LONDON: Chelsea maintained their perfect start to the defence of their Premier League title as Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba struck in a 2-0 home win against Stoke City on Saturday.Chelsea won their opening two league games 6-0 but found life more difficult against a spirited Stoke

LONDON: Theo Walcott scored a sparkling first goal and Andrei Arshavin threaded in the second to give Arsenal a 2-1 victory at Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League on Saturday.Walcott, who netted a hat-trick in a 6-0 home thrashing of Blackpool last week, looked sharp again in a much

London: England batsmen Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad set a world record eighth wicket partnership on Saturday when they extended their stand to 332 on the third day of the fourth test against Pakistan at Lord`s.The pair, who came to the crease with England in deep trouble at 102 for

MANCHESTER: Sir Alex Ferguson has re-opened his long-running feud with old rival Arsene Wenger after hitting back at the Arsenal manager for criticising Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes.Wenger has angered United manager Ferguson after claiming last week that Scholes had a "dark

BRUSSELS: US sprinter Tyson Gay overcame a false start to steam to victory in the 100m at the season`s final Diamond League meet here on Friday, but Caster Semenya failed in her bid to win the women`s 800m.In a season which has seen Jamaican duo Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell sidelined

PARAMUS: Australia`s Jason Day rolled in a 26-foot putt to complete a run of three straight birdies that vaulted him into the second-round lead after Tiger Woods suffered a back-nine meltdown at the Barclays Friday.The 22-year-old Queenslander fired his second successive four-under-par 67

BERLIN: Defending champions Bayern Munich suffered a shock defeat in only their second German league game of the season on Friday as they were stunned 2-0 by 10-man Kaiserslautern, the Bundesliga`s new boys.Having won the second division last season, Kaiserslautern beat Cologne last

MONACO: Atletico Madrid defeated Champions League winners Inter Milan 2-0 on Friday to lift the European SuperCup, delivering an early-season bodyblow to coach Rafael Benitez.After a disappointing first half, Europa League winners Atletico opened the scoring in the 62nd minute through

BERLIN: Former captain Michael Ballack has been left out of Germany`s squad for their Euro 2012 qualifiers next month, coach Joachim Loew said on Friday. Ballack suffered an ankle injury in last season`s FA Cup final while playing for his former club Chelsea. He was forced to miss the

SINGAPORE: Asian Football Confederation chief Mohamed bin Hammam on Friday ruled out running for the FIFA presidency next year, opening the door for Sepp Blatter to run the world game for another four years. The 61-year-old Qatari is seen as a successor to the 74-year-old Swiss and one

MOSCOW: Spartak Moscow`s Brazilian forward Welliton, who wants to play for the Russian national team, has gone to the top of the league scoring charts, courtesy of an extraordinary six-minute hat-trick. Welliton, born in balmy northern Brazil, has a real chance of making the Russian

MADRID: Jose Mourinho embarks on his new adventure as Real Madrid coach making his bow with a tricky trip to islanders Real Mallorca on Sunday as he begins his quest to bring the glory days back to Real. Mourinho has been typically bullish in the press talking up his team`s chances of

LIVERPOOL: Liverpool announced on Friday they had accepted a new improved offer from Barcelona for Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano, with a deal set to be concluded this weekend. "Liverpool Football Club have agreed terms for the transfer of Javier Mascherano to FC Barcelona," a

DHAKA: Top Bangladesh golfer Siddikur Rahman hopes to make his name in Europe after becoming the first man from his country to win an Asian Tour event. Rahman, 25, became an overnight celebrity in Bangladesh when he clinched the Asian Tour`s Brunei Open earlier this month, raising hopes

PARAMUS: Tiger Woods, playing his first tournament since his long predicted divorce became final, fired his lowest score of the year Thursday to share the first-round lead at The Barclays. In fact, Woods`s six-under 65 was his best score since he was engulfed last November by a sex

BERNE: Liverpool diced with elimination before scoring two late goals to win 2-1 at Trabzonspor and squeeze into the Europa League on Thursday while Swiss second division side Lausanne came through with a shock win over Lokomotiv Moscow. Rapid Vienna, who knocked out English Premier

SYDNEY: Australia`s former world number one Lleyton Hewitt is looking for a new coach after splitting with Nathan Healy, reports said on Thursday.The pair, who played together in doubles tournaments this year, have parted ways after 12 months.Hewitt`s manager David Drysdale said the split

LONDON: Premier League sides Newcastle, Everton and Fulham strolled into the League Cup third round with convincing wins over lower league opponents on Wednesday.Newcastle, fresh from their 6-0 demolition of Aston Villa on Sunday, eased to a 3-2 win over League Two Accrington Stanley,

WASHINGTON: Tiger Woods`s ex-wife has broken her silence on the sex scandal that ended their marriage, saying the extent of his philandering had made her feel "stupid" and she had been through "hell."Elin Nordegren told People magazine that stress from the lurid tabloid scandal caused her

Johannesburg: Cricket South Africa and the Pakistan Cricket Board have agreed to play an additional Twenty20 International match at the start of the Proteas` tour to the United Arab Emirates to raise funds for the victims of the floods disaster in Pakistan.This will be the first match of