Gunners in sight

Liverpool, United aiming to keep pressure on Arsenal

LONDON (AP) -- With Arsenal four points clear at the top of the English Premier League, only Liverpool and Manchester United can stop the Gunners from claiming their first title in four years.

Arsenal's 2-0 win over West Ham on Wednesday night pushed Arsene Wenger's side four points ahead of Liverpool and five points ahead of defending champion United. All three teams have now played 35 matches, with three remaining in the season.

The Gunners travel to Bolton on Monday, giving Liverpool and United the chance to catch up on Saturday.

Liverpool travels to Tottenham, while Manchester United is at relegation battlers Ipswich.

Arsenal was Thursday quoted as 1-6 favorite for the title by bookmaker William Hill, with Liverpool at 6-1 and United at 7-1.

The Reds are also 3-1 to go without any trophies this season after their 2-2 draw against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions Cup first leg semifinal at Old Trafford on Wednesday, a match which saw defender Gary Neville sustain a broken foot.

But the game did see the return of inspirational captain Roy Keane from a hamstring injury. The Ireland midfielder came on with 10 minutes remaining, but his presence was not enough to give United the advantage going into next week's second leg semifinal in Germany.

But Keane will be back on Saturday.

"Roy will train ... Friday and will play on Saturday," United manager Alex Ferguson said. "He's a fantastic player. When you get Roy in your team you are capable of anything."

Keane's presence will boost a team also missing David Beckham, who suffered the same injury as Neville on April 10 and is concentrating on recovering in time to play for England in the World Cup.

"Injuries are a handicap and are disruptive," Ferguson said. "We've had a spell where the back four has had a chance to settle with Gary, Laurent [Blanc], Ronny [Johnsen] and Mikael [Silvestre]. Then Ronny gets injured and now Gary. It's disappointing."

After Ipswich, United hosts Arsenal and Charlton.

Ipswich won its first match since Feb. 2 on Wednesday with a 1-0 result over Middlesbrough. That 10-match winless streak saw Ipswich slip from mid-table into the relegation zone.

Ipswich's win gave it 36 points, putting relegation pressure on Sunderland, with 38 points and Bolton and Blackburn on 40. Derby and Leicester have already been relegated.

"Whoever wears the shirt on Saturday will give it their all," Ipswich manager George Burley said. "It is going to be such a big game. We have done well against them before and we have got to try and emulate our performances against them in the past."

"Everybody wrote us off over the last few weeks but we have shown the courage, appetite and determination and we have a couple of games to keep us in the Premiership. We still have a mountain to climb but we will not give up without a fight."

Sunderland travels to Charlton on Saturday, Blackburn plays Everton on Sunday, while Bolton faces Arsenal on Monday.

Liverpool, which plays Blackburn and Ipswich after Saturday's match at White Hart Lane, believes the title race is still open.

"We have every confidence that Arsenal will slip up somewhere along the way," Liverpool assistant manager Phil Thompson said.

"They have still got a very difficult game to come at Bolton and obviously there is the game against Manchester United at Old Trafford. We'll just continue to do our job and we are very confident that we can win our remaining games this season."

Wenger believes his team can emulate its feats of 1998 and win the league and FA Cup. The club plays Chelsea in the FA Cup final on May 4.

"We are not taking anything for granted," Wenger said. "It's down to us to win at Bolton and then we'll see. It's nice to win the title at any moment. The fans feel that the team want it so much and they got behind us brilliantly. We are in the final sprint now."

In other games, Newcastle hosts West Ham fresh off qualifying for next season's Champions League, while Middlesbrough hosts Chelsea. Fulham hosts Leicester, Derby plays Leeds and Southampton travels to Aston Villa.

The first leg of the English first division playoff semifinals are played Sunday. Birmingham hosts Millwall and Norwich plays Wolves. Division one champion Manchester City and second placed West Bromwich Albion have already been promoted.

In the Scottish Premier League, Celtic has already been declared champion. On Saturday, it's Dundee United vs. St. Johnstone, Hibernian vs. Dundee, Kilmarnock vs. Motherwell, Livingston vs. Dunfermline and Rangers vs. Aberdeen. On Sunday, Hearts play Celtic.

West Ham angry at referee

LONDON -- West Ham manager Glenn Roeder wants match officials to be made accountable for their mistakes after his side was denied an opening goal in its defeat at Arsenal.

Television replays showed Frederic Kanoute's attempt had crossed the line before Arsenal defender Ashley Cole cleared the ball during West Ham's 2-0 loss at Highbury on Wednesday.

Linesman Paul Carradine's view was blocked by Cole's body and referee Steve Dunn was not in a perfect position as the Hammers, who were dominating a 0-0 match, had just broken away at full speed.

"I don't subscribe to stopping the game and having video evidence," Roeder said. "I should be saying that I do as it's cost us but I still think you have to have that little bit of excitement, mystery or romance, call it what you will, in the game.

"I'm not a lover of what you see in American sports, where they stop it every few seconds to see whether they've got it right or not."

Roeder said he felt officials should be more accountable and admit errors rather than "scurrying away into the night."

"We're accountable, why shouldn't they be?" he said.

"It was an honest mistake. The linesman was adamant at the time that it was over the line, I just hope he's big enough to admit to it now though.

"It's his job to see things like that. He's made a bad error and championships are won and lost on things like that."

Fulham redevelopment delayed

LONDON -- The planned redevelopment of Fulham's stadium has been delayed by a year because of opposition from local residents.

Plans to turn Craven Cottage into an all-seater stadium were scheduled to have been completed in time for the Premier League club to return to the ground at the start of the 2003 season. Fulham will now have to share Queens Park Rangers' Loftus Road stadium for two seasons.

The High Court Thursday granted a residents' group the right to appeal against a decision not to ask the government for planning approval.

Fulham's acting managing director Mark Collins was unhappy at the delay.

"It is a disgrace that a tiny minority can spoil the enjoyment of the majority in this cynical way by employing delaying tactics," Collins said. "We are all bitterly disappointed. Ultimately we will build a stadium suitable to meet the aspirations of the team and the club."

Work was due to start at Craven Cottage immediately after Saturday's home game with Leicester but is now not expected to be given the go-ahead until the autumn -- a delay which the club claims will cost it 3 million pounds (US$4.2 million)

Football League crowds increase

LONDON -- Crowds attending soccer games in England's first, second and third divisions have reached their highest level for 33 years.

Football League spokesman John Nagle said nearly 14.8 million people watched games during this season, a 9 percent increase on the previous one.

"These figures demonstrate the enduring appeal of professional football at all levels of the game," Nagle said. "They are even more remarkable when one considers that under 11 million people watched our games in the first season after the formation of the Premier League in 1992-93.

"Our 72 clubs have worked tirelessly to strengthen links with their local communities and to market themselves more innovatively than ever before."

Gazza set to leave Burnley

BURNLEY, England -- Former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne won't be at Burnley next season.

Gascoigne left Premier League club Everton last month to help the first division club get to the playoffs. Despite a 1-0 win over Coventry on the last day of the season, Burnley missed out.

"We signed Paul until the end of the season and we said we would look at it then," manager Stan Ternent told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

"But he is not short of job offers and I don't see Gazza being with us next season."

Oldham players charged in assault on policeman

OLDHAM, England -- Two players with second division club Oldham Athletic were charged Thursday in connection with a fight outside a police station.

Allan Smart, 27, and Paul Murray, 25, were arrested after two police officers were injured in a fight in the early hours of Wednesday. A police spokesman said the two men had both been charged with assaulting a police officer and a public order offense.

They are due in Oldham magistrates court on April 29.

 

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