Roberto Mancini and Andre Villas-Boas have had sharply contrasting fortunes this season, but both managers celebrated vital victories in the English Premier League on Saturday.
Five things we learned from Saturday's action in the Barclays Premier League:
Five things we learned from the week's action in the Barclays Premier League.
In the midst of Blackburn Rovers' defeat to Bolton Wanderers last week, a tall unkempt man strode along the front of the stand toward the home dugout. Steve Kean, wisely, was standing at the front of his technical area, barking instructions and waving his arms to offer a simulacrum of control, as far from the fans as is possible under Premier League regulations. The man stood, unmolested by stewards, just behind the perimeter advertising hoarding. Slowly, he raised his left arm and, with a dramatic flourish, pointed off to his left.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson signaled his intention to stay at the English Premier League champions for at least three more years but struggling Blackburn wrecked his 70th birthday celebrations with a stunning 3-2 win at Old Trafford Saturday.
Manchester City continued their impressive form in the English Premier League on Saturday as they thrashed Norwich City 5-1 at Eastlands.
updated: Sat Dec 03 2011 18:25:00
CNN's Pedro Pinto breaks down next summer's Euro 2012 football match-ups.
Five things we learned from Saturday's action in the Barclays Premier League:
Five things we learned from Saturday's action in the Barclays Premier League:
The international break is a time for contemplation and reflection in the domestic leagues. It's a chance for the owners of football clubs to pause and take stock of their season so far. Frankly, that's the last thing that three beleaguered managers at the wrong end of the Premier League need right now. Owen Coyle, Steve Kean and Steve Bruce are all just a couple of bad results away from spending considerably more time with their families.
Manchester City shrugged off the Carlos Tevez controversy to stay in contention for the English Premier League lead with a 4-0 rout of struggling Blackburn on Saturday.
updated: Sat Oct 01 2011 13:58:00
CNN's Pedro Pinto asks Arsenal forward Theo Walcott quick fire questions.
For once a manager might be pleased to open the newspaper and find that his team's victory is being reported first and foremost as the opposition's loss; after a hair'em scare'em 4-3 win over Arsenal on Saturday, Blackburn Rovers manager Steve Kean will be glad of all the kudos and none of the forensic examination. Before kickoff, a couple of hundred supporters had marched to the ground in monsoon weather calling for him to be sacked, and the ludicrously thrilling match was the second thing to rain on their parade.
Five thoughts from Saturday's action in the Barclays Premier League ...
Arsenal's sorry start to the English Premier League campaign continued Saturday with a shock 4-3 defeat at lowly Blackburn.
Five things we learned from Saturday's action in the Barclays Premier League:
New striker Gervinho was sent off on his Premier League debut as Arsenal drew 0-0 against Newcastle United at St James Park in their opening match of the season on Saturday.
The post-Bosman age of contractual freedom has made it much harder for the smaller European teams to hold onto their best players. In the case of German champions Borussia Dortmund, however, the fact that it succeeded with the youngest ever side now rather than, say, 20, years ago, actually works in its favor. In those days, every half-decent Germany player was snapped up instantly by Serie A clubs and Jürgen Klopp's side would have been dismantled in the time it takes to drink an espresso. But the Bundesliga's newfound prosperity has stopped the migration across the Alps in recent years. The crème of young German talent will only move to a handful of European super-clubs now, and for that reason alone it is unlikely that Borussia's brave young squad will suffer too much hemorrhage. It's therefore safe to disregard the "Mario Götze to Arsenal" or "Neven Subotic to Chelsea" rumors that will abound this summer. But some -- almost exclusively foreign -- players will still be on the
Alejandro Bedoya might not have been included on Bob Bradley's CONCACAF Gold Cup roster, but there's not a whole lot more he could be doing for his club team in Sweden right now.
Five things we learned from Saturday's action in the Premier League:
Manchester United clinched a record 19th English league title on Saturday, while local rivals City ended a 35-year wait to win a football trophy.
With most soccer leagues in Europe either finished or within a few games of finishing, the future is becoming even more clear for the contingent of Americans playing overseas.
Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko finally broke his English Premier League duck for Manchester City, as his goal helped Roberto Mancini's side to a 1-0 victory at Blackburn Rovers.
With the dust continuing to settle after the United States Under-20 national team's failure to qualify for this summer's World Cup, one silver lining still holds true after the mammoth collective disappointment.
Manchester United extended their lead at the top of the English Premier League to ten points on Saturday after a comfortable 2-0 win over Fulham at Old Trafford.
Thoughts on the weekend's action in the Barclays Premier League:
Two goals from striker Javier Hernandez helped Manchester United go four points clear at the top of the English Premier League on Saturday after a 4-0 win at Wigan Athletic.
Captain Carlos Tevez scored twice as Manchester City went top of the English Premier League after winning a seven-goal thriller at home to lowly Wolverhampton on Saturday.
Paraguay striker Roque Santa Cruz hopes to revive his stalled career after securing a return to his old stomping ground at English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers.
Mid-table English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers want to sign former world player of the year Ronaldinho and persuade football icon David Beckham to come to them on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy.
The Premier League table at Christmas is generally regarded as a kind of crystal ball, channelling the end of the season to reveal the likely winners and losers. Since 2005-06, the festive leaders have gone on to lift the trophy four times out of six, while only one bottom-placed club has escaped relegation with a new-year flourish in the Premier League era. If you want to delve even further -- all the way back to 1888-89, in fact -- you'll find that 41 percent of champions have led at Christmas, while 71 percent of last-place stragglers were already dawdling behind the pack by the time Rudolph skidded to a halt on your rooftop. Sorry, Hammers.
English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers have confirmed the appointment of Steve Kean as manager for the remainder of the season.
There are times in football when you just despair. For Newcastle United to sack Chris Hughton was bad enough, but Blackburn Rovers' decision to part company with Sam Allardyce defies belief.
The ever-growing highlight reel of top-notch, club-level goals scored by Americans has a new addition. And for the first time in a while, it is not another Clint Dempsey special.
Sam Allardyce has been sacked by Blackburn Rovers, the second Premier League manager to lose his job in the past week.
Five goals from Dimitar Berbatov helped Manchester United move to the top of the English Premier League on Saturday as Alex Ferguson's team thrashed Blackburn Rovers 7-1 at Old Trafford.
Fortunately most United States soccer fans had their eyes on MLS Cup this past week, because there wasn't a whole host of memorable moments involving the Americans playing abroad.
Poultry firm Venky's have become the first ever Indian owners of an English Premier League club after they completed a $36 million takeover of Blackburn Rovers.
Manchester United claimed a controversial 2-0 victory at home to Tottenham on Saturday night to keep up the pressure on English Premier League leaders Chelsea.
Under normal circumstances in the Premier League, you'd look at a side that was five points clear with a quarter of the season played and assume it was strolling toward the title. These, though, are not normal circumstances.
Blackburn is set to become the first English Premier League side to come under Indian ownership, the club confirmed Tuesday.
Tackling has moved to the top of the Premier League agenda this week after Fulham's Bobby Zamora suffered a broken leg against Wolves and Arsenal substitute Abou Diaby had to be substituted himself, 13 minutes after coming on, thanks to a Paul Robinson challenge aimed at the ankle he dislocated four years ago.
Chelsea have maintained their 100 percent record in the English Premier League with a comfortable victory over Stoke City.
The saga surrounding the sale of British football club Liverpool took more twists on Wednesday as one reported bidder distanced himself from a full-blown takeover and another emerged saying that a deal is almost done.
Managers are a bit like prom dates: It always feels better to have one whom everyone else wanted. So it is perhaps understandable that, having initially had their team's advances warmly received by the massively popular Martin Jol, some Fulham fans are not quite so excited about buying a wristlet for the slightly less affable Mark Hughes instead.
Arsenal failed to seal third place in the English Premier League after losing 2-1 to Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park on Monday.
Tottenham blew the English Premier League title race wide open again with a 2-1 victory over 10-man leaders Chelsea that gave Manchester United hope after the champions' vital derby win earlier on Saturday.
Manchester United will be without Wayne Rooney for Sunday's English Premier League clash with Blackburn, but manager Alex Ferguson expects the England striker to return from injury next weekend.
British police are investigating the death of a man who was found unconscious at a soccer match on Saturday.
Manchester United returned to the top of English Premier League with a 5-0 crushing of crisis club Portsmouth on Saturday, while Liverpool kept their Champions League bid on track with a 1-0 victory in the derby against Everton.
Arsenal came back from two goals down to claim a 4-2 victory over Bolton at the Emirates Stadium which saw them climb to the top of the English Premier League.
Arsenal moved to within three points of leaders Chelsea at the top of the English Premier League after Cesc Fabregas inspired them to a 2-0 victory at Bolton to spoil new manager Owen Coyle's first match in charge.
Aston Villa will take a one-goal advantage into the second leg of their English League Cup semifinal clash with Blackburn after a narrow win at Ewood Park.
Manchester United's title hopes suffered a big blow as Alex Ferguson's injury-hit side crashed to a 3-0 reverse at Fulham on Saturday.
Premier League leaders Chelsea crashed out of the English League Cup on penalties after twice coming from a goal down to tie 3-3 after extra time against Blackburn at Ewood Park.
Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce kept away from his players during their 5-2 English League Cup win over Peterborough as the Premier League club battles swine flu.
Bulgarian winger Martin Petrov scored a second-half equalizer to rescue a point for big-spending Manchester City in a 1-1 English Premier League draw at Wigan on Sunday.
Veteran Spanish full-back Michel Salgado has joined English Premier League side Blackburn Rovers on a two-year deal.
updated: Sun Aug 16 2009 06:31:00
Correspondents in Japan, China and Thailand report on the English Premier League's growing popularity.
Manchester City's expensively-assembled team began their English Premier League campaign with a 2-0 win at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, while Arsenal crushed Everton 6-1 in the late kick-off.
After a summer of increasingly intensive thumb-twiddling and hours spent aimlessly wandering the corridors of Castle Limey, the excitement is at fever pitch as the English Premier League season returns this weekend. Last week we gave you our predictions for the season, and this week we're taking a detailed look at the first couple of fixtures following the big kick-off.
Roque Santa Cruz became big-spending Manchester City's second signing of the summer transfer window as he completed a reported $30 million move from Premier League rivals Blackburn.
Unheralded Stoke look set to be playing in the Prremier League next season after a 1-0 home win over Blackburn Rovers which leaves Sam Allardyce's men still deep in relegation trouble.
Teenager Federico Macheda scored his second match winning goal in the space of a week as Manchester United stayed top of the English Premier League while Liverpool and Chelsea kept pace with home wins.
Aston Villa wasted a chance to strengthen their Champions League qualification claims as they were held to a 2-2 draw by relegation strugglers Stoke City on Sunday.
Coventry manager Chris Coleman sent out a warning to sixth round opponents Chelsea after his second-flight team sent Blackburn tumbling out of the FA Cup on Tuesday night.
Liverpool's Premier League title challenge took a heavy blow as Egyptian striker Mido scored a late penalty on his debut to give Wigan a 1-1 draw on Wednesday.
Dimitar Berbatov scored a last-minute goal to give Manchester United a 1-0 win at Bolton to put them top of the Premier League table for the first time this season.
Manchester City have had a reported £15 million bid for Blackburn Rovers striker Roque Santa Cruz rejected, manager Mark Hughes said on Thursday.
Aston Villa moved into the top three of the Premier League after a slice of good fortune earned them a narrow 1-0 victory at West Ham.
Premier League strugglers Blackburn Rovers have appointed Sam Allardyce as their new manager on a three-year contract.
Blackburn Rovers have sacked manager Paul Ince with the club second bottom of the Premier League and facing a relegation battle.
Russian international Roman Pavlyuchenko scored early in the first half as Tottenham Hotspur beat 10-man Blackburn Rovers on Sunday to move out of the Premier League relegation zone.
In-demand Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz has committed himself to the Premier League club by signing a new four-year contract.
Blackburn Rovers have moved to fill the gap left by David Bentley's departure to English Premier League rivals Tottenham by completing a loan move for Chile international Carlos Villanueva.
New Blackburn manager Paul Ince has made his first signing for the club, snapping up England goalkeeper Paul Robinson from Tottenham for a fee of £3.5 million ($7m) on a five-year contract.
Former England captain Paul Ince has been appointed as the new Blackburn manager in succession to Mark Hughes.
England international midfielder David Bentley has confirmed he is looking to leave Blackburn Rovers this summer.
Sven-Goran Eriksson left Manchester City on Monday and jetted into Mexico primed to secure the national job -- with Blackburn boss Mark Hughes top of the list to replace him.
Striker Benni McCarthy has agreed a new three-year contract with Premier League side Blackburn Rovers.
Carlos Tevez headed an 88th minute equalizer to give English Premier League leaders Manchester United a 1-1 draw at Blackburn.
Owen Hargreaves curled in a superb free-kick, 18 minutes from time, to give Manchester United a 2-1 Premier League victory over Arsenal at Old Trafford.
South African international Benni McCarthy converted two penalties as Blackburn Rovers beat neighbors Bolton 4-1 in the English Premier League on Sunday
Nicolas Anelka scored his first goal for Chelsea and laid on another for Shaun Wright-Phillips as the FA Cup holders won 2-1 at Wigan to reach the fifth round.
Former Welsh international midfielder Robbie Savage has completed his move to Derby County from Blackburn, signing a two and a half year deal with the Premier League strugglers.
Former Welsh international midfielder Robbie Savage was discussing terms with Derby County on Tuesday after the Premier League's bottom club agreed a fee with Blackburn Rovers for his transfer.
Manchester City's perfect Premier League home record bit the dust amid huge controversy as Roque Santa Cruz scored twice to earn Blackburn a 2-2 draw at Eastlands.
Sven-Goran Eriksson's Manchester City maintained their perfect home record with a 4-2 win over struggling north-west neighbors Bolton to move into fourth place in the Premier League.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in as many minutes as Manchester United made light of Wayne Rooney's absence to beat Blackburn 2-0 to return to the top of the English Premier League.
Reggina, bottom of Italy's Serie A, have sacked coach Massimo Ficcadenti.
Keeper Brad Friedel has been called up by the United States for Wednesday's friendly in Poland, ending his 21-month absence from the national team.
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