The big guns of the English Premier League flexed their muscle at the weekend with Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United all scoring important victories. The highlight was Chelsea’s dramatic 2-1 win over Manchester City, with a horrible defensive mix-up in the dying minutes gifting Fernando Torres the winner. However, there was drama after full-time with Jose Mourinho’s celebrations angering rival manager Manuel Pellegrino who refused to shake hands with the Chelsea boss. Arsenal and Liverpool continued on their merry way with comfortable wins over Crystal Palace and West Brom respectively, however United had to come from 2-1 down late in the game to take the points against Stoke with Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernandez scoring in a 3-2 win.
Sebastian Vettel claimed an incredible fourth consecutive Formula 1 World Championship after winning a dramatic Indian Grand Prix on Sunday. Vettel might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but he has shown an amazing ability to out-pace his rivals and with six GP victories in a row helping secure this latest title he will now be eying a record fifth straight title in 2014.
The Rugby League World Cup kicked off on Saturday night in Cardiff with Australia coming from 10-0 down to beat England 28-20 in a highly entertaining contest. It was the skill of five-eighth Aussie Johnathan Thurston that proved the difference, however the big talking point after the game was a high tackle from England enforcer Sam Burgess on the Kangaroos’ Sam Thaiday which will likely see Burgess suspended for at least a few games. In other matches, New Zealand survived a comeback from Samoa to notch a 42-24 win while Papua New Guinea missed a late penalty from in front to lose to France 9-8.
The Spring Racing Carnival continued in Australia on Saturday with the running of the prestigious Cox Plate. Considered by many to be the best race in the country for true race enthusiasts, outsider Shamus Award stunned the favorites to race to victory with apprentice jockey Chad Schofield enjoying a wonderful start to his career.
A hectic weekend of sport also saw the Cardinals take a 2-1 lead over the Red Sox in the Major League Baseball World Series, while in the tennis Roger Federer crashed to a three-set loss to Juan Martin Del Potro in the final of ATP Basel.
