City slash United's hopes

Manchester United FC's chances of retaining the Premiership title all but disappeared on Sunday when they were soundly beaten by local rivals Manchester City FC to cap a disappointing week for Sir Alex Ferguson.

Pipped by Porto
The United manager watched his side slip out of the UEFA Champions League to FC Porto in dramatic fashion on Tuesday night and, having been paired with Arsenal FC in the draw for the semi-finals of the FA Cup, saw the London side stretch their lead over the champions to 12 points with victory at Blackburn Rovers FC on Saturday.

Fowler opener
Three points from the encounter with their city rivals was an absolute neccessity for Sir Alex's men, but they never properly recovered from Robbie Fowler's third-minute strike and eventually slipped to a morale-sapping 4-1 defeat. Jon Macken made it 2-0 on 32 minutes, hooking the ball in from the edge of the area and although a Paul Scholes drive halved the deficit, City weathered the storm to protect their lead.

'Terrible result'
A 73rd-minute Trevor Sinclair goal was followed by a spectacular strike from Shaun Wright-Phillips in added time to leave Sir Alex shaking his head. "It was a terrible result for us, you can't mask that," said the United manager, whose side remain three points behind Chelsea FC in third place.

Heavenly Ángel
Juan Pablo Ángel scored twice as Aston Villa FC defeated struggling neighbours Wolverhampton Wanderers FC 4-0 at Molineux to maintain David O'Leary's side's hunt for a place in Europe next season.

European places
With League Cup winners Middlesbrough FC and the FA Cup finalists guaranteed to take two of the three UEFA Cup spots on offer, only the Premiership's fifth-placed side will qualify - and the race for that and the fourth UEFA Champions League berth is gathering pace.

Hitzlsperger hammer
Villa stepped up their bid for a top-five finish with the resounding victory, Thomas Hitzlsperger thumping them into a seventh-minute lead and Olof Mellberg doubling the advantage eleven minutes later. Two Ángel strikes added to the woes of the home side, who missed a penalty through Ioan Ganea and remain in the bottom three.

O'Brien agony
Elsewhere, Newcastle United FC's hopes of climbing a place to fourth were dented at White Hart Lane when an 86th-minute own goal by Andy O'Brien gave Tottenham Hotspur FC a 1-0 victory. Fellow UEFA Cup contenders Liverpool FC also slipped up, losing 2-0 to Southampton FC at Saint Mary's.

Sturrock success
Liverpool's loss, when coupled with a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of Southampton in December, marks the south-coast club's first league double over the Anfield side for 43 years - a fine way for new Saints manager Paul Sturrock to begin his reign.

Owen miss
James Beattie chipped Southampton into the lead and after Michael Owen had missed an open goal and seen a penalty saved by Antti Niemi, striker Kevin Phillips scored from 20 metres out to secure all three points.