D Thursday, February 11, 2010 SPORT 31 SOCCER PREMIER LEAGUE Diaby does it for Gunnersarsenal 1 liverpool 0 By Chris Stocks Abou DiAby reignited Arsenals slim title hopes and dented Liverpools top- four ambitions with the only goal of the game at the Emirates Stadium. The France midfielder rose to head home Tomas Rosickys right-wing cross in the 72nd minute to secure a result which hauls Arsene Wengers side back into the title race after both Manchester united and Chelsea dropped points. Arsenal had lost to both the top two in the past fortnight, games in which Wengers men had plenty of possession but lacked penetration in the final third. it was the same story for much of this match too and Nicklas bendtner, back in the starting Xi after groin surgery, wasted the best chance of a cagey first half when he blasted over. The visitors had a great opening themselves after the interval but Lucas shot over. David Ngog was then put through by Steven Gerrard but the striker was denied by a superb last-ditch tackle from Wil- liam Gallas. Liverpool lost Jamie Carragher (pic- tured) to a groin injury in the 54th minute, Philipp Degen coming on in his place. And Diaby broke the deadlock 18 minutes from time after both Rosicky and bendtner had squandered chances. Ryan babel came off the bench late on for Liverpool and saw his spectacular long-rangeefforttippedontothecrossbar by Manuel Almunia. And in the last minute of injury time Gerrard had desperate claims for a pen- alty rejected after his free-kick appeared to strike the arm of Cesc Fabregas. Floored: Diaby is mobbed by delighted team-mates after scoring Arsenals winner Striker Jovanovic finally agrees move to Anfield Standard Liege forward Milan Jovanovic claims he has agreed terms with Liverpool to move to anfield this summer. the 28-year-olds current deal with the Belgian club expires in June and he is free to sign a pre-contract agreement with any foreign side. Liverpool have led the chase for the Serbia star despite speculation last week he was in advanced negotiations with Valencia. Jovanovic now claims he has agreed a three-year deal with the reds. He said: I opted to sign for Liverpool because theyre one of the biggest teams around in Europe. Im absolutely delighted that the deal is completed. Barca: No deal done for Cesc Arsenal: Almunia, Eboue, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy, Fabregas, Song, Diaby, Nasri (Rosicky 33), Bendtner (Sagna 82), Arshavin (Walcott 67). Booked: Clichy, Bendtner, Fabregas. Liverpool: Reina, Carragher (Degen 54), Skrtel, Agger, Insua, Lucas (Babel 78), Mascherano, Kuyt, Gerrard, Rodriguez, Ngog. Booked: Rodriguez, Degen. Referee: Howard Webb MATCH FACTS bARCELoNA deny they have reached an agreement with Cesc Fabregas for the Arsenal captain to return to the Nou Camp this summer. Reports in Spain claimed the 22-year-old, who has always said he would love to play for the club where he spent six years as a youngster, had a verbal agreement to sign a five-year contract at the Nou Camp at the end of the season. However, barca have released a statement, saying: Given the exceptional repercussions created by the stories that have appeared in different media with respect to an agreement with Cesc Fabregas, barca flatly deny there have been any negotiations or agreements with the player. in accordance with [world governing body Fifas] regulations, barcelonas contract policy has always made it a priority to negotiate with the club of origin before making any agreement with the player. Fabregas has scored 14 goals in 28 appearances for Arsenal this term.Red: Jovanovic RESULTS SOCCER baRClayS pREmiER lEaguE Arsenal ........1 Liverpool ....0 Diaby 72 Att 60,645 Aston Villa ..1 Man Utd ......1 Cuellar 19 Collins 23 og Att 42,788 Blackburn ...1 Hull City ......0 Myhill 16 og Att: 23, 518 Everton .......2 Chelsea ......1 Saha 33, 75 Malouda 17 West Ham ...2 Birmingham 0 Diamanti 45 Att: 34,458 Cole 67 Wolves ........1 Tottenham ...0 Jones 27 Att 27,992 P W D L F A Pts Chelsea 26 18 4 4 61 22 58 Man Utd 26 18 3 5 62 21 57 Arsenal 26 16 4 6 61 30 52 Liverpool 26 13 5 8 43 27 44 Man City 24 12 8 4 47 32 44 Tottenham 26 12 7 7 45 26 43 Aston Villa 25 11 9 5 32 19 42 Birmingham 25 10 7 8 24 26 37 Everton 25 9 8 8 35 36 35 Fulham 26 9 7 10 30 28 34 Blackburn 26 8 7 11 26 43 31 Stoke 24 7 9 8 23 27 30 Sunderland 25 6 8 11 32 42 26 West Ham 25 5 9 11 32 40 24 Wolverhampton25 6 6 13 21 42 24 Wigan 24 6 6 12 26 49 24 Hull 26 5 9 12 25 51 24 Burnley 25 6 5 14 25 50 23 Bolton 24 5 7 12 29 46 22 Portsmouth 25 4 4 17 20 42 16 ClyDESDalE baNK pREmiER lEaguE Celtic ...........2 Hearts .........0 Loovens 49 Att: 44,500 Fortune 50 Dundee Utd 0 Hamilton .....2 Falkirk .........0 Kilmarnock .1 Hibernian ....2 Aberdeen ....2 Motherwell .1 Rangers ......1 St Mirren .....1 St Johnstne 1 P W D L F A Pts Rangers 24 16 7 1 55 15 55 Celtic 24 14 5 5 46 24 47 Hibernian 23 12 7 4 37 21 43 Dundee Utd 23 10 9 4 35 31 39 Motherwell 24 8 10 6 31 30 34 Aberdeen 23 7 7 9 19 25 28 Hearts 24 7 7 10 20 27 28 St Johnstone 21 6 6 9 30 38 24 St Mirren 23 5 6 12 22 33 21 Kilmarnock 24 5 7 12 18 31 21 Hamilton 23 5 5 13 18 35 20 Falkirk 23 3 8 12 17 36 17 Portsmouth given week to sort out finances dEBt-ridden football clubs have been warned they must put their financial affairs in order as tax officials run out of patience. Portsmouth were yesterday granted a seven-day stay of execution over tax debts which it was claimed in the High Court amount to 11.5million (13m). However, Simon Wilson, of restructuring experts Zolfo Cooper, believes the winding-up order should alert other clubs in financial difficulties the days when they could delay payment for extended periods are over. Wilson said: todays hearing is the first instance of Her Majestys revenue and Customs carrying out its threat to take action against a large Premier League club. If a solution is not reached after seven days and Portsmouth go into administration, this would be an unprecedented case that would set the tone for other clubs in a similar position. It will act as a real warning to clubs they need to demonstrate a solid solution to paying off their debts. Pompey claimed to have received two serious offers to buy the club during the hearing at the High Court. the Premier Leagues bottom club were given seven days to set out their exact financial position. nigel Hood, representing Pompey, said: two offers have been received from what appear to be serious purchasers. This could set the tone for other clubs SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE Quick-fire Celts narrow gap On the Marc: Fortune CELTiC scored two goals in a minute after the break against Hearts at Parkhead to close the gap on Rangers at the top of the Clydesdale bank Premier League to eight points. After a frustrating first half, defender Glenn Loovens drove the home side ahead four minutes into the second period and around 60 seconds later striker Marc-Antoine Fortune slipped the ball past Jambos keeper Marian Kello for number two. Republic of ireland skipper Robbie Keane missed a host of chances to score his first goal in front of the Celtic support as the home side cruised the second half but there was no harm done. indeed, with Rangers drawing 1-1 at Motherwell, Celtic nudged closer to their ibrox rivals and deservedly so after an indifferent first half, in which Keane twice failed to test Kello. After the Hoops early two-goal blast set the tone for the second period, Hearts never looked like getting back in the game. All that remained was to see if Keane could get on the scoresheet, and despite the best efforts of international team-mate Aiden McGeady, things would not fall for the former Spurs man as he blasted his final effort over the bar from ten yards, Celtic: Boruc, Caddis, Thompson, Loovens (Rogne 62), Braafheid (Ki 77), McGeady, Brown, NGuemo, Kamara, Keane, Fortune (Samaras 80). Booked: McGeady. Hearts: Kello, Jonsson, Kucharski, Zaliukas, Lee Wallace, Mulrooney (Santana 73), Black, Michael Stewart, Obua, Nade (Glen 74), Stevenson. Booked: Mulrooney, Zaliukas, Jonsson, Black. Ref: B Winter CelTiC 2 hearTs 0 Picture: Action Images index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html28.html29.html30.html31.html