Remi Garde was left in no doubt about the scale of the task facing him as the new Aston Villa manager watched from the stands while his new side slumped to a seventh successive defeat, leaving them rooted at the foot of the Premier League table.

MANCHESTER CITY 3 ASTON VILLA 2: SHOWING far more impressive defensive instincts than those displayed by his players during the preceding 90 minutes, Manuel Pellegrini launched his most articulate and spirited analysis yet of a season of under-achievement at the Etihad.

Two first-half Andrew Gaffney goals in Templemore secured Kilkenny CBS’s passage to the Masita All-Ireland Colleges Senior A hurling championship final.

Fulham 1 Sunderland 4

LEON BEST reminded Alan Pardew there is more than one striker on Tyneside as Newcastle dumped woeful West Ham deep into relegation mire.

DEFIANT West Ham manager Avram Grant maintained his struggling side had again shown enough to secure victory, despite having to once more settle for only a point against West Brom.

Michael Bradley has gone with an unchanged side Con for Connacht's European Challenge Cup Round 3 encounter with Newcastle Falcons at the Sportsground on Friday (kick off 6:30pm).

The man leading the charge was Wright-Phillips.

MANCHESTER CITY manager Stuart Pearce remained defiant after his side exited the FA Cup yesterday.

MANCHESTER UNITED guaranteed Alex Ferguson a good night’s sleep by maintaining their six-point lead at the Premiership summit with an Old Trafford victory stroll against rock-bottom Watford.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney both returned for Manchester United as the Barclays Premiership leaders looked to consolidate their six-point lead at the expense of rock-bottom Watford.

Steed Malbranque made a return to Fulham and was in the Tottenham starting XI for the Barclays Premiership clash at Craven Cottage.

FULHAM survived a late flourish to climb four places in the Barclays Premiership with a victory that heaps further pressure on Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate.

MANCHESTER CITY finally achieved their first away win of the season in the Premiership – and it should come as no surprise that Aston Villa were on the receiving end.

Chelsea v West Ham

JUSSI JAASKELAINEN has been lauded as a top goalkeeper equal to Chelsea’s Petr Cech and Manchester United’s Edwin Van der Sar.

All the teams for this afternoon's Premiership action.

Bolton’s new signing Nicolas Anelka will watch from the stands as his new team-mates take on winless Charlton at The Valley today.

GRIMSBY claimed a place in the League Two play-off final against Wycombe after a hard-fought win over Lincoln City last night.

ASTON VILLA manager David O’Leary will make the future of James Milner his top priority after watching his side end their disappointing season with a win over Sunderland.

Premiership results

Premiership half-time scores

Premiership team sheets

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Hunt, Ben Haim, Faye, Gardner, Nakata, Campo, Speed, Davies, Borgetti, Vaz Te.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger maintained his rotation policy for the visit of West Brom.

MANCHESTER UNITED sauntered to a deserved win over Birmingham at an expanded Old Trafford, and Alex Ferguson admitted it was agony.

Charlton 0 Middlesbrough 0

Teams for today's 3pm kick-offs in the Premiership.

Aston Villa’s defensive problems were eased with Wilfred Bouma returning to the starting line-up for the first time since suffering a knee injury in December.

MIDDLESBROUGH manager Steve McClaren hinted in-form striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink could have a future at the club after his two-goal blast against West Brom further eased relegation fears.

JOEY BARTON restored his reputation among the Manchester City faithful by rasping home a brilliant 30-yard strike to put the Blues on their way to a thrilling Premiership win over Charlton.

Wigan 1 Everton 1

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was without a number of his big guns for this fourth round FA Cup tie at the Reebok Stadium.

All the teams for today's early kick-offs in the Premiership.

Wigan 2 Bolton 0

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was forced to make one change as his side looked to cut Barclays Premiership leaders Chelsea’s advantage to six points by winning at Villa Park.

Bryan Robson resisted the temptation to recall Chris Kirkland to West Brom’s starting line-up for the clash with Manchester City, despite the England goalkeeper recovering from bruised kidneys.

Doncaster 3 Aston Villa 0

Newcastle skipper Alan Shearer returned to the starting line-up for this afternoon’s clash with Birmingham after being rested last weekend.

Bolton 2 West Brom 0

Aston Villa 2 Middlesbrough 3