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BORIS JOHNSON'S bust-up with girlfriend Carrie Symonds has handed a shock poll lead to his leadership rival Jeremy Hunt. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR and Dirk Kuyt scored the goals as Arsenal and Liverpool cancelled each other out at the Emirates to leave their Champions League quarter-final on a knife-edge. Both goals left managers Rafa Benitez and Arsene Wenger shaking their heads. Arsenal's opener, after 23 minutes, came when a short corner resulted in Robin van Persie sending over a left-foot cross for Adebayor, climbing and hanging above the Liverpool defence just six yards out, to head past Pepe Reina. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

CRISTIANO RONALDO last night found the perfect reply to those who claim he never scores the goals that matter. His brave header in the Stadio Olimpico set Manchester United on their way to a 2-0 victory over Roma and put Sir Alex Ferguson's men within touching distance of the Champions League semi-finals. Wayne Rooney added a second goal in the second half to make it a triumphant night's work for United, who will look with confidence towards a second leg at Old Trafford a week tonight. And a semi-final showdown with Barcelona looks to be looming after the Spaniards took control of their tie against Schalke with a 1-0 win in Germany. Ronaldo struck after 39 minutes of the first leg of the quarter-final. Statistically, it was his 36th goal of the season and his 11th in Europe for United -- equalling the record of George Best. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ROB STYLES, who awarded the season's daftest penalty at Birmingham on Saturday, has been left off the Barclays Premier League list for this weekend's games. The Hampshire official baffled players on both sides by pointing to the spot when Manchester City's Sun Jihai went shoulder to shoulder with Gary McSheffrey. BBC Match Of The Day pundit Mark Lawrenson described the incident as 'the worst penalty decision I have seen in my life'. Sun said yesterday: 'I turned around and chased the ball with McSheffrey, and it was in front of me. 'He went for the ball and tried to push me, but I just used my shoulder for a 50-50. When I heard the whistle I thought he was diving maybe, but the referee pointed to the spot. 'I could not believe it. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

CRYSTAL PALACE moved to sign Chelsea starlet Scott Sinclair on loan last night after Stamford Bridge boss Avram Grant cancelled a similar deal with Charlton. Grant, angry that winger Sinclair was not given more first-team opportunities by boss Alan Pardew after moving to The Valley in February, has agreed to let the 19-year-old switch to Charlton's bitter south London Championship rivals. Sinclair made only three substitute appearances at Charlton and was not even in the squad for the last three games. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

MANCHESTER UNITED cranked up the title pressure on another dramatic night in the Barclays Premier League which saw Chelsea held 4-4 at Tottenham. While Sir Alex Ferguson's men were beating struggling Bolton 2-0 at Old Trafford to go three points clear, Chelsea surrendered 3-1 and 4-3 leads to suffer a damaging psychological blow. They are two points behind second-placed Arsenal. Avram Grant's team had been set on avenging last month's Carling Cup Final defeat and goals by Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and Joe Cole put them in control after an hour -- Wembley hero Jonathan Woodgate replying. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

EVERTON and Tottenham retrieved first-leg deficits last night to take their last 16 UEFA Cup-ties to extra time before losing agonisingly on penalties. Tottenham lost 6-5 in their shoot-out against PSV in Eindhoven, with Pascal Chimbonda missing the vital kick, while Everton also came up short -- 4-2 against Fiorentina at Goodison. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

JAY TABB is studying for a classical music exam, so it was sweet music to Coventry fans when his sixth-minute goal against Norwich turned out to be the winner. A single-goal scoreline hardly reflected Coventry's superiority. The home side made 17 attempts on goal and Tabb's virtuoso wing play so tormented the visitors that they had Gary Doherty and Darel Russell sent off in the second half. Irish Under 21 international Tabb credited new Coventry manager Chris Coleman for lifting the relegation cloud over the Ricoh Arena, saying: 'He's so relaxed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

TOTTENHAM paid for a moment of madness by new boy Gilberto as PSV took a first-leg advantage in their UEFA Cup last-16 tie at White Hart Lane last night. Gilberto, the Brazilian making his debut at left back, was caught in possession 25 yards from his own goal and the Dutch champions' lively Peru striker Jefferson Farfan took the ball into the area before shooting past Paul Robinson to give PSV a lead that was to last the rest of the night. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

FERNANDO TORRES shot Liverpool back into fourth place in the Barclays Premier League last night with a hat-trick against West Ham. Torres struck in the eighth, 61st and 81st minutes at Anfield to take his season's tally to 24 and send Rafa Benitez's men above Merseyside rivals Everton on goal difference in the chase for the final Champions League spot. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ARSENAL pulled off a sensational victory last night, knocking holders AC Milan out of the Champions League in their own San Siro stadium. Cesc Fabregas scored six minutes from the end of a tense second leg, driving the ball inches inside the post from 25 yards, and Emmanuel Adebayor completed Arsenal's 2-0 last 16 win in stoppage time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

TWO goals in the last five minutes by Dirk Kuyt and skipper Steven Gerrard gave Liverpool a vital first leg lead in their Champions League last 16 tie against Inter Milan at Anfield and earned beleaguered manager Rafa Benitez welcome respite. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THE MAN at the centre of the drugs bust which destroyed Dwain Chambers has claimed that athletics is still rife with doping. Victor Conte, who created the Bay Area Laboratory Co - operative (BALCO) in California, is convinced that athletes remain intent on cheating the system. He said: 'I still believe the overwhelming majority are going to be using performance enhancing substances. They use substances that are undetectable and they don't have enough testing. When athletes truly believe it is much more difficult to circumvent testing you'll see far more performances by athletes who are doing it with hard work as opposed to chemical substances.' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

DWAIN CHAMBERS was told last night that he would not be able to run on the lucrative grand prix circuit in Europe as a new row exploded over who coached him to World Indoor Trials glory. As athletics spent a day reeling from the return of drugs cheat Chambers to the British team, the disgraced sprinter found his route to fresh riches blocked by the promoters of some of the Continent's biggest meetings. The 29-year-old Londoner has agreed to repay more than £100,000 to the IAAF and the organisers of meetings at which he earned cash while running using drugs. He tested positive in 2003 for THG, but after serving his two-year ban he admitted that he had been on the steroid for the year previous to that, a period in which he won a major title and cashed in on the grand prix scene. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

DWAIN CHAMBERS sparked outrage in British athletics last night after he was selected to run at next month's World Indoor Championships. Double Olympic champions Dame Kelly Holmes and Lord Coe both spoke out against the self-confessed drugs cheat, while Chambers' young sprint rival Craig Pickering insisted the former European 100 metre champion would not be welcome in the British team for Valencia. 'I don't think it puts us in a good light as a country allowing a cheat, who has admitted he is a cheat, to represent us,' said Dame Kelly. UK Athletics selectors also revealed that they were unanimous in not wishing to select Chambers but said they were left with little choice because he had achieved the qualifying time and won their indoor trials at Sheffield on Sunday. They also knew that any decision to sideline him could result in a potentially ruinous legal battle. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

GLOBAL recession? Not in the crazy world of the Barclays Premier League where clubs spent more in the January transfer window than in the previous three windows combined. When trading ceased at midnight more than £100million had been splashed as clubs frantically spent in pursuit of Europe or to stave off relegation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

JOE COLE booked Chelsea's ticket to a Carling Cup Final against Spurs at Wembley next month when his 69th-minute goal settled a tight semi-final second leg with Everton at Goodison Park last night. Cole fired past Tim Howard from 12 yards after a superb 50-yard pass from Florent Malouda dropped at the England midfielder's feet. Chelsea, the Cup holders, took the tie 3-1 on aggregate but also had Petr Cech to thank for victory. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

TOTTENHAM beat Arsenal for the first time in more than eight years last night, thumping their North London rivals to reach the Carling Cup Final at Wembley next month and send White Hart Lane crazy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RAFA BENITEZ found his popularity soaring at Anfield last night as Liverpool fans turned on the club's American owners. Supporters chanted the troubled manager's name and raised banners proclaiming 'Save Rafa' and 'Yanks Out' -- a reference to Tom Hicks and George Gillett talking to Jurgen Klinsmann about replacing Benitez. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

TOTTENHAM marched into the Carling Cup semi-finals last night as the Juande Ramos revival continued. Spurs won 2-0 at Manchester City despite having Didier Zokora sent off after 20 minutes for a lunge at Elano. Jermain Defoe gave Spurs a fifth-minute lead and the north London team withstood City pressure before Steed Malbranque wrapped up victory with eight minutes to go. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

MANCHESTER UNITED and Arsenal put daylight between themselves and the chasing pack at the top of the Barclays Premier League yesterday. William Gallas secured the points for Arsenal two minutes into first-half stoppage-time at the Emirates. Chelsea captain John Terry went off with an ankle injury, while defender Ashley Cole could face an FA charge for a two-fingered salute at Arsenal fans after an ill-tempered match in which there were nine bookings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

TERRY BUTCHER left Brentford 'by mutual consent' yesterday with the club six points off the bottom of League Two. Butcher, a towering England defender who won 77 caps, joins Bobby Moore, Bobby Charlton and Peter Shilton among international greats who were unable to transmit their class to players of lesser ability. He took over at Griffin Park last April after they were relegated but Brentford won only five of his 23 games in charge. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ASTON VILLA must face Manchester United for the fourth time in seven seasons in an FA Cup third round draw that is harsh on the little clubs. The Premier League champions visit Martin O'Neill's revitalised Villa on the first weekend in January in the tie of the round. The clubs have 18 FA Cup wins between them but a more relevant statistic is that Sir Alex Ferguson's United have triumphed in their three most recent FA Cup clashes, in 2002, 2004 and 2007. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

TOTTENHAM kept new manager Juande Ramos on course for a UEFA Cup hat-trick with a 3-2 win over Aalborg at White Hart Lane. But they made hard work of it, conceding a goal after only 113 seconds and going into the break 2-0 down. Ramos, who won the UEFA Cup in the past two seasons with Sevilla, speaks limited English but it was enough to get through to his spluttering Spurs and within 21 minutes of the second half of the Group G clash they were in front. Dimitar Berbatov sparked the revival just 40 seconds after the restart and further goals came from Steed Malbranque and substitute Darren Bent as the Danish League leaders crumbled. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

TORRENTIAL rain an hour before kick-off was just what Wembley's overworked ground staff did not need. Croatia coach Slaven Bilic was scathing of the pitch after his side's training session and when England's most important home game for six years began on a bog -- not for the first time Wembley's commercial interests shouldered the blame. Three weeks ago Miami Dolphins and New York Giants, lumbered back and forth across the turf, breaking up the surface and causing irreparable damage. It was a factor which did not escape Bilic. 'The pitch here is not good,' he observed. 'It is not in the condition Wembley used to be and is known for. 'It is no good for us -- and it is definitely no good for England, because they like to pass the ball as well. 'This stadium and this match deserves a better pitch. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THEY will be ironing their kilts and polishing their sporrans north of the border following last night's news that Wembley is ready to host a revived Home International Championship. The tournament lasted 100 years -- from 1884 to 1984. It survived two World Wars, the Northern Ireland troubles and the biennial invasion of Trafalgar Square by manic Scots. Finally, the arrogance of the English FA, swiftly followed by Scotland, killed it off. Wales and Northern Ireland just weren't good enough to make the matches competitive -- or marketable -- they said. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

CARLOS TEVEZ and Gerard Pique scored their first Champions League goals as Manchester United guaranteed their last 16 place with a 4-0 rout of Dynamo Kiev at Old Trafford. Arsenal are also in the knock-out stage after a goalless draw at Slavia Prague. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

LIVERPOOL rescued their Champions League campaign with an 8-0 thrashing of Besiktas at Anfield -- a record winning margin for the competition. Yossi Benayoun scored a hat-trick in 24 minutes either side of the interval. Peter Crouch began and finished the mauling while Ryan Babel (2) and Steven Gerrard also scored. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]