Chelsea march on
The last time Tottenham Hotspur managed a win at Stamford Bridge was the same day it was announced Nelson Mandela would be released from prison. So, quite a while ago. Spurs' search for an elusive three points away at Chelsea continues, after Jose Mourinho's side ran out comfortable 3-0 winners last night.
Spurs had started brightly, with Harry Kane heading off the cross bar and wasting another good opportunity. The travelling band in the corner of the Shed End had reason to believe - this was going to be it, Tottenham were finally going to announce themselves as legitimate contenders.
But then, right on cue, Eden Hazard plays a one-two on the edge of the box, Aaron Lennon idly watches him scamper past and the ball is in the back of Hugo Lloris's goal. Here we go again.
It was only going to go one way after that and with Spurs needing all the help they could possibly get they decided to make life easier for Chelsea instead. Lloris's errant kick found number 10 Hazard and he fed in Chelsea's old war horse Dider Drogba, in the starting line up for the suspended Diego Costa, and he slotted home to make it 2-0.
In the 73rd minute Loic Remy made it three, showing great strength to hold off his man with a cool finish to boot - who needs Diego? Chelsea’s unbeaten run stretches on, and the champions elect look increasingly unstoppable.
Aguero again
The only thing as predictable as Chelsea beating Spurs at Stamford Bridge at the moment is Sergio Aguero getting on the score sheet. The little Argentinian genius bagged twice last night, and also served up the cutest of assists to boot.
The Stadium of Light has been a bit of a bogey ground for Manchester City in recent years, and the champions had failed to win there in five previous attempts. Their bad run on Wearside looked set to continue last night after Connor Wickham put Sunderland 1-0 up after 19 minutes.
But there were going to be no heroics from Gus Poyet’s side this time, and an Aguero rasper two minutes later pulled City level. Aguero then directed a lovely cushioned first touch into the path of Stevan Jovetic who rifled it home to put City in the lead at the break.
City's third goal was the pick of the bunch. Samir Nasri received the ball off Pablo Zabaleta and waited for the Argentinian to make the run into the box, holding it long enough to craft enough space to squeeze it past the defender for Zabaleta to run onto and dink it over the 'keeper. Aguero rounded it off with a side-footed finish late on.
Pellegrini’s side have put together a good run since the mini-crisis of last month, and while they’re only six points behind Chelsea they’ve got a sniff of retaining the title.
Arsenal leave it late
Another team who continued their rehabilitation after a 'crisis' are Arsenal, who ground out another 1-0 win last night against Southampton at the Emirates.
Much has been made of Southampton’s tricky run of fixtures after their blistering start to the season, and while they lost for the second successive time last night it was far from easy for Arsenal, with Saints the better side for the first hour.
However, on 84 minutes Toby Alderweireld was forced off injured with Southampton having already made their three substitutes leaving them to try and see the game out with ten men.
Despite the best efforts of Fraser Forster, Southampton couldn't hold on, and Alexis Sanchez swept the ball home providing sweet relief for Arsene Wenger and the Emirates crowd.
Another Everton draw
In the night's other game, Everton were held to a 1-1 draw at home against Hull City as Roberto Martinez's side's poor start to the season continued.
Romelu Lukaku opened for scoring for the Toffees, stroking home Kevin Mirallas’s pass but Sone Aluko levelled the scoring. Later, Nikica Jelavic had the chance to score the winner for Hull on his return to Goodison Park but headed just wide. James McCarthy didn’t feature for Everton but Aiden McGeady came on as a late substitute.
Special night at Thomond
As the weekend gets closer, so too does Munster's showdown with Clermont Auvergne at Thomond Park. Under the floodlights on a Saturday evening and with a sell-out crowd, it has the makings of being a truly spine-tingling European night.
And nobody is looking forward to it as much as Munster skipper, Peter O'Mahony. Gerry Thornley spoke to him ahead of Clermont's visit.
Head-to-head
While the Thomond Park atmosphere and home advantage is probably worth a few points to Munster, it won’t be enough alone to turn over a Clermont squad which is as deep as it is talented.
John O'Sullivan has identified some of the key head-to-head battles which Anthony Foley's men must win if they were going to be victorious on Saturday.
All change since ’blood-gate’
At the weekend Leinster are heading to The Stoop to play Harlequins in a re-run of the infamous 'blood-gate' quarter-final back in 2009, when Quins winger Tom Williams used a fake blood capsule so he could leave the field and be replaced by Nick Evans.
Believe it or not, that was five years ago, and it's unlikely many who played in that infamous game will be taking to the field this weekend. Johnny Watterson looks at the wholesale changes both sides have undergone
High performance for women’s rugby
After a year which produced a World Cup semi-final and victory over the All Blacks, there's even more positive news for Irish women's rugby, with the IRFU moving the 15-a-side game into their high performance unit. Gavin Cummiskey looks at the effects this will have for the 2013 Grand Slam winners.
Tiger on the prowl
After an absence of four months, Tiger is back on the prowl. Woods has declared himself fit to play at his own tournament, the World Challenge, with everybody waiting to finally get a look at his new swing.
However, Woods has admitted he no longer has the length off the tee to match the big hitters on the tour, but is looking forward to his first competitive round since he missed the cut at the USPGA, he said: “Some of the longer guys, Bubba (Watson), Dustin (Johnson) they carry 325 - I don’t quite have that.
“It’s going to be nice playing a tournament this week and getting a feel for being under the heat and seeing where my swing is, see where my misses are.”
It's 20-years since Woods arrived on the scene, but the game is yet to see a 'Tiger-effect'. In fact, there are fewer black professionals now than there were in the 1970s. Dave Hannigan looks at why we are still waiting for a generation of black players.
Lowry after Tour title
Elsewhere, Shane Lowry heads into the Nedbank Challenge off the back of 13 straight cuts and five top-10 finishes, and is in as good a position as ever to secure his first European Tour title since the 2012 Portugal Masters. Versatile HoganRichie Hogan was made Hurler of the Year for his brilliant midfield performances for Kilkenny. This was despite the fact Hogan had never played in midfield before, having plied his trade as a forward or a full-forward.
He spoke to Ian O’Riordan about his versatility and how modern Hurling requires players to have similar attributes all across the field.
No regrets for O’Sullivan
Ian also spoke to Sonia O'Sullivan and discussed how the Cork runner may have won more medals had she competed in an era with more rigorous drug-testing.
