1. #PREMIER LEAGUE It was a busy night of top flight action in England.
Ryan Giggs scored in Manchester United’s 5-0 win over Fulham, meaning he has a goal in all 20 Premier League seasons.
Luis Suarez couldn’t score though as Liverpool drew 0-0 at Wigan while Arsenal beat Aston Villa 2-1. Here’s how those games an the rest of the action unfolded.
2. #RACE ROW Liverpool’s squad earlier issued a statement backing teammate Suarez in the wake of the Uruguayan being found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra.
The club have a fortnight to appeal the decision.
Before that, it had emerged that John Terry will face charges over alleged racist comments made to Anton Ferdinand. Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service has found that there is sufficient evidence to prosecute the Chelsea defender for “a racially aggravated public order offence”. The FA say Terry will remain as England skipper in the short term.
3. #RANKINGS Ireland are down one place to 22nd in the latest FIFA world rankings, despite their recent qualification for Euro2012.
Spain – Ireland’s group rivals next summer – remain in top spot while Giovanni Trapattoni’s side will also face two other members of the top 10; Croatia and Italy are eighth and ninth respectively.
Holland remain in second while Ireland’s World Cup 2014 qualification opponents Germany are third.
4. #GOLF Rory McIlroy will ring in the New Year as golf’s world number three. The reigning US Open champion was leapfrogged by Lee Westwood whose win at the Thailand Golf Open last weekend saw him finish second in the end of year World Golf Rankings which were released yesterday.
5. BBALL The National Cup finals have been axed from RTE’s schedule because of financial restraints.
It’s a major blow to the sport as it means the games won’t be aired on the public service broadcaster for the first time in 26 years.
A spokesperson from RTE said: “Unfortunately RTÉ had to take this decision due to budgetary considerations characterised by stringent cutbacks across the board.”
6. #YOUTUBE If it’s Thursday – and I’m told it is – we’ll be rounding up our favourite sports clips of the week later. Send us your suggestions.
In the meantime, did you catch the drama in Holland last night?
