AVB fired, McIlroy ‘Rorys’ to the top and the ‘Fed’ wins again

FOOTBALL – Weekend round -up: After losing 1-0 at WBA, Chelsea sacked Andre Villas-Boas.

Roberto Di Matteo is caretaker-boss while Roman Abramovich searches for his eighth manager in nine years (could it be Pep Guardiola?)…

Albion’s win on Saturday was their first over Chelsea for 33 years…

Manchester City beat Bolton 2-0 to retain top spot in the Premiership ahead of rivals Manchester United who beat third-placed Tottenham 3-1…. Robin Van Persie scored twice as Arsenal fought back to win 2-1 at Liverpool….

There were eight yellow cards and two red as nine-man Sunderland drew with Newcastle….

Blackburn, Aston Villa, QPR and Swansea all gained vital points in the relegation war…

Fulham, with a Pavel Pogrebnyak hat-trick, thrashed ailing Wolves 5-0…

The Molineux side having conceded 12 goals in three games, are in the bottom three above Bolton and Wigan….

Championship leaders Southampton won 1-0 at Leeds and second-placed West Ham beat Cardiff….

Sheffield United lost 3-2 to Oldham (after leading 2-0) to leave Charlton miles clear in FL1 while Swindon Town lead FL2. And in La Liga, Real Madrid beat Espanyol 5-0 to stay 10 points clear of Barcelona.

Soccer Shorts

• Portsmouth, around since 1898, could go out of business this week. Administrator Trevor Birch said: “I feel the worst. There’s no money forthcoming and certainly no prospective buyer.”

• Rangers, also with money problems, should have heard by know whether its players have been paid and who have lost their jobs. The ‘Gers owe £9m in unpaid tax, are 21 points behind rivals Celtic in the SPL and last Saturday lost at home again, to Hearts.

• Wigan Chairman Dave Whelan has given manager Roberto Martinez a vote of confidence. Oh!

• Dave Jones is Sheffield Wednesday’s new manager.

• Birmingham and Coventry have had transfer embargos placed upon them after failing to submit financial reports on time.

• On Tuesday, Blues played Chelsea in a 4th rd FA Cup replay while Arsenal tried to claw back a 4-0 deficit against AC Milan in CL. Spurs met Stevenage, also in an FA Cup replay.

• Didier Drogba is currently on 99 Premiership goals while team-mate Frank Lampard stands on 149.

• Bolton play QPR and Wolves meet Blackburn in this weekend’s relegation war while in League Two, it’s Swindon (top) against Cheltenham (second).

Sports Extras

• After ending Novak Djokovic’s run of victories, Andy Murray lost in the final of the Dubai Championships to Roger Federer who claimed his 72nd career title.

• Rory McIlroy took over from Luke Donald as the world’s number one golfer by winning the Honda Classic in Florida last weekend. The Irishman is the second youngest ever to take top spot.

• After a fall on the gallops, five-time Gold Cup winner Kauta Star could miss the Cheltenham Festival which starts next Tuesday. “If he doesn’t run, it will be like watching the 100m without Usain Bolt” said trainer Paul Nicholls.

• GB swimmers Becky Adlington, Jo Jackson, Hannah Miley, Aimee Wilmott, Robbie Renwick, Roberto Pavoni and Joe Roebuck have qualified for the Olympics; so too have GB’s women’s rhythmic gymnasts who won their appeal. The games begin in 20 weeks time!

• Only Wales can win the 2012 Grand Slam after France drew 17-17 with Ireland.

• Ryan Atkins’ 100th career try helped SL leaders Warrington beat Bradford 23-10.

• Vladimir Klitschko, with his 50th career knock-out, beat Gean-Mark Mormeck to retain his ‘three’ World heavyweight titles.

DID YOU KNOW? Arsenal, in the top flight football for 93 years, did not gain promotion on merit!

The Gunners came fifth in the old Second Division in 1915 but when the First Division was extended to 22 clubs after WW1, they were ‘promoted’ despite both Barnsley and Wolves finishing above them in the last pre-War table.