Blues bounce back against Man United

Chelsea came from a goal behind against champions Manchester United to extend their unbeaten home Premier League record to 85 matches with a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge here on Sunday.Park Ji-Sung gave United an 18th minute lead when, after Dimitar Berbatov’s shot was parried by Chelsea keeper Petr Cech, he slotted the loose ball home. But unmarked substitute Salomon Kalou drew Chelsea level 10 minutes from time when he headed in a free-kick from Frank Lampard.The final score saw the Blues move to with a point of leaders and London rivals Arsenal as they went above Liverpool and into second place on goal difference. Champions League holders United were left seven points behind Arsenal and six adrift of Chelsea.On Saturday, Arsenal surged to the top for the first time this season after coming from behind to beat Bolton 3-1. Goals from Emmanuel Eboue, Nicklas Bendtner and Denilson sent the Gunners clear on a day when Liverpool’s title credentials were dented by their goalless draw against newly-promoted Stoke.Fulham’s strong start to the season was checked by a 1-0 loss at Blackburn. Managerless and up-for-sale Newcastle dropped to second-from-bottom of the table after a 3-1 defeat at West Ham. Sunderland won 2-0 over local rivals Middlesbrough.La LigaMADRID: Atletico Madrid capped a fantastic week with a 4-0 home victory over Recreativo Huelva on Saturday to go second in the Spanish La Liga.After demolishing PSV Eindhoven 3-0 on Tuesday in their first Champions League match for 11 years, Atletico crushed Recreativo by one goal more. Atletico lie behind Espanyol who return to the summit despite a 1-1 draw with Getafe, which ended their 100 per cent start to the season.Argentina’s Sergio Aguero opened the scoring for Atletico before Portuguese schemer Maniche added the second. French striker Florent Sinama Pongolle scored twice in the final 13 minutes to down his former club.Serie AROME: AS Roma lifted the gloom surrounding the Stadio Olimpico by claiming their first win of the season at the fourth attempt in a 3-0 home success over Reggina.Veteran defender Cristian Panucci opened the scoring at the end of the first half and a rocket from Alberto Aquilani doubled the advantage soon after the break before substitute Simone Perrotta struck the third goal with the last kick of the match.In the day’s other game Catania ended Atalanta’s 100 per cent start with a 1-0 victory in Sicily. Michele Paolucci scored the only goal of the game on 59 minutes.

Gurung wins double gold

Shila Gurung of Kathmandu Valley claimed two gold medals at the 10th Galaxy Cup Age-group Swimming Championship here at the Satdobato Swimming Complex today.Gurung claimed the championships in the U-10 girls’ 50m butterfly and 50m backstroke event. Mahesh Jirel of Little Angels (LA) also struck double gold in the boys’ U-17 100m backstroke and 50m breaststroke. Likewise, Jay Prakash Gurung of Kathmandu Valley won the U-12 boys’ 50m butterfly gold and Banin Shensah of Baba Boarding clinched the 50m backstroke (U-14 boys).Other winners include Sirish Gurung of Shuvarata in 50m backstroke (U-10 boys), Milan Thapa of Little Angels in 50m butterfly (U-17 boys), Pravesh Adhikari of Baba in 50m backstroke (U-12 boys), Pratistha Shrestha of LA in 100m freestyle (U-17 girls), Jitjwali Maharjan of LA in 50m butterfly (U-12 girls), Sonia Gurung of LA in 50m breaststroke (U-17 girls), and Shreya Dhital of Lincoln School in 50m butterfly (U-14 girls).Khim Bahadur KC of Nepal Army won the Men’s Open 200m freestyle gold medal. Two other armymen also won gold in the Men’s Open section. Chandra Singh Mahato claimed the 100m butterfly gold and Puspa Raj Shahi won the 50m backstroke championship for Nepal Army.Bibidha Rimal clinched the Women’s Open 100m backstroke title while Karishma Karki won the 50m butterfly gold. Sudha Shrestha became the 50m breaststroke champion in the Women’s Open section.In all, 153 boys and 55 girls in the Age-group and 51 swimmers in Open Section are participating in the three-day tournament organised by Nepal Swimming Association. Member Secretary of the National Sports Council Jeevan Ram Shrestha among others gave away the awards.

NPC leaves for Kyrgyzstan

The Nepal Police Club (NPC) today left for Kyrgyzstan to participate in the final round of the fourth AFC President’s Cup Football Tournament.The NPC, who qualified for the semi-finals as the Group B runners up from the first-round held in Malaysia, will take on Dordoi Dynamo of Kyrgyzstan on September 19. The other semi-final pits Regar TadAZ of Tajikisthan and Ashgabat of Turkministan. The final is slated for September 21. All the matches will be held at the Bishkek Central Stadium, home ground of Dordoi Dynamo.In the three first round matches in Malaysia, the NPC defeated Abhami Limited of Bangladesh 4-0, played a 1-1 draw against WAPDA of Pakistan and hold Regar TadAZ of Tajikistan 2-2 to finish runner up behind Regar TadAZ.The AFC President’s Cup is the tournament for the league champions of the 16 ‘C’ category Asian nations. The NPC earned the chance to participate in the AFC President’s Cup for the second straight year after the ANFA’s failure to hold the league last year. The NPC had reached the final last year in Pakistan. Nabil Three Star Club reached the semi-finals in the first edition held in Kathmandu in 2005, while Manang Marsyangdi Club could not advance beyond the group stage in 2006.DIG Sharada Bhakta Ranjit and All Nepal Football Association President Ganesh Thapa bade farewell to the team and officials. SSP Tapendra Dhoj Hamal is the team manager of the 19-member squad that comprises 16 players. Ramesh Budhathoki is the skipper of the team, while Birat Krishna Shrestha is the coach and Anil Adhikari his assistant.Ananta Raj Thapa, Rakesh Shrestha, Tika Ram Karki, Jumanu Rai, Bhola Nath Silwal, KunjanNagarkoti Shrestha, Dipendra Poudel, Suman Subedi, Parbat Pandey, Ritesh Thapa, Chetan Ghimire, Roshan Karki, Bishal Shrestha and Rabin Shrestha are the players in the team.Coach Shrestha said the team was in good shape to compete in the tournament. “I won’t say the preparation was very good, but I can say for sure that the team is good,” said coach Shrestha. Asked about the team strategy, Shrestha said he would study the opponents’ game first and set the strategy accordingly.