rooney's poacher's goal just before the break.Young's corner was curled in from the left and Roone evaded the attention of his marker to stoop and head the ball past a helpless Brad Friedel.It was harsh on Tottenham who had produced some slick attacking play as they attempted to enliven a muted home crowd on a raw, drizzly afternoon in north London.Aaron Lennon's pace down the right caused problems and former United striker Louis Saha and Adebayor had several sights at goal.Tottenham were unlucky not to go ahead after 36 minutes when Saha's close-range shot from Lennon's cut back hit Adebayor on the line and although the Togo striker hooked the ball in he was adjudged to have handled.The second half began in similar fashion with Tottenham pressing and midfielder Jake Livermore's deflected drive was superbly saved by David De Gea.But just as Spurs were threatening an equaliser they suffered a body blow on the hour.Luka Modric was guilty of allowing Nani to cross and the ball skidded across the face of goal to Young who leapt high to hook it crisply into the far corner.Nine minutes later Young galloped towards goal before unleashing an unstoppable dipping shot from 25 yards into the top corner.Not even a rare mistake by veteran Ryan Giggs, who gave the ball straight to Defoe for a well-taken consolation, could spoil what was a thoroughly satisfying day for United.

Power of 10 adds upto title glory: Mancini

Roberto Mancini has set his Manchester City side a target of 10 more victories to secure a first league title in 44 years. City moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League table with a 2-0 win over Bolton, hours before Manchester United travel to Tottenham on Sunday. City host United in the third last game of the season and after their trip to White Hart Lane, Sir Alex Ferguson s side face West Brom, Wolves, Fulham, Blackburn, QPR, Wigan, Aston Villa and Everton. City will come up against Swansea, Chelsea, Stoke, Sunderland, Arsenal, West Brom, Norwich and Wolves before that potentially-decisive game. Going into the weekend, Mancini claimed that United will pick up 11 wins and that all that City have to do is match that. After the victory over Bolton, he said: "This was important because we have taken three points and we need to keep winning because Manchester United is a very good team. "If we could win the next ten games, we would win the title. We just need to keep playing the way we are and we will have a very good chance." Mancini used a second string side against relegation-threatened Bolton, sticking with Mario Balotelli despite the prospect of the Italian receiving a fine of two weeks wages for a trip to a Liverpool strip club in the early hours of Friday morning. David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Aleksander Kolarov were among those left on the bench and Mancini is happy with the way his squad is shaping up despite Pablo Zabaleta limping off with a hamstring injury, a problem that is also bothering Micah Richards. He added: "We rested one or two players and I left Silva, Aguero, Kolarov because we had everybody fit except Micah, who was injured. "Pablo Zabaleta had a problem and had to come off as well so now we have two injured right-backs which is a problem, but we will see how things go next week." City coasted to an 18th consecutive Premier League home win thanks to a Gretar Steinsson own-goal and Balotelli s second half effort at the Etihad Stadium. Bolton are two points from safety but have a run of games against teams that are around them. In March they come up against QPR, Aston Villa, Blackburn, Wolves and Fulham and have the chance to pull away from trouble. Manager Owen Coyle said: "We have to take the positives and move into the final 11 games of the season. "We have six at home and five away and there are points to be achieved from every single one of those matches. "We have come through a tough set of fixtures and we now have to make sure that we go and win the points to climb the table and that starts next Saturday against QPR at the Reebok Stadium."

Man City five clear as Bolton woe continues

Leaders Manchester City coasted to an 18th straight home league win after Gretar Steinsson s own goal and a Mario Balotelli effort helped them to a 2-0 success over Bolton Wanderers on Saturday. City move five points clear at the top of the Premier League table, with second-placed Manchester United facing Tottenham Hotspur, who sit third, on Sunday. Roberto Mancini s team were a long way from their best but their win was never in doubt after Gael Clichy s drive flew in off Steinsson mid-way through the first half. They had to wait another 46 minutes to double their advantage when Balotelli, who was left out of the Italy squad for the mid-week friendly with the United States, slammed in from close range. Mancini s side now entertain Chelsea and head to Arsenal in the next run of seven games before they host United, who have a simple run after Sunday s game at Spurs.

Warner sets up 15-run victory

Australia 6 for 321 (Warner 163, Wade 64) beat Sri Lanka 306 (Kulasekara 73, Tharanga 60, D Hussey 4-43, Watson 3-33, Lee 3-59) by 15 runs

David Warner chose a fine time to awaken from his one-day international slumber. His first ODI century set up a 15-run victory in the first final for Australia, who will raise the Commonwealth Bank Series trophy in two days if they repeat their success in Adelaide on Tuesday. But Sri Lanka will enter the second final with some confidence after a remarkable, though ultimately futile, fightback in a chase of 322.Warner made 163, the sixth-highest score by an Australian in an ODI, and he batted through until the last ball of Australia's innings as they made 321, the second-best one-day international total ever achieved at the Gabba. Sri Lanka's batsmen struggled against the pace of Brett Lee and the canny spin of David Hussey, and the top order left too much work for those who followed.Not that they gave up. Far from it. Nuwan Kulasekara and Upul Tharanga came together at 6 for 144, needing another 178 runs at nearly nine an over. It seemed an unrealistic goal, and in the end it was. But only just. They used the batting Powerplay to great effect, taking 68 runs from it and attacking Ben Hilfenhaus and James Pattinson, who both served up too many half-volleys and between them finished the match with 0 for 95 off nine overs.Though Kulasekara and Tharanga had both fallen in the search for boundaries by the time the last few overs came around, they had left their colleagues with some hope. Sri Lanka needed 20 off the final two overs but they couldn't quite get there and the end came when Lasith Malinga skied a catch to deep midwicket off Shane Watson when they needed 16 from five balls, leaving Dhammika Prasad unbeaten on 31.Watson had also picked up the important penultimate wicket when Rangana Herath pulled to deep midwicket for 5. If only, Sri Lanka must have been thinking, we hadn't left it all up the tail. With each boundary struck by Kulasekara and Tharanga - and there were plenty - Sri Lanka gained hope. Australia's bowling at the death has left a lot to be desired in this series and again it was a weakness.Kulasekara was especially impressive and a pair of consecutive slog-swept sixes off Hussey really brought the crowd alive. But two balls later he sent a catch to midwicket and was out for 73 from 43 deliveries, his best ODI score. Although Tharanga was the specialist batsman in the partnership he had been the quieter of the two, and he followed a few overs later when he holed out to long-on off Watson for 60.Sri Lanka will rue their top-order struggle. Mahela Jayawardene was caught behind for 14 when he pushed tamely at Lee and his opening partner Tillakaratne Dilshan followed in Lee's next over. Dilshan had picked up five boundaries in his 27 from 22 balls but his innings ended when Lee nipped one through the gate as Dilshan tried for a big drive.Dinesh Chandimal cut the first ball from David Hussey, who finished with 4 for 43, to backward point and Kumar Sangakkara lobbed a delivery from Lee to mid-off for 42, trying to lift the tempo as the required run-rate increased. Lahiru Thirimanne and Farveez Maharoof both fell to Hussey before the partnership that nearly saved Sri Lanka.Even though they didn't steal the win they still created a wonderful match. If anyone thought one-day internationals were dead, they need only see the past week in Australia for the counterargument. On Tuesday, Virat Kohli set up India's incredible chase of 321 in 37 overs and on Friday, Sri Lanka held on for a tense nine-run win despite the best chasing efforts of David Hussey.And then there was this match, which began with 163 from Warner, an innings that threatened to be forgotten by the end of the game. He was bowled from the last ball of Australia's 50th over but he had done enough not only to set up Australia's win but also to ease any pressure over his place in the side, after an indifferent series at the top of the order.Warner and Matthew Wade gave Australia an outstanding start with a 136-run opening partnership and although Wade fell for 64, Warner went on and made the most of the platform. He brought up his century with a fortuitous edge to the third-man boundary from his 111th delivery and celebrated with the now-familiar Warner high leap and punch of the air.It was a more restrained innings than many of Warner's limited-overs efforts but that was no bad thing, and he still had the confidence to go for his shots when the bowlers gave him the opportunity. Warner was especially strong with his drives down the ground, which were generally timed to perfection, and he also pulled with power from midwicket to long-on.His scoring rate didn't pick up as much as the fans might have liked towards the end of the innings but it was still a wonderful display. He had late support from Michael Clarke, who scored 37 from 25 balls batting at No.6, and Michael Hussey sent a couple of balls over the rope in the final few overs to help Australia to their hefty total.Hussey had come in at No.7 after a reshuffle in the batting order. The Australians had sent in Daniel Christian and David Hussey early, keen to make the most of the strong opening stand, which ended with a spectacular, freakish catch in the outfield from Herath.Wade seemed to make good contact with a delivery from Kulasekara but at long-on Herath backed back and in a last, desperate attempt thrust his left hand in the air as he fell backwards, plucking the catch one-handed and avoiding the boundary rope as he fell over and held on to the ball. He appeared almost as stunned by his feat as the spectators were.It wasn't the last remarkable thing achieved by the Sri Lankans in this match. But despite their fight, they will enter Tuesday's second final in Adelaide needing a win to force a third decider. And after such a closely fought series, that would be a fitting finale.

Brazil World Cup will be impeccable: Football chief

The president of the Brazilian Football Confederation, Ricardo Teixeira, insists the Latin American country will deliver an "impeccable" World Cup in 2014 despite criticism from FIFA that organisational progress is slow. "FIFA concerns with regard to preparation of all World Cups are natural and legitimate," said Teixeira. "But the body can keep calm because Brazil and its people have the competence and seriousness required to organise an impeccable and unforgettable World Cup," Teixeira said in a posting to the federation website overnight Saturday. Teixeira s comments came amid a deepening row between FIFA and the Brazilian government after FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke opined Friday that the organisers needed a "kick up the backside" to ensure that preperations were completed on time for Brazil s first World Cup in 64 years. Brazil Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo reacted angrily Saturday to Valcke s trenchant comments, saying the country would boycott Valcke as a spokesman over his criticisms. "The government will no longer accept the secretary general as FIFA spokesman," Rebelo said in deriding Valcke s comments as "impertinent," "inappropriate" and "offensive". And Rebelo said that if Valcke goes ahead with plans to visit Brazil on March 12 he will not be received. Valcke responded by dubbing Rebelo s reaction "a bit puerile." "I will go to Brazil on March 12," Valcke confirmed. FIFA have for months expressed varying degrees of concern over the extent to which preparations are on track for the first World Cup in Brazil since 1950. But Frenchman Valcke pulled no punches on Friday in saying progress was much too slow. "I don t understand why things are not moving. The stadiums are not on schedule any more and why are a lot of things late?" he asked. "I am sorry to say but things are not working in Brazil," he added. "You have to push yourself, kick your arse and just deliver this World Cup and that is what we will do."

Verdasco, Ferrer set up all-Spanish final in Mexican Open

Mexico -- David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco both won in straight sets on Friday to set up an all-Spanish final at the Mexican Open.

Top seed and defending champion Ferrer was tested but prevailed against Colombian Santiago Giraldo 7-5, 6-4, while Verdasco defeated Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland 6-3, 6-3.

Ferrer and Giraldo were closely matched but the Spaniard was able to convert two of seven break points while the Colombian converted none of six. Giraldo was also restricted to winning just 11 points for the match when Ferrer got his first serve in.

The eighth-seeded Verdasco didn't allow a single break opportunity to Wawrinka, cruising to victory at The Fairmont Acapulco Princess.

Wawrinka saved two match points while serving in the penultimate game, then saved another in the last game, but Verdasco finally served out the match.

In the women's tournament, there will also be a final of compatriots: Italians Sara Errani and Flavia Pennetta.

No. 3 seed Errani eliminated top-seeded Roberta Vinci, breaking twice in each set to win 6-4, 6-1. The Italians are good friends and played the doubles tournament together.

The 36th-ranked Errani will be playing for her third WTA title against Pennetta, who got past No. 4 seed Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 6-2, 6-2.

The second-seeded Pennetta, seeking her 10th WTA title, broke Begu three times in each set to win the match.

Ferguson savours Tottenham clash

Man Utd manager relishing trip to White Hart Lane for Sunday's crunch clash

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson says taking on Tottenham Hotspur is one of the highlights of the season for his club.United travel to White Hart Lane on Sunday for the eagerly-anticipated match that could have significant bearing on both clubs as they look to hunt down Barclays Premier League leaders Manchester City.United are currently in second place, only two points behind City, while Spurs are in third – eight points further adrift – after a superb season to date."Tottenham away is always a tremendous highlight for us, it's always an interesting game with the history of both clubs," said Ferguson, whose side defeated Norwich last time out."It's a real football ground at Tottenham. I enjoy going there and I think the players do too."It's an old-fashioned football ground and Villa Park is much the same. It's a good pitch, it's always been a good pitch and the atmosphere is guaranteed to be good."With the high-profile matches at the top of the table coming thick and fast, Ferguson was under no illusion as to how crucial the Tottenham contest could be."I think everyone at the club realises how important it is on Sunday to maintain our challenge," said Ferguson."We know Sunday is an important game for us. The most important game so far."Hopefully we can navigate it. I'm not interested in anyone else's [title challenge]. We need to win on Sunday."One-offTottenham, meanwhile, will be looking to bounce back after Sunday's 5-2 defeat at the hands of north London rivals Arsenal."We had a bad weekend last weekend but it was a one-off," said Spurs boss Harry Redknapp, whose side have not beaten United in any competition since 2001."Since the first two games of the season we have not really had a bad game, even though we have lost a couple."Last week was the first bad day that we have had but it happens. Everybody has those days. All the clubs have had them this year.We want Champions League football. We're in a great position still.''You have got to be at your best if you're going to get a result against Manchester United. They have done fantastic again."But we've got a big chance, we have got a good team. They are a top team, so are we, so it should be a great game."Redknapp is confident that winger Gareth Bale will be available for the match despite the Welshman suffering a hamstring problem in midweek while midfielder Scott Parker is suspended.Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has recovered from a throat infection.

Pardew calls for Newcastle response

Magpies boss wants a return to winning ways, starting with derby clash against Sunderland

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew says he wants to use Sunday's Tyne-Wear derby against Sunderland as a springboard for a strong finish to the Barclays Premier League campaign.

The Magpies have had a season to remember so far and are currently sixth in the League table, only three points behind fifth-placed Chelsea.

But Pardew's men have stumbled of late, losing 5-0 away at Tottenham while they failed to hold on to a two-goal lead against Wolves last week, eventually drawing 2-2.

"We aren't firing on all cylinders at the moment, I think our fans know that," said Pardew.

"We got over the line against Villa when it was a bit tight, we didn't play very well at Tottenham and played well for 45 minutes against Wolves.

"We need to come into some form, really, if we are going to challenge the top half of the division, and I am looking to do that on Sunday.

"The focus this week, everywhere we have been in town, is about the derby. We have got to make sure that we come out with credit in terms of our performance and the result."

Newcastle may have won the corresponding fixture 5-1 last season, as well as beating Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light back in August, but Pardew says he is taking nothing for granted this weekend.

"On Sunday we do need the fans," he added. "This Sunderland team really do work you hard. Martin [O'Neill] has gone in there and got them working as a unit and making it difficult.

"We need that 12^th man and our fans on it to make that place so difficult to play.

"At the start of the game we have got to make sure that we put something on that pitch that gets our fans backing us for 90 minutes and if they do, it's going to make it difficult."

Sunderland, who have been resurgent under the guidance of manager Martin O'Neill, have also hit a sticky patch in the League, losing to both Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion.

The Black Cats have not claimed victory on Tyneside since 2000, and O'Neill is fully aware of what a win will mean to Sunderland fans.

"It's a very, very big game and there's no getting away from that," he said. "It's extremely important, for every reason under the sun. It's as big as they come.

"You want the team to perform and if we perform as well as we have done, last weekend apart, then we'll give ourselves a chance but we will need to be really strong.

"We will be trying hard to get something from the game. We will need to apply ourselves better than we did last week – to be fair that was unusual for us.

"It will be a very big occasion but when everything settles down, if it does, then you have got to play strongly and with a big heart and a cool head, that might be difficult in the cauldron of a derby game like this."