Reds make Chelsea see Blue
SOCCER ROUNDUP Londoners’ 40-game unbeaten streak ends ‘I think the difference was lucky, to be fair’
Manchester United got a goal from Darren Fletcher in the 31st minute, and the Red Devils beat Chelsea 1- 0 yesterday to end the Blues’ 40- game unbeaten streak in the English Premier League.
Fletcher scored after Cristiano Ronaldo sent in a high cross from the left wing. The ball sailed past the goalmouth and Fletcher headed it into the far corner over Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech. The Reds moved into third place with 21 points. Chelsea still leads with 31 points, followed by Wigan with 25 and Arsenal with 20.
“ I think the difference was lucky, to be fair,” Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said. “ There was no difference between losers and winners. The difference is in a goal. We lost a game that we didn’t deserve to lose. . . . But I think they ( Manchester United) were not the best team on the pitch.’’
Chelsea’s last loss in the league — and its only league loss under Mourinho — was on Oct. 16, 2004, against Manchester City. ITALY: Juventus, AC Milan and Fiorentina each won to maintain the top three positions in Serie A.
Juventus got second- half goals from each of its top- three strikers — Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Trezeguet and Alessandro Del Piero — in a 3- 0 victory over Livorno, which ended with 10 men.
Milan overwhelmed struggling Udinese 5- 1 with Alberto Gilardino scoring twice and Clarence Seedorf, Andrea Pirlo and Kaka adding one each.
Juventus leads the league with 30 points, followed by Milan with 28 and Fiorentina with 25. Luca Toni scored his league- leading 13th goal of the season after defender Tomas Ujfalusi gave Fiorentina the lead in a 2- 0 win over Ascoli. SPAIN: Real Madrid earned two late penalties yet managed only one goal in a 1- 0 win over Zaragoza in the Spanish league. Robinho missed the first penalty in the 76th minute, but Robert Carlos scored the second in the 79th. NETHERLANDS: Ajax lost for the fourth time this season, falling 1- 0 at NEC Nijmegen in the Dutch league. Romano Denneboom scored the only goal in the 46th minute.
Ajax has only 15 points from 11 games and trails leader PSV Eindhoven by 13. PSV beat Sparta Rotterdam 3- 0 on Saturday. GREECE: Olympiakos reclaimed first place in the Greek league by beating former leader Xanthi 2- 0.
Vassilis Torosidis scored an own- goal and Predrag Djordjevic added a penalty for the defending champion, which has 21 points and leads second- place AEK Athens by one.