Andre Vilas-Boas was sacked as Chelsea manager after just ninth months in charge in the aftermath of his side’s 1-0 defeat away to West Brom.
The club’s owner Roman Abramovich lost patience with his man after a poor run of form which sees the side fifth in the Premier League and facing the possibility of missing out on qualification for next season’s Champions League.
Gareth MacAuley reacted to a powerful Chris Brunt cross to give West Brom a deserved lead after 82 minutes.
Two goals from Ashley Young – his second a spectacular strike – helped Manchester United to a 3-1 against Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Sunday.
Despite Tottenham having the better of a first half in which Emmanuel Adebayor had a goal disallowed for handball, United went in at half time 1-0 up thanks to a Wayne Rooney header from a corner. Jermain Defoe came on towards the end of the second half and scored what was just a consolation goal in the final minutes.
Robin van Persie continued his fantastic goalscoring form with two vital goals against Liverpool at Anfield. The Dutchman’s 24th and 25th league goals of the season were enough for Arsenal to register a valuable 2-1 win at Anfield to consolidate their position in the qualification places for the Champions League.
In their rearranged Six Nations fixture, Ireland drew 17-17 against France in Paris. Two first half tries from Tommy Bowe – one a exceptional solo effort – had given Ireland a 17-6 lead at half time.
But France responded after the break and a Wesley Fofana try after 51 minutes and two penalties from Morgan Parra levelled things up.
Wales remain the only side capable of a Grand Slam and lead the Six Nations table with France and England trailing.
Rory McIlroy has gone to the top of golf’s world rankings after winning the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens in Florida. McIlroy finished 12-under, two shots ahead of Tiger Woods and Tom Gillis, and four ahead of fellow Brit Lee Westwood.
At 22-years old becomes the second-youngest man ever to reach the rankings top spot behind Woods, who was 21 when he became number one in 1997.
Roger Federer beat Andy Murray 7-5 6-4 in Saturday’s Dubai Championships final. Murray had beaten world number one Novak Djokovic on Friday but was unable to halt Federer’s impressive return to form which has see him win ten straight matches.
