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MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester United slumped to a 2-1 loss at relegation-threatened Stoke in the Premier League on Saturday to puncture the optimism generated by Juan Matas arrival and leave the reigning champions with a huge task to finish in the Champions League positions. wholesale nfl jerseys . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. It was Stokes maiden win over United in the Premier League, and first since 1984. "I dont know what we have to do to win," said United manager David Moyes. Everton bounced back from its derby thrashing by Liverpool in midweek by coming from behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1 and climb to fifth above Tottenham, which drew 1-1 at Hull. Cardiff climbed off the bottom by scoring two goals in 73 seconds at the start of the second half to defeat Norwich 2-1. That left Fulham, which was overwhelmed 3-0 at home to Southampton, two points adrift in last place. West Ham completes the bottom three even though it beat Swansea 2-0 thanks to a brace by Kevin Nolan. That win was marred by a red card to striker Andy Carroll for elbowing an opponent. The other match saw Sunderland earn a second straight 3-0 win at Newcastle in the northeast derby, sparking anger and frustration by home fans disillusioned by the sale of star player Yohan Cabaye to Paris Saint-Germain this week. Such is the tightness of the bottom half of the table, Sunderland -- like Stoke -- is now nearer mid-table than the relegation zone. With Mata joining from Chelsea for a club-record fee last week and both Wayne Rooney and Van Persie back fit, things looked like turning around for United and its under-pressure manager David Moyes. Most thought the comfortable 2-0 win over Cardiff on Tuesday would be the first in a run of victories to lift the champions up to the top four, but they came unstuck at the hands of a gutsy Stoke side managed by a former United favourite, Mark Hughes. "I thought we were, to a man, fantastic," said Hughes, who played 467 games for United. "We got a great reward for a huge amount of effort." Stoke enjoyed some fortune with the first goal, with Adams long-range free kick in the 38th taking a wicked deflection off Michael Carrick and flying into the far corner past stranded goalkeeper David de Gea. Mata set up Van Persie to make it 1-1 in the 47th but Adam grabbed what proved to be the winner from 25 yards five minutes later. "It is a massive result against a great team," Adam said. Belgium forward Kevin Mirallas popped up with Evertons winning goal from a free kick in the 85th minute, after Steven Naismith had cancelled out Leandro Bacunas opener for Villa. Everton is provisionally a point behind neighbour Liverpool, which beat its Merseyside rival 4-0 on Tuesday. Tottenham moved four points clear of United after Paulinhos 61st-minute goal earned a draw against Hull, which took the lead through Shane Longs first goal for the club since his recent move from West Brom. wholesale jerseys . "It is my feeling the club is at a stage that is critical to our on-field expectations and this move was necessary," Hervey told a news gathering hours after he informed Reed he was gone after three years as head coach. jerseys from china . Forte was injured on a run deep in Chicago territory midway through the first quarter, when Kansas Citys Derrick Johnson hit him in the knee.INDIANAPOLIS -- Roy Hibbert threw all the inside body jabs Tuesday night. Paul George finished it off with the knockout blow. Together, the Pacers devastating one-two scoring punch did it again to the champs. Hibbert finished with 24 points, George made two big 3-pointers during a 15-point second half scoring spree and Indiana rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to take Round 1 against Miami 90-84. "It was fun, a real intense game," George said. "Both teams were playing at a high level. You could see an urgency to win this game tonight." While Indiana extended its franchise-record home start to a perfect 10-0 and took a three-game advantage over Miami in the early chase for home-court advantage, this was no ordinary regular season game. During pregame media availability, Indianas Lance Stephenson said this game felt like a championship matchup. Two of Miamis big three, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, tried to downplay that sort of talk by explaining this was not a win or go home night. The hometown fans didnt care what the Heat thought. They were already in post-season form, booing loudly at the officials, chanting "Hes a flopper" on some contestable foul calls and eventually serenading Miami players with those familiar chants of "Beat the Heat." But the Pacers (19-3) also understood this was only be the start of a season-long quest that could pit the two best teams in the East in the conference finals for a second straight year. First, theres the rematch in Miami on Dec. 18. They wont meet again until March 26 in Indy, then head back to Miami on April 11 before what most expect to be a third straight meeting in the playoffs. If those games have as much intrigue and pizazz as Tuesday nights showdown, they may be the most compelling all season. And the Pacers cant wait to show how much they can improve -- even on a win over the two-time champs and four-time MVP LeBron James. "Its just one game," Hibbert said. "Were going to learn from it. Its a learning experience. Its still early in the season. We have a lot more work to do." To the average fan, it looked a lot like last seasons playoff series, which Miami won in seven games. Hibbert dominated the middle, scoring nine of Indianas first 11 points and making a season-high 10 baskets -- most from point-blank range -- despite playing in the second half with cotton in his nose. David West added 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists including a left-handed 4-foot runner that gave Indiana an 88-81 lead with 388. cheap nfl jerseys. 9 seconds to go. James defence and Miamis physical double-teams frustrated George most of the night, but when George finally got free late, he made three big 3-pointers s to help the Pacers pull away. George, the NBAs No. 4 scorer, finished with 17 points, three rebounds and four assists. "I knew it was going to be a night when I was going to explode offensively," George said. "I knew I had to move the ball and share it." Chasing George all night apparently took a toll on James and the Heat (16-6). While James, the leagues No. 2 scorer did get 17 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, he was just 3 of 11 from the field with nine points over the final 36 minutes -- three quarters when Miami failed to top the 20-point mark and had five turnovers. Wade also finished with 17 points, while Bosh added 12. It was Miamis third loss in five games. "I thought we brought it tonight," James said. "We know theyre a very good defensive team. I thought they hit some tough shots and they attacked the rim real well but even though they had us down by 10 rebounds, I thought we rebounded well and we battled." Aside from the slow start, the Pacers couldnt have produced a better script. After Miami took a 13-pont lead midway through the second quarter, Indiana charged back to get within 47-40 at halftime. Indiana then opened the third quarter with back-to-back baskets to close the deficit to four. The Pacers finally tied it at 55 on George Hills 3 with 8:15 to go in the third, and Hibbert gave the Pacers their first lead, 58-57, on a three-point play 2 minutes later. George helped keep the Heat at arms length after finally making his first basket with 3:51 left in the third, and Miami never tied the score or regained the lead. "Anytime you get into this kind of a slugfest with them, where youre down six to eight points, it feels like its a 20-point lead," Bosh said. "We know theyre a good team. We know what their goals are, we know what our goals are, we want to keep building to be a complete team for the spring." NOTES: Singer Justin Timberlake, Jim Courier and Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles were among the familiar faces in the crowd Tuesday night. ... David West recorded his 5,000th career rebound in the first quarter. ... Indiana had a season-high 21 turnovers. ... Miami shot just 42.9 per cent from the field and was a dismal 4 of 21 from 3-point range, scoring just 54 points over the final three quarters. ... The Pacers improved to 10-2 this season when trailing at halftime. cheap jerseys from china cheap jerseys ' ' ' |
