Associated Press Sports
updated 9:05 p.m. ET March 24, 2012
LONDON (AP) - Manchester City stumbled on the road yet again, needing a late deflected goal by Yaya Toure for a 1-1 tie at Stoke on Saturday that put rival Manchester United in position to open a three-point lead in the Premier League.
Peter Crouch scored for Stoke in the 59th minute after his header was headed back to him by Jermaine Pennant. Crouch flicked the ball up to himself and then volleyed past goalkeeper Joe Hart from about 25 yards. Toure's goal in the 76th hit Stoke's Ryan Shawcross and went past goalkeeper Asmir Begovic.
Manchester City (22-4-4) regained first place on goal difference over United (22-3-4), which has a game in hand and hosts Fulham on Monday. While City is 15-0 in the league at home, it dropped to 7-4-4 on the road.
City sent assistant David Platt to speak to the media after the match. Platt implied the City manager Roberto Mancini was upset with referee Howard Webb for failing to protect his players.
"It's not a case of being too angry as such," Platt said. "It's just a fear of saying something that will get him in hot water."
Platt also played down United manager Alex Ferguson's claims that bringing Carlos Tevez back after a long-running feud with the club was a sign of desperation on Mancini's part.
"The team that wins the league will be perceived as winning the mind games," Platt said. "Words won't win the league."
Third-place Arsenal (18-8-4) beat visiting Aston Villa 3-0 on goals by Kieran Gibbs in the 16th minute, Theo Walcott in the 25th and Mikel Arteta in the 90th. The goals by Gibbs and Walcott marked the first time since 1997 two English players scored in a league match for the Gunners.
American defender Eric Lichaj entered in the 78th minute, his first appearance for Aston Villa since the League Cup on Aug. 28 - and his first Premier League match since Dec. 28, 2010.
Fourth-place Tottenham (16-7-7) dropped three points back of Arsenal with a 0-0 tie at Chelsea (14-8-8), which is in danger of missing the Champions League for the first time since 2003.
Bolton marked its first match since Fabrice Muamba's on-field cardiac arrest last weekend with a 2-1 victory over Blackburn on two goals from David Wheater and climbed out of the relegation zone. Fans held up cards as part of a mosaic that spelt out "Muamba 6" before kickoff while there was a period of applause for the midfielder.
Queens Park Rangers replaced Bolton in the bottom three after a 3-1 loss at Sunderland, with French striker Djibril Cisse ejected for the visitors for the second time since his January move from Lazio.
Wolverhampton stayed last with a 2-1 defeat at Norwich. Wigan, which is 19th, boosted its survival hopes with a 2-1 win at seventh-place Liverpool. Everton won 2-0 at Swansea.
In the second-tier League Championship, American midfielder Robbie Rogers dressed for Leeds for the first time since sustaining a concussion in his debut for the club on Feb. 18. Rogers didn't get into the match, a 1-0 win at Millwall.
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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Cristiano Ronaldo became the fastest player to reach 100 goals in the Spanish league, scoring twice as first-place Real Madrid routed Real Socided 5-1.
Ronaldo scored in the 32nd and 56th minutes, giving him 101 goals in 92 league games. He broke the mark set in the 1960s by Real Madrid's Ferenc Puskas, who reached 100 in 105 matches.
Gonzalo Higuain put Madrid (24-2-3) ahead in the sixth minute, and Karim Benzema added goals in the 40th and 49th.
Barcelona (22-2-6) kept pace with a 2-0 victory at Mallorca. Lionel Messi extended his scoring streak to eight games with a poorly defended free kick in the 25th minute. He became the first player in a top-level European league to score 55 goals in a season since Sporting Lisbon's Mario Jardel in 2002. Messi and Ronaldo are tied for the league lead with 35 goals each, five shy of the record Ronaldo set last season.
Barcelona's Thiago Alcantara was ejected for his second yellow card in the 56th, and Gerard Pique scored in the 79th by volleying the rebound after Messi's shot hit a post.
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MILAN (AP) - Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice, getting the tiebreaking goal in the 83rd minute to give AC Milan a 2-1 victory over visiting Roma that opened a seven-point lead in Serie A.
Pablo Osvaldo gave Roma the lead against the run of play in the 44th, but Ibrahimovic tied it in the 53rd after a hand ball by Daniele De Rossi in the penalty area. Ibrahimovic put Milan (20-4-6) ahead with his league-leading 22nd goal.
Milan defender Thiago Silva came out in the 10th minute clutching his right thigh and is questionable for Wednesday's first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal against Barcelona.
Second-place Juventus (14-0-14) hosts seventh-place Inter Milan (12-11-5) on Sunday.
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BERLIN (AP) - Bayern Munich survived a late scare to beat Hannover 2-1 as Toni Kroos scored in the 36th minute and substitute Mario Gomez got his league-leading 23rd goal of the season in the 68th.
Hannover substitute Didier Ya Konan scored in the 74th but Bayern (18-6-3) held on to closer within two points of defending champion Borussia Dortmund (18-3-5), which visits relegation-threatened Cologne on Sunday.
Hoffenheim ended Borussia Moenchengladbach's 16-game home unbeaten streak with a 2-1 win, and Schalke (17-8-2) beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 on a pair of goals by -Jan Huntelaar to move into third, the last automatic Champions League qualification place.
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PARIS (AP) - Montpellier moved into first place in the French league with a 1-0 victory over Saint-Etienne on an 89th-minute goal by Olivier Giroud.
Montpellier (18-5-6) moved one point ahead of Paris Saint-Germain (17-3-8), which hosts Bordeaux on Sunday.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More newsRevs get much-needed win
PST: Saer Sene scored his first MLS goal on his first shot in the first minute of play, and the New England Revolution beat the Portland Timbers 1-0 on Saturday.
MLS roundup: Crew too strong for Impact
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) - Saer Sene scored his first MLS goal on his first shot in the first minute of play, and the New England Revolution beat the Portland Timbers 1-0 on Saturday.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44046774/ns/sports-soccer/
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