Holders Chelsea beat Aston Villa 3-0 to sweep into the FA Cup final for the third time in four seasons on Saturday and keep alive their dream of a first FA Cup and League double. All three goals came late in the game with Didier Drogba breaking Villa's resistance after 67 minutes before Florent Malouda (89th) and Frank Lampard, deep in stoppage time, gave Chelsea an ultimately comfortable victory.
Frank Lampard hit four goals for Chelsea in a 7-1 demolition of Aston Villa to put the Londoners briefly on top of the English Premier League with 71 points before United responded with a 4-0 win in an evening game at Bolton Wanderers -- Dimitar Berbatov scoring twice for the champions.
Aston Villa moved into the thick of a four-way battle for fourth place in the Premier League with a 2-1 win at struggling Wigan Athletic on Tuesday.
Manchester United striker Michael Owen will miss the rest of the season with a hamstring injury, manager Alex Ferguson said on Friday.
Wayne Rooney continued his remarkable scoring streak with his 28th goal of the season to seal Manchester United's 2-1 win over Aston Villa in the 50th League Cup final at Wembley Stadium Sunday.
Wayne Rooney continued his remarkable scoring streak with his 28th goal of the season to seal Manchester United's 2-1 win over Aston Villa in the 50th League Cup final at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen suffered a suspected broken leg during the goalless draw at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Wednesday.
Aston Villa reached the League Cup final after coming from 2-0 down to beat Blackburn Rovers 6-4 in a thrilling semi-final second leg on Wednesday.
Aston Villa became the latest of the Premier League's top-four challengers to miss an opportunity when they were held to a disappointing goalless draw by West Ham United on Sunday.
Aston Villa took a step towards next month's League Cup final at Wembley when a James Milner goal gave them a 1-0 win over Blackburn Rovers in the first leg of a lively semi-final at Ewood Park on Thursday.
Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has been named the top trending football topic of 2013.
Chelsea have made the first major transfer move ahead of next season after reaching an agreement with Germany's highly-rated RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner. The Premier League club announced on Thursday that they had struck an agreement with Leipzig on a transfer fee and on personal terms with the player, who had been strongly linked with a move to European champions Liverpool.
Fernando Torres struck in stoppage time to give Liverpool a desperately needed 1-0 win at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Tuesday.
Wayne Rooney was involved in every goal as Manchester United beat struggling Hull City 3-1 on Sunday to slash Chelsea's lead to two points in the Premier League. The result lifted champions United back ahead of Arsenal, who defeated fourth-placed Aston Villa 3-0 with Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas coming off the bench to score two second-half goals, into second place.
Wayne Rooney gave away a goal but redeemed himself to inspire Manchester United to a 3-1 win over struggling Hull City which slashed Chelsea's lead to two points at the top of the Premier League on Sunday. The result lifted champions United back ahead of Arsenal, who beat fourth-placed Aston Villa 3-0 with Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas coming off the bench to score two goals, into second place.
Cesc Fabregas scored twice to send Arsenal second in the Premier League, four points behind Chelsea but with a game in hand, after brushing aside Aston Villa 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
A cruel own goal by Damien Duff condemned Newcastle United to relegation from the Premier League after they slipped to a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Sunday.
Manchester United wasted a glorious chance to catch Chelsea at the top of the Premier League when they lost 1-0 at home to Aston Villa on Saturday. Earlier leaders Chelsea were held 3-3 at home by Everton despite two goals from Didier Drogba.
Aston Villa kept Tottenham Hotspur bottom of the Premier League on Monday with a deserved 2-1 victory at White Hart Lane. Villa scored after five minutes through Nigel Reo-Coker and again early in the second half when Ashley Young's shot squirmed under Tottenham's Brazilian goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes.
Liverpool are sweating on the fitness of key players Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres ahead of Tuesday's Champions League encounter away to Marseille.
Chelsea's commanding start to the Premier League season continued with a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday as their rivals for the title continued to look vulnerable.
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez will get a close-up of the missing piece of his jigsaw puzzle on Saturday when Gareth Barry runs out for Manchester City at Anfield for a match with huge implications for both clubs.
Arsenal rediscovered their Premier League form on Saturday with a convincing 3-0 victory over Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium. Portsmouth ended a run of six successive league defeats when they won 3-0 at Everton while Hull City's flying start ended emphatically when they were thrashed 5-0 at home by Wigan Athletic.
Arsenal romped to a 4-1 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday to move into second place in the English Premier League while Manchester City's hopes of threatening the top four were hit by a fifth consecutive draw. City drew 3-3 with Burnley after having battled back from a two-goal deficit to lead with three minutes remaining.
Chelsea reclaimed top spot in the Premier League with a crushing 5-0 win over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday but Tottenham Hotspur were brought down to earth when Stoke City snatched a late 1-0 victory at White Hart Lane.
Manchester United, who could have been 10 points clear of Liverpool if they had beaten them last weekend, could find themselves in second place in the table when the Premier League resumes in two weeks' time.
Chelsea's on-loan Brazilian international Alexandre Pato scored on his debut to help push pathetic Aston Villa to the verge of inevitable relegation with a seventh successive Premier League defeat on Saturday. Pato, the former Milan starlet who has been kicking his heels since joining from Corinthians two months ago, came on as a 25th-minute substitute and was immediately involved in the move which led to Ruben Loftus-Cheek netting his first league goal.
Belgian winger Adnan Januzaj is poised to return to Manchester United after a disappointing loan spell at Borussia Dortmund, British media reported on Wednesday.
Chelsea marked the start of Dutch coach Guus Hiddink's spell in charge with a 1-0 victory against Aston Villa in Birmingham on Saturday to keep their Premier League hopes alive. Hiddink, who has taken the job until the end of the season following the sacking of Luiz Felipe Scolari, watched the top flight's leading scorer Nicolas Anelka bag a vital three points with a well-worked goal before halftime.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson dismissed Chelsea's Premier League title hopes on Wednesday.
Fernando Torres scored twice as Liverpool battled to a 3-2 English Premier League win at West Ham United on Saturday after the Londoners had twice pegged them back. Belgian centre back Thomas Vermaelen was a less likely two-goal hero as his double set up Arsenal for a 4-0 home thrashing of Wigan Athletic - emphatically avoiding a hat-trick of defeats after losses to Manchester United and City.
Manchester United enjoyed a hugely satisfying Saturday, beating Everton 1-0 to go five points clear in the Premier League after challengers Arsenal and Aston Villa were held to home draws. Cristiano Ronaldo's 44th-minute penalty at Old Trafford was enough to give the champions 53 points from 23 matches.
Champions Chelsea begin title defence at home to Swansea City, while runners-up Manchester City kick-off at West Bromwich Albion
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger expects big-spending Manchester City and much-improved Aston Villa to turn the Premier League's established big four into a big six this season.
Bolton Wanderers secured a priceless three points in their bid to escape relegation on Saturday, winning 1-0 at Middlesbrough.
Hamburg led a trio of former European champions into the UEFA Cup knockout phase on Thursday and previous winners Valencia also secured a last 32 place. Aston Villa and Ajax Amsterdam progressed from Group F along with Hamburg, whose 2-0 victory at Slavia Prague meant Villa qualified despite a 2-1 home defeat by Slovakia's Zilina.
A preview of Saturday's matches in the English Premier League.
Bolton Wanderers moved off the bottom of the Premier League and out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 home defeat of Manchester City on Sunday. A poor game was settled by two late goals, the first a close-range effort from Ricardo Gardner and the second an own goal from City defender Richard Dunne.
Chelsea gave departing coach Guus Hiddink the perfect leaving present when they came from behind to beat Everton 2-1 in the FA Cup final at Wembley on Saturday.
Newcastle United's euphoria after their win over Middlesbrough on Monday turned to despair on Saturday when a 1-0 loss at home to Fulham left their Premier League status hanging by a thread.
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