Manchester City fired manager Mark Hughes, Fulham swept to a
stunning 3-0 victory over Manchester United and last place
Portsmouth beat Liverpool 2-0 on a day of shocks in the Premier
League on Saturday.
Although Man City beat Sunderland 4-3 to climb to sixth in
the standings, it announced less than two hours after the game that
Hughes had been sacked and replaced by former Inter Milan coach
Roberto Mancini who will be unveiled as the new manager on Monday.
"A return of two wins in 11 Premier League games is clearly
not in line with the targets that were agreed and set," chairman
Khaldoon Al Mubarak said in a statement.
Hughes' departure was despite the victory over Sunderland
with Roque Santa Cruz scoring twice after he had left Robinho and
Emmanuel Adebayor on the bench. City, which lost 3-0 at Tottenham
on Wednesday, now has 29 points from 17 games, 11 fewer than leader
Chelsea which has 40 and visits West Ham on Sunday.
Danny Murphy, Bobby Zamora and Damien Duff punished United's
makeshift defense at Craven Cottage and denied the defending
champion any chance of drawing level on points with leader Chelsea.
United's fifth loss of the season could now leave the team
six points off the pace if Chelsea wins at Upton Park.
Murphy dispossessed United's Paul Scholes and shot Fulham
into a 22nd lead from 30 meters and the second half was only
seconds old when Zamora fired home after Clint Dempsey's headed
pass.
Duff added the third with a left foot volley in the 75th
minute against a United defense which was missing four central
defenders through injury.
Nadir Belhadj and Frederic Piquionne fired home angled shots
as Portsmouth stunned 10-man Liverpool to put more pressure on
manager Rafa Benitez.
Making his first league start for three months, Algerian
international Belhadj struck the first in the 33rd minute before
Liverpool's Javier Mascherano was sent off for an ugly foul on Tal
Ben Haim.
Piquionne added the second in the 82nd to improve
Portsmouth's chances of avoiding relegation. It was Liverpool's
seventh league loss from 18 games and the defeat pushed the Reds
further out of title contention.
"If you analyze the first half I think we were doing well,"
Benitez said. "We conceded a goal and then the sending off of
Mascherano changed everything."
Asked if he thought the red card was justified, the Liverpool
manager, who appeared furious about the decision at the time,
replied: "The referee was perfect, in everything. He never made
mistakes."
Asked if he was worried about losing his job, Benitez
replied: "I'm worried about winning the next game."
Arsenal outplayed Hull 3-0 to stay in third place and move
within two points of second place Man United with a game in hand.
Goals by Denilson, Eduardo da Silva and Abou Diaby settled a
game that had a first half flareup with several players pushing
each other after a challenge by Samir Nasri on Hull's Richard
Garcia.
Hull should have equalized when 1-0 down but Geovanni's
penalty was blocked by Manuel Almunia and, when three teammates
went for the rebound, Stephen Hunt headed wide of the net.
Two goals by Peter Crouch steered Tottenham to a 2-0 victory
at Blackburn and substitute John Carew gave Aston Villa a 1-0
victory over Stoke, a fifth straight win for Martin O'Neill's team
which remained level on points with Arsenal.
Also on Sunday, Everton faces Birmingham and Burnley goes to
Wolves and, on Monday, Wigan hosts Bolton.a, which goes to
relegation-threatened West Ham on Sunday.
United's fifth loss of the season could now leave the team
six points off the pace if Chelsea wins at Upton Park.
Murphy dispossessed United's Paul Scholes and shot Fulham
into a 22nd lead from 30 meters and the second half was only
seconds old when Zamora fired home after Clint Dempsey's headed
pass.
Duff added the third with a left foot volley in the 75th
minute against a United defense which was missing four central
defenders through injury.
Nadir Belhadj and Frederic Piquionne fired home angled shots
as Portsmouth stunned 10-man Liverpool to put more pressure on
manager Rafa Benitez.
Making his first league start for three months, Algerian
international Belhadj struck the first in the 33rd minute before
Liverpool's Javier Mascherano was sent off for an ugly foul on Tal
Ben Haim.
Piquionne added the second in the 82nd to improve
Portsmouth's chances of avoiding relegation. It was Liverpool's
seventh league loss from 18 games and the defeat pushed the Reds
further out of title contention.
"If you analyze the first half I think we were doing well,"
Benitez said. "We conceded a goal and then the sending off of
Mascherano changed everything."
Asked if he thought the red card was justified, the Liverpool
manager, who appeared furious about the decision at the time,
replied: "The referee was perfect, in everything. He never made
mistakes."
Asked if he was worried about losing his job, Benitez
replied: "I'm worried about winning the next game."
With speculation mounting about the future of manager Mark
Hughes after a 3-0 loss at Tottenham on Wednesday, Manchester City
beat Sunderland 4-3 with Roque Santa Cruz scoring twice.
Rumors swept Manchester that Hughes would be fired even with
a victory and replaced by former Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini
and the Welshman, who has been in charge of the team since June
2008, appeared emotional as he waved to the fans after the game.
City announced it would make a statement later Saturday.
Two goals by Peter Crouch steered Tottenham to a 2-0 victory
at Blackburn and substitute John Carew gave Aston Villa a 1-0
victory over Stoke, a fifth straight win for Martin O'Neill's team.
Arsenal faced Hull at home in Saturday's late game.
