Torben Grael's Ericsson 4 has won the second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race from Cape Town to Cochin.


LONDON, England. Volvo Ocean Race favorite Ericsson 4 has arrived in Cochin, India to win the second leg of the round-the-world race.

The victory adds to the crew's first leg win, keeping them on top of the points standings.

Telefonica Blue claimed second place, while Ericsson 3 took third and Telefonica Black, fourth.

Ericsson 4, skippered by Torben Grael has now claimed 26 of the 28 possible points on offer so far. The second leg victory was almost assured a week from the finish when the boat opened up a significant gap on the rest of its rivals.

The second leg saw the fleet pass to the south east of the Gulf of Aden region where pirates have been launching numerous attacks on vessels passing through the area.

All eight boats were being monitored by naval forces in the region for fear of hijacking.

Eight legs, plus several in-port races still remain in this edition of the race, which will run through until July next year.

The next leg begins on 13 December and sees the fleet make a 1950 nautical mile journey to Singapore, where they should arrive just in time for Christmas Day.

Although a relatively short leg, there is also a risk of piracy on this journey, with the South China Sea, the Strait of Malacca, and the waters be ... Читать дальше »

Denilson (left) congratulates Van Persie after scoring at Stamford Bridge.


 Arsenal threw the English title race wide open with a 2-1 victory over leaders Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Chelsea led through a Johan Djourou own goal at halftime, but two goals by Dutch international Robin Van Persie in three minutes gave Arsenal a much-needed win.

Chelsea still lead Liverpool on goal difference with 33 points, but Liverpool can move three points clear if they win their 15th round match against West Ham on Monday.

Champions Manchester United are on 28 points, having played 14 games, with Arsenal two points further adrift having played a game more.

United beat Manchester City 1-0 in the early kickoff on Sunday with Wayne Rooney scoring the winner.

The later London derby was a make or break game for Arsene Wenger's men who were struggling to compete with bigger, more physical opponents in the first half and fell behind to a soft goal.

But Van Persie lashed a 59th-minute shot into the top corner from what appeared to be a clear offside position to equalize.

But if his first goal involved luck, there was none surrounding his second three minutes later.

Emmanuel Adebayor headed captain Cesc Fabregas' free kick to Van Persie's feet and the Dutch striker turned and shot through Frank Lampard's legs and into the far corner.

"I ... Читать дальше »

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has suggested he may recall the France defender, dropped from the squad at the weekend, for tomorrow's Champions League clash with Dynamo Kiev.

Gallas has always had a little bit of the maverick about him -- Chelsea claimed he had threatened to score an own goal in the first Premier League match of the season if he did not get to leave Stamford Bridge in the August transfer window of 2006.

Does Gallas have a point? Are Arsenal's players not up for the fight?

And when he got to Arsenal, assuming the captaincy following the sale of Thierry Henry in the summer of 2007, Gallas couldn't shake his destructive idiosyncrasies.

The 21-year-old Spanish midfield star replaces William Gallas, who was stripped of the captaincy last week after publicly questioning the attitude of his team-mates.

Goalkeeper Manuel Almunia skippered the side for the 3-0 defeat at Manchester City on Saturday, a match which Gallas missed following his outburst.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger declined to say why he had taken the captaincy away from the 31-year-old Galllas, but confirmed it was a permanent switch.

"I don't think I have specially to explain why I make the decisions," Wenger said on Monday. "William is a player that I rate and a man that I rate as well. I have a big respect for him.

"He was working as a captain and was in a very difficult media environment. He was under big pressure from the press and at some stage you do not want that (outside) pressure to affect h ... Читать дальше »