01-02-2020, 06:16 AM
MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester United slumped to a 2-1 loss at relegation-threatened Stoke in the Premier League on Saturday to puncture the optimism generated by Juan Matas arrival and leave the reigning champions with a huge task to finish in the Champions League positions. Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. It was Stokes maiden win over United in the Premier League, and first since 1984. "I dont know what we have to do to win," said United manager David Moyes. Everton bounced back from its derby thrashing by Liverpool in midweek by coming from behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1 and climb to fifth above Tottenham, which drew 1-1 at Hull. Cardiff climbed off the bottom by scoring two goals in 73 seconds at the start of the second half to defeat Norwich 2-1. That left Fulham, which was overwhelmed 3-0 at home to Southampton, two points adrift in last place. West Ham completes the bottom three even though it beat Swansea 2-0 thanks to a brace by Kevin Nolan. That win was marred by a red card to striker Andy Carroll for elbowing an opponent. The other match saw Sunderland earn a second straight 3-0 win at Newcastle in the northeast derby, sparking anger and frustration by home fans disillusioned by the sale of star player Yohan Cabaye to Paris Saint-Germain this week. Such is the tightness of the bottom half of the table, Sunderland -- like Stoke -- is now nearer mid-table than the relegation zone. With Mata joining from Chelsea for a club-record fee last week and both Wayne Rooney and Van Persie back fit, things looked like turning around for United and its under-pressure manager David Moyes. Most thought the comfortable 2-0 win over Cardiff on Tuesday would be the first in a run of victories to lift the champions up to the top four, but they came unstuck at the hands of a gutsy Stoke side managed by a former United favourite, Mark Hughes. "I thought we were, to a man, fantastic," said Hughes, who played 467 games for United. "We got a great reward for a huge amount of effort." Stoke enjoyed some fortune with the first goal, with Adams long-range free kick in the 38th taking a wicked deflection off Michael Carrick and flying into the far corner past stranded goalkeeper David de Gea. Mata set up Van Persie to make it 1-1 in the 47th but Adam grabbed what proved to be the winner from 25 yards five minutes later. "It is a massive result against a great team," Adam said. Belgium forward Kevin Mirallas popped up with Evertons winning goal from a free kick in the 85th minute, after Steven Naismith had cancelled out Leandro Bacunas opener for Villa. Everton is provisionally a point behind neighbour Liverpool, which beat its Merseyside rival 4-0 on Tuesday. Tottenham moved four points clear of United after Paulinhos 61st-minute goal earned a draw against Hull, which took the lead through Shane Longs first goal for the club since his recent move from West Brom. Chris Summers Jersey . Among the six changes: Drivers are now eligible if they have competed for 30 or more years in NASCAR or turned 55 in the calendar year before nominating day. Previously, drivers were not eligible until they had been retired for three years, so drivers can continue to compete and still reach the hall. 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Defending champion Hannah Kearney of the U.S., was third at 21.49. A third Dufour-Lapointe sister, Maxime, failed to make the final group and finished 12th while Audrey Robichaud of Quebec City was 10th.We asked the rest of the Sky Sports Tennis panel to give their predictions. See how our pundits think the ATP World Tour Finals will go. The blockbuster week of action gets underway at Londons O2 Arena, live on Sky Sports this week. Watch NOW TV Watch Sky Sports for just £6.99. No contract. Presenters and experts of the game have had their say on the big week ahead. See who are they backing for victory this year? Find out below and then cast your vote... Marcus BucklandThe winner is ... Stan Wawrinka Naturally the focus is on the year-end No 1 position with Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic perhaps on a collision course to decide everything in a dream final.As much as I would love to see that I have a sneaking feeling, based on nothing but gut instinct, that Stan Wawrinka is going to provide a twist and add another notable, and unexpected title to his burgeoning CV.When hes hot hes boiling and the reigning US Open champion has shown in the past that he can play lights out tennis at the 02. His recent semi-final against Roger Federer (albeit a match he lost) was arguably the best in the history of the event since it moved to London. Very quiet recently Stan has what it takes to be the man again. Tour Finals: Panel predictions ATP World Tour Finals 2016: The Sky Sports panel offer their predictions Peter FlemingThe winner is... Andy Murray (but only just) You have to say Andy Murray is the favourite. Hes the guy who has played so well over the past six months really and the way Novak Djokovic has played over the same period really, hes not nearly as confident and not mentally where he wants to be.But, he could get it back quickly because his record is so good over the last four years. His record is 18-1 over that time, or something. Andys record is only 4-7, it means if Novak can regroup quickly, he can be a real match.If we can get those two guys in the final next Sunday, then what an epic that will be. Ive give Murray a 51-49 shot over Novak.Leif ShirasThe winner is ... Andy Murray Difficult selection with the talent here.dddddddddddd Im happy to go with Andy Murray. I feel like hes in that special place where hes never been before.The confidence level is high. Ivan Lendl is here this week to make sure theres no let up and thats hes continuing to play the tennis he is playing and continue to do the things he needs to do which is be aggressive with the forehand, continue to serve well.Obviously hes in great physical condition so Im going to go with Andy. A look back at Andy Murrays year, which has seen him enter the World Tour Finals as world No 1 Barry MillnsThe winner is ... Andy Murray Despite being drawn in the tougher group I think Andy Murray will go on and win the title.Hes in the form of his life, the incentive to hang onto his new world No 1 ranking will be immense, the crowd support for him should be greater than ever before (with Federer and Nadal both absent) and if the surface is quicker this year (as the build-up has suggested) then I believe that can work well for him as it did in Asia, as well as back in the summer at Queens and Wimbledon. Check our game-by-game coverage from all group matches at the ATP World Tour Finals in London - including Andy Murray - on skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad and our Twitter account @skysportstennis. Also See: Tour Finals: Panel predictions World Tour Finals on Sky Sports World Tour Finals: The Groups ATP World Tour Finals preview ' ' '