Ronaldo drops stay at Man Utd hint

Cristiano Ronaldo moved to end speculation about his Manchester United future by dropping a clear hint that he intends to stay at Old Trafford. The World Player of the Year has been consistently linked with a switch to Real Madrid and looked set for a move to the Bernabeu last summer before pledging his future to United where he is contracted until 2012. With Florentino Perez pledging to build a new superteam as part of his campaign to be elected Real Madrid club president, inevitably talk has turned to a new bid to sign the Portuguese star.

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Draw sees Manchester United retain title

Manchester United have won the Premier League title for a third consecutive season, although their title party was spoiled somewhat by visitors Arsenal in a dour 0-0 draw on Saturday. United only needed a point to retain the trophy and be crowned English champions for the 18th time, drawing level with n orth-west rivals Liverpool on that figure, and they achieved that target despite being out-played by an Arsenal side with only pride to play for

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Gerrard wins Footballer of the Year award

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has fought off competition from a clutch of Manchester United players to be named Footballer of the Year in England. The 28-year-old England international topped the poll of journalists ahead of United pair Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney with their teammates Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand rounding out the top five. Gerrard secured 73 votes from a total of 202 with Giggs on 63

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Bolt fit for Manchester street race

Usain Bolt, who was involved in a high speed car smash in his native Jamaica last month, will be fit to run in a special street race in Manchester this weekend. Bolt had surgery to remove thorns from his left foot after crashing his BMW sports car on April 29 and missed an international meeting in Kingston the following weekend. There had been doubt that the world’s fastest man would be able to take part in a special 150 meter race in the city center of the north-west of England city on Sunday

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Fabregas double extends Arsenal unbeaten run

Captain Cesc Fabregas scored both goals as Arsenal extended their unbeaten Premier League run to 20 matches with a comfortable 2-0 victory over relegation-threatened Middlesbrough at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. On a warm sunny afternoon in north London, Russian Andrey Arshavin — who scored all four of Arsenal’s goals at Liverpool on Tuesday — again pulled the strings for Arsene Wenger’s side, who go into Wednesday’s Champions League semifinal against Manchester United at Old Trafford in good heart. Just 48 hours after receiving an English FA misconduct charge following the FA Cup clash with Hull City last month, Spanish playmaker Fabregas put Arsenal ahead with a sublime 26th-minute goal

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Man Utd stun Spurs to close on Premier glory

Manchester United came from two goals down to beat a stunned Tottenham Hotspur 5-2 at Old Trafford and move ever closer to retaining the Premier League title. With nearest rivals Liverpool winning 3-1 at Hull earlier on Saturday afternoon, United were under intense pressure as they trailed to goals by Darren Bent and Luka Modric at half time.

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Keane returns to management at Ipswich

Former Manchester United star Roy Keane has made a surprise return to management at second-flight Ipswich just four months after walking away from Premier League Sunderland. Keane’s appointment at the East Anglian club was confirmed on Thursday and he told their official Web site itfc.co.uk that he was targeting promotion “at the earliest opportunity.” The 37-year-old Keane has been out of work since resigning last December with Sunderland in the relegation zone. “I truly believe that I am joining a club that has the potential, ambition and infrastructure to once again be a Premier League side,” he said “The club’s owner (Marcus Evans) and chief executive (Simon Clegg) impressed upon me their total focus on achieving this quest at the earliest opportunity and I can’t wait to get started.” Keane succeeds Jim Magilton, who was sacked after Ipswich failed to make the play-offs in the Championship, meaning they will be heading for their eighth straight season in the second-tier.

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Arshavin hits 4 in 8-goal Liverpool draw

Arsenal’s Andrey Arshavin became the first player to score four goals in a league game at Liverpool for 64 years but it was not enough to stop the Reds returning to the top of the Premier League after another 4-4 draw. A week after crashing out of the Champions League 7-5 on aggregate after sharing eight goals in their quarterfinal second leg at Chelsea, Liverpool took their fans on another rollercoaster ride.

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Man Utd quintuple bid ends in penalty drama

Manchester United’s quintuple bid ended with defeat by Everton in a penalty shootout at Wembley in their FA Cup semifinal on Sunday. The match finished goalless after normal and extra time and United took an early advantage in the shootout as Australian international Tim Cahill blazed over

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