Salomon Rondon dented 10-man Manchester United's top-four challenge with a sharp second-half strike to maintain West Bromwich Albion's Premier League revival on Sunday. The 26-year-old Venezuela striker controlled Sebastien Pocognoli's cross from the left before burying the ball into the left corner on 67 minutes against an increasingly toothless United, who had lost Juan Mata to a second yellow card on 26 minutes. The Spain international was booked for not retreating and blocking a quickly-taken free kick before receiving his marching orders two minutes later for kicking Darren Fletcher's shin in a clumsy tackle. United's first league defeat at The Hawthorns since 1984 kept them sixth in the table, three points behind Manchester City in fourth, while West Brom climbed to 11th with a third win in four league games.
West Bromwich Albion broke their club-record transfer fee to sign Venezuelan striker Salomon Rondon from Russian club Zenit St Petersburg, the Premier League club said on Monday.
Salomon Rondon scored twice in Malaga's 4-2 win over Rayo Vallecano on Thursday to vault the home side into the hunt for the Champions League qualification places.
Canada advanced to the Copa America semi-finals with a 4-3 victory over Venezuela via the tie-breaker in the quarter-finals in Arlington, Texas, on Friday after the teams were locked 1-1 at the end of extra-time.
Venezuela struck twice in the space of 10 minutes in the second half to come from behind and earn a 2-1 victory over Ecuador.
Brazil pulled off a last-gasp 2-1 away victory over Chile in the South American World Cup qualifiers on Thursday.
A goal by Salomon Rondon gave Venezuela an upset 1-0 win over Uruguay in Philadelphia on Thursday that put them on the verge of the Copa America Centenario quarter-finals with the record 15-times champions facing elimination. When midfielder Alejandro Guerra lobbed Fernando Muslera from more than 30 metres, the Uruguay goalkeeper chased back but only managed to tip the ball onto the bar and striker Rondon raced in to tap it into the net in the 36th minute. Venezuela, who beat Jamaica 1-0 in their opening Group C match, have six points, three more than Mexico, who beat Uruguay 3-1 on Sunday and were playing the Jamaicans later on Thursday in Pasadena. For Venezuela, looking for their maiden title, it was a first win in nine Copa America meetings with Uruguay while Rondon became the first "Vinotinto" (red wine) player to score at three tournaments.
Salomon Rondon struck a second-half penalty to send Venezuela into the Copa America quarter-finals on Wednesday with a 1-0 win over Mexico in Group B, a result that also sent Jamaica crashing out of the tournament.
Ecuador secured a place in the Copa America quarter-finals on Sunday after grinding out a 0-0 draw with Mexico.
Rediff.com takes a look at a few other players who shunned champion sides for mediocre clubs in the Premier League.
Reigning champions Manchester City took the lead after 24 seconds but suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United.
Romelu Lukaku extended his impressive FA Cup scoring record by netting twice in Manchester United's 2-0 win at Huddersfield Town to earn Jose Mourinho's side a quarter-final tie at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Peru beat 10-man Venezuela 1-0 at the Copa America on Thursday.
In a gripping title race, Liverpool showed they are ready to push Manchester City right until the final seconds of this season with their spirited 3-2 win at Newcastle United.
Photos and summary of the English Premier League matches played on Tuesday, including the story of Chelsea's resurgent win
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is targeting the second half of the season to build on the team's recent improvement and launch a serious Premier League challenge.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Match-by-match facts and statistics ahead of the first round of Premier League fixtures from August 5-7 (all times IST).
Tottenham Hotspur fluffed their last-day lines with a 5-1 defeat at relegated, 10-man Newcastle United that left them third in the Premier League behind bitter north London rivals Arsenal.
Earlier in the night, Bolivia were denied their first win when Kaku scored with 18 minutes remaining to rescue a 2-2 draw for home side Paraguay in Asuncion.
Newcastle's worries deepened as they now remain at 19th in the table.
David de Gea's late own goal earned Sunderland a 2-1 win over Manchester United on Saturday and a vital three points in their bid for Premier League survival.
Defeat always seemed likely for West Brom, who are bottom of the Premier League and sacked their chairman and chief-executive on Tuesday.
IMAGES from the EPL match played between Chelsea and West Brom at Stamford Bridge in London on Monday
Leicester City's Premier League title defence got off to a terrible start as they were beaten 2-1 at promoted Hull City, who shrugged off an injury crisis to shock the champions on the opening day of the new season on Saturday
The victory, Chelsea's 28th of the season, put the long-time league leaders 10 points clear of second-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who have only three games left to play.
Wes Morgan's 90th-minute header earned 10-man Leicester City a 2-1 victory over relegation-threatened Burnley at Turf Moor in the Premier League on Saturday.
Substitute Costa slipped the ball past the keeper from close range in the 48th minute of the second half to break the deadlock and extend Brazil's winning run to 11 matches.
Chelsea maintained their stranglehold on the Premier League by beating Sunderland 1-0 on Wednesday to register their 10th successive win and move six points clear at the top of the table.
Manchester City beat Swansea 3-1 to make it a perfect 10 victories under Pep Guardiola, including six in the Premier League, as they recorded their best start to a top-flight campaign. City's victory was the perfect riposte to the Spaniard's old rival Jose Mourinho, who earlier saw his remodelled Manchester United sparkle without the dropped Wayne Rooney, thumping Premier League champions Leicester City 4-1. On a day of goals, both Manchester sides were outscored by Liverpool, who crushed Hull City 5-1 to take their tally to 24 in the past eight games.
Argentina and Chile advanced to the semi-finals of the Copa America on Saturday with Chile beating Mexico 7-0 and Lionel Messi getting a goal in Argentina's 4-1 win over Venezuela to equal his country's all-time scoring record.
West Brom's Dawson is villain and hero as Spurs' chances at League title fades; Leicester now need just one win from three games to claim EPL crown
Roberto Firmino had a goal chalked off late in the first half after the referee awarded a foul against the hosts, before substitute Gabriel Jesus found the net on the hour mark only for a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review to deem Firmino offside in the build-up. Brazil meet Peru in their final group game on Saturday with both sides needing only a draw to seal their place in the quarter-finals
Kevin De Bruyne, Kelechi Iheanacho, Raheem Sterling and Ilkay Gundogan gave Man City a 4-0 win over Bournemouth before Nolito was sent off.
Manchester United spurned a chance to move into the Premier League's top four after striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic missed a penalty in a 1-1 draw against 10-man Bournemouth on Saturday.
Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold scored with a spectacular strike as they overcame the loss of three players to suspected positive COVID-19 tests and conceding an early goal to beat Newcastle United 3-1 in the Premier League on Thursday.
Mexico scored twice in the final five minutes to beat Uruguay 3-1 in a pulsating Copa America Group C match in which each side had a man sent off on Sunday.
Manchester City stayed ahead of age-old local rivals Manchester United at the top of the Premier League on Saturday with a deserved 1-0 win away to champions Chelsea.
But for third-placed Spurs, who trail leaders Manchester City and Liverpool by five points, this may prove to be a loss that leaves them with too much ground to make up.
Leicester go five clear after win at Everton
