Darren Bent scored on his debut four days after becoming Aston Villa's most expensive player to give his new side a 1-0 win over Manchester City in the Premier League at Villa Park on Saturday.
Aston Villa beat Crystal Palace 1-0 to win a Premier League match for the first time since August while a late goal from Paul Dummett earned a 3-3 draw for Newcastle United against Manchester United on Tuesday.
David Villa struck just after halftime to lift champions Barcelona to a laboured 1-0 home win over his former club Sporting Gijon in La Liga on Wednesday.
Images from English Premier League matches played on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta's team are third with 61 points after 27 games, a point behind Manchester City
David Villa struck twice and David Silva and Juan Mata also scored to give rampant Valencia a 4-2 win at Real Valladolid in La Liga on Sunday.
Van Dijk was sent off for fouling Alexander Isak during the first half and appeared to remonstrate with referee John Brooks before walking off the pitch.
Wayne Rooney scored twice in a 4-1 victory in the English Premier League.
Chelsea's title hopes suffered a blow when the Premier League leaders finished with nine men in a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday after Manchester City won 2-0 at Hull City to cut the gap at the top to six points.
Images from Sunday's action in the Premier League.
Embattled Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's immediate family members are living under 'close confinement' at a luxurious villa in Algeria, it has emerged.
Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa gained ground in the Premier League's increasingly tight battle for fourth place on Sunday as they beat Wigan Athletic and Burnley respectively.
Liverpool have agreed a 32.5 million pounds deal with Aston Villa for striker Christian Benteke, British media reported on Sunday.
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.
Chelsea's defensive frailties were exposed again on Saturday when they gifted Aston Villa two goals from corners in a 2-1 away defeat, their second loss in three league games after they had won their first six.
Aston Villa moved back to fifth in the English Premier League with an astonishing 3-2 win over Everton on Sunday after a goal in the first minute and one from each side in stoppage time. In the day's other match, West Bromwich Albion failed to win for the ninth successive match and stayed bottom after being held to a 1-1 draw by Portsmouth at The Hawthorns.
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.
European champions Barcelona have pledged to capture the Club World Cup for striker David Villa, who suffered a sickening leg break in Thursday's semi-final in Japan.
Andre Villas-Boas could emulate Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal by remaining Chelsea's manager for 10 or 15 years, club chairman Bruce Buck said on Thursday.
Manchester United have lost 11 of their 27 league matches this campaign, two more than all of last season. The two previous seasons with 12 league losses (2013-14 and 2021-22) led to managerial changes.
Chelsea, playing with a swagger missing for much of the season, routed Aston Villa 8-0 on Sunday.
It was Chelsea's first defeat in 19 league outings and extended their bad run at Villa Park to nine matches without a win.
Manchester City won an unprecedented fourth straight English top flight title with a 3-1 win over West Ham United.
Arsenal survived a late scare to regain top spot in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory at Aston Villa on Monday, both their goals arriving in the space of a minute in the first half.
Andre Villas-Boas can become the first opposition coach to plot Chelsea's downfall in a Premier League match this season when his old club play his in-form Tottenham Hotspur side at White Hart Lane on Saturday.
Pioneers Aston Villa have put almost all their faith in young players this season but the bold policy is at risk of badly backfiring for the Premier League club after Tuesday's defeat at fourth tier Bradford City.
Tottenham Hotspur missed the chance to move into the top four when they were held to a 1-1 draw at West Ham United
In-form Liverpool face a 'difficult' match on Saturday against an Aston Villa side who have improved after a change in system, boss Brendan Rodgers said as he welcomes back top scorer Luis Suarez after a one-match ban.
The majority of Premier League clubs would prefer not to have the distraction of playing in the FA Cup, according to Paul Lambert, the manager of seven-time winners Aston Villa.
Third-placed Arsenal tightened their grip on a spot in the top four on the English Premier League table, continuing an impressive run of form at the Emirates with a 3-0 win over West Ham United on Saturday.
Images from the Premier League matches played on Saturday, March 9.
Manchester United moved a step closer to retaining the Premier League title with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Aston Villa on Sunday to move five points clear at the top.
Two goals for Roman Pavlyuchenko and two own goals helped Tottenham Hotspur advance to an FA Cup quarter-final meeting with Fulham after a 4-0 home win over Bolton Wanderers in their fifth-round replay on Wednesday.
Andre Villas-Boas secured his first Premier League victory as Tottenham Hotspur manager when his side outclassed Reading 3-1 on Sunday with two goals from England striker Jermain Defoe.
Favourites Spain start the defence of their world title away to Georgia on Tuesday when coach Vicente del Bosque will have another chance to test the form of record marksman David Villa, recently returned from eight months out with a broken leg.
Brad Friedel will remain Tottenham Hotspur's first-choice goalkeeper despite the arrival of French international Hugo Lloris on transfer deadline day, manager Andre Villas-Boas said on Saturday.
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