Barclays-premier-league Arsenal Pld:9 W:7 Pts:22 Chelsea Pld:9 W:6 Pts:20 Liverpool Pld:9 W:6 Pts:20 Tottenham Hotspur Pld:9 W:6 Pts:19 Southampton Pld:9 W:5 Pts:18 Everton Pld:9 W:5 Pts:18 Manchester City Pld:9 W:5 Pts:16 Manchester United Pld:9 W:4 Pts:14 Swansea City Pld:9 W:3 Pts:11 Hull City Pld:9 W:3 Pts:11 Newcastle United Pld:9 W:3 Pts:11 West Bromwich Albion Pld:9 W:2 Pts:10 Aston Villa Pld:9 W:3 Pts:10 Fulham Pld:9 W:3 Pts:10 West Ham United Pld:9 W:2 Pts:9 Cardiff City Pld:9 W:2 Pts:9 Stoke City Pld:9 W:2 Pts:8 Norwich City Pld:9 W:2 Pts:8 Sunderland Pld:9 W:1 Pts:4 Crystal Palace Pld:9 W:1 Pts:3

Pellegrini declines Mourinho handshake. Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini walked straight down the players' tunnel without shaking hands with counterpart Jose Mourinho after Chelsea snatched a 90th-minute winner on Sunday. Mourinho celebrated wildly by jumping into the crowd and embracing fans after a defensive mix-up allowed Fernando Torres to secure a 2-1 victory in the Premier League. "I didn't shake hands. I didn't want to," Pellegrini told reporters at Stamford Bridge after his side suffered their third away league defeat of the season. Mourinho apologised for his loss of decorum and said he was trying to find his son when he leapt into the crowd. "If they feel I did something wrong I apologise," said the Portuguese. "This is the drama of the last minute. "He (Pellegrini) lost the game in the last minute and I have sympathy with that. In other countries and cultures we shake hands before the game and that is it. "If he was sad because of the result I understand. If he was sad because I did something wrong I accept that too." Mourinho and Pellegrini have been rivals since the Portuguese replaced the Chilean at Real Madrid in 2010 following a second-place La Liga finish. "Second place is just the first loser," Mourinho said before a match against Pellegrini's new club Malaga. "If Madrid were to fire me I wouldn't go to Malaga. I'd go to a top-level team in Italy or England." The victory moved Chelsea up to second in the table, level on points with Liverpool in third and two points behind leaders Arsenal.

Earthquake Hits Osun State, Nigeria – Ikeji Ile Villagers Narrate Ordeal Earthquake Hits Osun State Nigeria – Ikeji Ile Villagers Narrate Ordeal Olobeide, a village in Ikeji- Ile, Osun State was recently hit by an explosion that sent old and young scampering to safety. Two months after residents of the rocky community are yet to get over the scare. Taiwo Abiodun reports. The cock had just crowed at 3 o’clock on September 23, a Monday. The farmers and the traders who mainly dominate this town knew at once that they should be getting ready to set out for the day’s work. Seconds later came a massive explosion. The earth shook, the houses vibrated. No one could have missed the impact. By now everyone had woken up, asking the nearest person what was happening. There was no precise answer, only gesticulations that indicated nothing. In twos and threes, the panicked residents stepped out of their houses to ascertain what had happened. What they saw next would only confuse them and terrify them the more: water gushing from the top of the rocks and cascading down. Trees were uprooted and flung away, some over 100 meters. Food and cash crops were not spared. There was no need for further probing; the race for survival had begun. Some fled into the bush: some just kept running, to nowhere in particular. Some were practically unclad. Mothers reached for their children, all screaming and running at the same time. The explosion had blasted off the top of the rock, leaving a huge opening through which the water gushed out. The base of the rock was littered with gravel. Olobeide village has 12 mud houses and about 200 inhabitants who are chiefly farmers. It is nearly three kilometers from Ikeji- Ile. The town is surrounded by rocks which seem to be competing for space with one another. A resident, Pa Oladiti Isaiah Ajayi, said of the explosion:”It was in the early morning around 3.00 am on September 23 when we heard a deafening explosion that sounded:’graagra gbagbagba gborogodo gba, ya, ya, ya, yooo.’ It was terrible, it woke us all up! “And then we heard the sound of flood rushing down on us. We started running helter-skelter. In the morning we all went to look round but lo and behold there was a wide range of a big gulf with uprooted trees flung away.”

Torres' Late Strike Sends Chelsea to Second Spot. Fernando Torres took advantage of a disastrous last-minute defensive mix-up to give Chelsea a dramatic 2-1 victory over Manchester City at Stamford Bridge yesterday evening. The match had been heading towards a draw after Sergio Aguero cancelled out Andre Schurrle’s opener but the 90th-minute strike by the Spain striker, who had earlier hit the crossbar, means the Blues move up to second place on the English Premiership table. Gary Cahill and Torres had spurned golden opportunities in the first half before the latter laid on Andre Schurrle to score his first Chelsea goal and give Jose Mourinho’s men a deserved half-time lead. Sergio Aguero’s thunderous strike – his sixth goal in four outings and 10th of the season – left Petr Cech grasping at thin air three minutes after the restart and the equaliser prompted a sustained spell of City pressure. Manuel Pellegrini's team appeared the most likely winners heading into the closing stages, but as they pressed, Chelsea substitute Willian launched a hopeful ball forward that caused a horrific moment for City defender Matija Nastasic and goalkeeper Joe Hart. Nastasic headed back towards his own goal, only to see the on-rushing Hart miss the ball to leave Torres with a simple finish for the winner. Ashley Cole returned to displace Cesar Azpilicueta in Jose Mourinho's only change to the Chelsea XI that beat Schalke 3-0 in the Champions League in midweek. Vincent Kompany’s continued injury absence with a thigh complaint meant that City boss Manuel Pellegrini handed Martin Demichelis a debut at centre-back and pushed Javi Garcia forward into a holding role to match Chelsea's three-man central midfield.

Manchester United's Robin van Persie in tunnel row with Ryan Shawcross. Bad blood between Manchester United's Robin van Persie and Ryan Shawcross led to a tunnel incident at half-time of Saturday's match at Old Traffordwhich brought the Stoke defender a yellow card. "Yes, he pushed him I think," the Stoke manager, Mark Hughes, said of his player's behaviour. "I've no idea, because I didn't see the incident but the referee wanted to book Ryan. I've never known anyone get booked in the dressing room before." Battle continued after the game. Van Persie reportedly muttered something in Shawcross's direction in the tunnel when his opponent was being interviewed, prompting a shouted response. Van Persie scored United's first goal in their dramatic 3-2 win.

Villas-Boas hits out at negative Spurs fans. Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has told fans to get behind his team and stop creating a negative atmosphere at White Hart Lane. Spurs made hard work of a 1-0 win over Hull City in the Premier League on Sunday with Roberto Soldado's 80th-minute penalty all that separated the sides. Spaniard Soldado's third goal from the spot and sixth of the season moved Spurs into fourth in the table, but that didn't stop Villas-Boas from criticising home fans. "We played in a very difficult atmosphere, very tense, very negative and we looked like the away team but we kept our cool," said Villas-Boas. "We had to dig deep within ourselves because we weren't getting help from anybody, the stadium reflected this atmosphere, very tense and without a lot of support until the first goal. "I'm particularly happy with the way the players fought hard against that anxiety and kept their cool to take the three points. "I'm extremely happy with the crowd normally, fans for me represent the essence of football. The away support has been immense," Villas-Boas stressed. "Sometimes at home it is difficult and it looks like it drags the ball in to our goal rather than our opponents goal." Villas-Boas stressed: "I don't intend with this message to send them a warning, neither do I intend to hurt their feelings but this is something that is felt within the group. "You need that help. We are great believers in emotion and motivation and that is always decisive when you play at home." Hull manager Steve Bruce was even more frustrated, but it seemed the former Manchester United skipper only had referee Michael Oliver to blame for denying his side what would have been a deserved point. Replays showed Jan Vertonghen's cross came off the foot of Ahmed Elmohamady before striking the midfielder in the arm, yet Oliver still awarded the decisive penalty which Soldado duly converted. "It is an absolute joke decision," said Bruce. "It hits his leg for a start and then goes up and hits his arm, how do you give a penalty in that situation? "We have more directives and meetings and all this nonsense, they (referees) are all getting assessed up in the stands but then they give decisions like that which just baffles me and I have to ask the question, would we have got it (the penalty)? "He (Oliver) is going to go and see it and know it is a soft one and in my opinion it is not right, not for the stakes we are playing for. "It is the same old thing. He's ballsed it up," added the Hull boss. There was a worrying moment late in the game when Tottenham and England winger Andros Townsend plunged over an advertising hoarding and into the photographers' pit. The 22-year-old returned with strapping on his wrist but Villas-Boas said he did not expect Townsend to have suffered a severe injury.

Hull left fuming after disputed Roberto Soldado penalty seals Spurs win The ball did hit Ahmed Elmohamady's hand. At least, the referee Michael Oliver could cling to that. And yet it was impossible to escape the feeling that the Hull City midfielder and his team had been wronged. A ripple of surprise went around White Hart Lane when Oliver pointed to the penalty spot and Roberto Soldado's conversion represented the roughest justice for the visitors. Having fought for so long, they departed with nothing. Tottenham had laboured yet everything changed in the closing stages when Jan Vertonghen whipped over his cross from the left. The ball hit Elmohamady's leg and reared up to strike his hand. It was travelling at pace. He was no more than five yards away and he had also seemed to turn his back. In other words, there was surely no intention. Steve Bruce, the Hull manager, fumed. Soldado showed no sympathy. Just as he had done at the beginning of the season against Crystal Palace and Swansea City, he scored the minimum of fuss to give his team the 1-0 win. Tottenham were not awarded a single penalty last season. Their luck has turned. "One-nil to the referee," the Hull fans sang. Bruce's team had arrived with injury problems and the resolution to mass 10 men behind the ball to make life difficult for Tottenham. He demanded blood, sweat and tears and he got his wish. Yet there was more to the visitors than committed defending and intensity, at least in the first-half. They had a willing runner in Yannick Sagbo at the tip of their formation and, behind him off the left, George Boyd was direct and dangerous. Sagbo demonstrated his pace and power when he outstripped Sandro to force Hugo Lloris into a sprawling save and it was not the only time that Hull quickened the pulses before the interval. They shouted loudly for a penalty when Kyle Walker bundled into Paul McShane while shots were blocked and Tom Huddlestone caught a 32nd minute drive sweetly but the ball flew high. A rare Huddlestone goal would not only have marked a sweet return to his former club, it would have allowed him finally to get a haircut. He has a bet for charity to avoid the clippers until he scores. Tottenham had chances in the first half but they laboured for rhythm, which is not entirely unusual at White Hart Lane, where they can take time to come to the boil. Passes went astray and André Villas-Boas simmered. The crowd chuntered. Paulinho guided a volley over the crossbar from Lewis Holtby's free-kick; Andros Townsend, who looked lively, drew a save from Steve Harper from 20 yards; Soldado almost got a touch to Paulinho's cross and Walker's blast stung the goalkeeper's palms. Tottenham have had to show patience at this stadium and Villas-Boas did his usual rejigging in the search for the breakthrough. Having started Aaron Lennon on the left, he switched him with Townsend at the beginning of the second-half while Mousa Dembélé replaced the more defensively-minded Sandro. Erik Lamela's thoughts would have been interesting. Townsend and Lennon currently stand ahead of him in the pecking order. The £30m club record signing, an unused substitute here, has yet to start a Premier League game. Villas-Boas sent on Christian Eriksen for the below-par Holtby and he went to two strikers with the introduction of Jermain Defoe. Hull broke less frequently in the second-half but their focus, which was epitomised by David Meyler in midfield, was unrelenting. Some of their players went down and stayed down, which irked the Tottenham support. When Walker attempted to take a quick throw-in as Curtis Davies lay prone, Bruce confronted the Tottenham defender on the touchline. The fourth official stepped in. Tottenham looked to have run out of ideas. Before the penalty, they had threatened in the second-half only when Townsend released Soldado and his shot was pushed away by Harper. But one blast from Oliver's whistle changed everything. There was drama afterwards when Townsend fell head-first over the advertising hoardings to require lengthy treatment and Huddlestone fizzed a free-kick narrowly wide at the very last. But there could be no escaping the talking point.