Soccer Scene Yorke impressive in return for Manchester United

By Joe Behan

Manchester United won their third successive premier title by beating Coventry 4-2, while Middlesbrough beat Arsenal 3-nil at Highbury over the weekend.

Dwight Yorke hit a brace for the Reds, and so it seems that the lethal striker is back in favor to start against Bayern in the Champions League. Ferguson has held off Yorke for disciplinary reasons and that superb partnership with Andy Cole has not surfaced this season. Indeed, it is Yorke who has been missed the most for United when is comes to putting those spicy crosses away. Old Trafford’s season could be over in one week or could be saved by rude boy Dwight Yorke

Top flight, relegation

With the title over so early, the emphasis is now on the more exciting run in to the season for top-six Euro status and the relegation battle. The Boro vs. Gunners was indeed the one game that brought the season to an end not just for the title but perhaps relegation too. Boro inched ahead of Derby who was beaten 3-1 by West Ham United, allowing the Hammers to pull away from the relegation zone.

On Monday morning, Boro and Derby were five points ahead of Manchester City, who had a brilliant 2-1 away win to Leicester City.

The manner in which Boro beat Arsenal suggests that luck is with Terry Venables and Co. Two incredible own goals by Edu and Silvinho sent David Seaman and Arsenal collapsing to a 3-0 defeat.

Edu was a prime candidate for a disastrous afternoon when he made his home debut after recovering from a nightmare of a hamstring injury. A shot caught the £6 million man right on the heel and in it went on the 33rd minute. The tall Sao Paulo buy has never gotten off on the right foot since his move from Brazil. Remember that customs turned him away when it was discovered he carried a false passport.

Sao Paulo continued their favors for Boro five minutes later when Silvinho fired a superb volley into the roof of his own net. The South American theme of luck continued just before the hour. Boro finally put a decent attack together for the Columbian, Ricard Hamilton, to secure the most valuable three points for Middlebrough so far this season.

Many an Arsenal fan left Highbury before the final whistle, sensing it just wasn’t meant to be for the Gunners. At the same time, El Tel packed the Boro box with defenders whenever possible, which frustrated the Arsenal attack, something Valencia will have noticed. While the Gunners have a handful of points over Ipswich and Leeds, rest assured Highbury performances will be kept honest by the chasing youth of the premier.

Leeds at the moment look invincible and beating Liverpool 2-1 last week makes things really tough for Anfield at Champions League. In fact, Liverpool’s loss is so much a gain for surprise package of the year Ipswich Town, who beat Newcastle 1-nil.

George Burley’s rejuvenated Ipswich sneaked in front of Leeds on goal difference thanks to a Marcus Stewart goal that keeps the Town on course for Champions Leaugue qualification. Who would have believed that Ipswich would be only five games away from the elite in Europe when this time last year when they were in the First Division. Chelsea continued their surge up the table by beating Southampton 1-nil thus bringing things back to normal in top flight, excluding Ipswich of course.

Here is how the premier looks once again: Manchester United, Arsenal, Ipswich, Leeds, Chelsea and Liverpool. While Bradford is gone, there is a possibility that Middlesbrough, Derby, Manchester City and Coventry may make the relegation battle worth watching.

Ireland’s Mick McCarthy got an Easter treat at the Sunderland vs. Spurs game. Quinn, Kilbane and Doherty scored in the 3-2 thriller. Aston Villa redeemed themselves by beating Everton 2-1 and Villa are back in the hunt for European status.

O’Neill’s time

Glasgow Celtic will play Hibernian in the Scottish Cup final after the Hoops beat Dundee United 3-1 over the weekend. Celtic are now close to the treble and smashing records on a team and individual basis for good measure. Henrik Larsson shattered Charlie Nicholas’s record of 48 goals in a season, and it’s unlikely the Swede is finished. It is likely that all 53,000 seasoned Celts will want to see the Bhoys make history on the 26th of May, but not even half that number of tickets are available. Furthermore, Celtic has been waiting for a treble since 1969.

Finally, time has caught up with Martin O’Neill and he now must admit he is somewhat excited. "It’s a great thing to look forward to, no doubt about it," he said. "I can’t turn around and say there’s a long way to go this time. It’s a final against Hibs and should be a showpiece. I thought we played terrifically well in the first half to get in front and maybe we could have been further in front at halftime. Dundee United came into it in the second half, causing us a few problems. But we got the second wind and the second goal and I thought we won pretty well."

Roundup

What a difference a day makes. Coventry and Derby took advantage of Monday’s fixture to gain three points on Manchester City in the relegation zone. John Hartson scored the winner against Sunderland to give Coventry hope of survival in the Premier while making things a lot more difficult for Sunderland’s Euro bid. Derby won 2-nil against Leicester giving County another lifeline, while taking one away from City.

Boro got off to a great start and were ahead 1-nil, but Ipswich proved why they are the surprise team as they came back and won 2-1. Boro’s defeat does keep the relegation battle unpredictable, but it is looking bad for Manchester City in a matter of one day.