The race for the Barclays Premier League swung back in Manchester City’s favour after indisciplined leaders Chelsea suffered a shock defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday night.

David Moyes has named Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata together in his Manchester United starting line-up for the first time as the Red Devils look to maintain their Barclays Premier League momentum at Stoke.

Darren Bent masterminded Fulham's 3-0 FA Cup third-round replay victory over Norwich at Craven Cottage as the Canaries' winless run reached eight matches.

Norwich 1 Fulham 1

Crystal Palace 1 Norwich 1

Sunderland 0 Norwich 0

Norwich 1 Swansea 1

West Brom 0 Norwich 2

Norwich 1 Crystal Palace 0

Manchester City 7 Norwich 0

Manchester United 4 Norwich 0

Manchester United 4 Norwich 0

Norwich 0 Cardiff 0

Watford 2 Norwich 3 (after extra time)

Kazakhstan 0 Sweden 1

Kazakhstan 0 Sweden 1

Robbie Keane has warned the Republic of Ireland any lingering hopes of World Cup qualification will be over if they lose in Austria.

Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni launched an impassioned defence of his reign after seeing his side’s hopes of World Cup qualification all but blown out of the water.

The end?

Republic of Ireland 1 Sweden 2

Giovanni Trapattoni remained defiant after seeing Sweden leave the Republic of Ireland’s hopes of World Cup qualification hanging by a thread.

Richard Dunne refused to give up on qualification for the World Cup despite their hopes apparently being left in tatters following a 2-1 home defeat by Sweden.

Republic of Ireland's World Cup dreams are in tatters tonight following a 2-1 defeat against Sweden.

Norwich manager Chris Hughton may look to strengthen further before the transfer window closes, while Mauricio Pochettino admits Southampton could do with some reinforcements.

Norwich 1 Southampton 0

At times during this World Cup qualification campaign, it has seemed Sweden’s approach has resembled that of their famed skipper Zlatan Ibrahimovic — nonchalant and one-paced.

The worrying sight since the weekend of Jeff Hendrick “hobbling around on crutches” in the words of his manager Nigel Clough was followed yesterday by the expected confirmation from the FAI that the Derby County midfielder is now out of the Irish squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Sweden and Austria.

Daniel Sturridge scored twice as Liverpool survived a major scare against Notts County at Anfield to book their place in the third round of the Capital One Cup, winning 4-2 after extra-time.

Ian Holloway saw his Premier League new boys Crystal Palace embarrassed by League One Bristol City in the Capital One Cup at Ashton Gate tonight.

Norwich 6 Bury 3

WORLD CUP QUALIFIER GROUP C:

Austria 2 Sweden 1

Swedish coach Erik Hamren has warned that Ireland will set out to be party poopers in Stockholm when the countries meet in a World Cup qualifier on Friday week.

Germany 4 Sweden 4

Germany 4 Sweden 4

Alex Ferguson is happy to let Anders Lindegaard and David de Gea alternate as his goalkeeper to allow both to further their Manchester United experience.

Germany striker Miroslav Klose is looking to continue his impressive scoring streak against Austria and is confident the team will be better in front of goal than their opening World Cup Group C qualifier tonight (7.35pm).

No man is an island, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic comes pretty close.

Every single member of the Swedish team is adept at switching from their native tongue into English at the drop of the hat, but they certainly don’t seem to be speaking the same language as each other at present.

Two high-quality second-half goals from Andriy Shevchenko gave hosts Ukraine a triumphant start to Euro 2012 in Kiev last night.

Ukraine 2 Sweden 1

A sound sleeper who dreams of glory, Sweden coach Erik Hamren has overseen a masterclass in taking a laid-back approach to his side’s Euro 2012 Group D opener against co-hosts Ukraine.

It was a mixed night for the Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2012 Group C opponents as Croatia and Italy were beaten at home while Spain eased to victory over Venezuela.

Bolton striker Johan Elmander has signed a three-year deal with Galatasaray, the Turkish club have announced.