The Premier League title-race is alive and kicking after Chelsea closed the gap on leaders Manchester United to three points ahead of their meeting at Old Trafford on Sunday, the first of three remaining league games for both.

Chelsea put pressure on United by beating Tottenham 2-1 on Saturday in a game which will be remembered for Frank Lampard’s controversial equaliser just before half-time when Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes spilled the midfielder’s shot but TV replays showed he pulled it back just before the whole ball crossed the line.

On Sunday Arsenal kept their mathematical chance of the title alive as Aaron Ramsey’s second-half strike proved the difference against United, leaving the Gunners six points behind from the same number of matches.

Manchester City took advantage of Tottenham’s defeat to all but secure fourth spot and the chance to qualify for next season’s Champions League with a 2-1 win over bottom side West Ham. Liverpool went above Spurs into fifth thanks to a 3-0 victory against Newcastle.

Blackpool remain 17th, Wigan 18th and Wolves 19th after all three drew – with Stoke, Everton and Birmingham respectively. Blackburn eased clear of the relegation zone with a 1-0 victory over Bolton. Also West Brom beat Aston Villa 2-1 and Fulham saw off Sunderland 3-0.

Queens Park Rangers and Norwich have earned promotion to the Premier League although QPR’s success could be scuppered if they are docked points at this week’s Football Association hearing into the legality of their signing of Alejandro Faurlin in 2009.

Northampton will play Leinster in the Rugby Union’s European Cup final on May 21. The Saints beat Perpignan 23-7 and the Irish side saw off Toulouse 32-23 in the semi-finals. Harlequins face Stade Francais in the Challenge Cup final following a 20-12 defeat of Munster.

Leeds are likeliest to finish bottom of the Premiership after Newcastle went a point ahead their nearest rivals despite a 14-11 defeat to Bath, who could scrape into the play-offs in Saturday’s final round of regular season games.

In Rugby League’s Super League Warrington went top on points difference after a 58-14 demolition of Bradford and Huddesfield’s 13-12 loss to Catalan Dragons. St Helens are third following a 24-24 draw with Hull and Wigan, who have the same points as the three above them, fourth with a 48-16 thrashing of Crusaders. Leeds moved above Castleford into fifth on points difference with a 48-6 victory over the Tigers and Salford beat Harlequins 34-16.

Cricket’s 40-over domestic competition group stage continued with a several teams playing twice over the bank holiday weekend. Of those Derbyshire, Essex, Somerset, Surrey and defending champions Warwickshire won both their games.

John Higgins came from 12-9 down to beat 21-year-old Judd Trump 18-15 and win his fourth snooker World Championship crown at the Crucible.

Lee Westwood remained the world’s number one-ranked golfer with victory in the Ballantine’s Championship in South Korea by one shot from Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Finally, former heavyweight boxer Sir Henry Cooper died aged 76.

Manchester United remain on course for the Premier League title thanks to a 1-0 win at home to Everton. Javier Hernandez headed the winner in the 83rd minute.

With four games to go Chelsea are United’s nearest challengers – six points behind – after they beat West Ham, who went bottom, 3-0 and Arsenal lost 2-1 at Bolton. Fernando Torres, who cost Chelsea £50million in January, finally scored his first goal for the club to break a 903-minute drought.

Manchester City strengthened their grip on fourth spot with a 1-0 at Blackburn thanks to Edin Dzeko’s first Premier League goal. Fifth-placed Tottenham were held 1-1 by West Brom but Liverpool can still finish fourth following a 5-0 demolition of Birmingham in which Maxi Rodriguez scored a hat-trick.

Wolves are second from bottom, two points from safety, following a 1-1 draw with Fulham. Wigan are third bottom after a 4-2 defeat to Sunderland. Blackpool, who drew 1-1 with Newcastle, are level on points with Wigan but out of the relegation zone on goal difference. Aston Villa and Stoke remain in mid-table courtesy of a 1-1 draw.

Leicester and Saracens secured home Rugby Union Premiership play-off semi-finals with wins over Newcastle and Gloucester respectively. Leicester saw off the relegation-threatened Falcons 24-13 and Sarries won 35-12.

Despite their defeat, Gloucester remain on course for the semis along with Northampton, who beat London Irish 26-16. Bath have an outside chance of reaching the play-offs after a 43-10 thrashing of Wasps.

Leeds remain bottom after a 38-3 thumping by Harlequins but are level on points with Newcastle, who have a game in hand. Exeter beat Sale 30-24.

St Helens are top of Rugby League’s Super League after Jamie Foster’s touchline kick secured a 22-20 victory over Castleford. Warrington, who lost 24-10 to Hull FC, are second. Wigan are close behind thanks to a 26-0 win over Wakefield.

Elsewhere, Hull KR beat Harlequins 37-24, Leeds eased past Crusaders 34-16 and Catalan Dragons drew 8-8 with Bradford.

Cricket’s 40-over domestic competition began with defending champions Warwickshire narrowly losing their first group game to Hampshire and the Netherlands shocking Yorkshire and Derbyshire in consecutive days. There were also wins for Durham, Gloucestershire, Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Middlesex and Leicestershire.

Lee Westwood regained golf’s world number one spot by winning the Indonesian Masters. Fellow Englishman Luke Donald nearly took over from Westwood but missed out on the Heritage tournament in a sudden-death play-off.

Manchester City will play Stoke in the FA Cup final after they beat Manchester United and Bolton respectively at Wembley this weekend. It will be City’s first FA Cup final in 30 years and Stoke’s first ever.

City saw off rivals United 1-0 on Saturday thanks to Yaya Toure’s 52nd-minute winner and Stoke thrashed Bolton 5-0 on Sunday with goals from Matthew Etherington, Robert Huth and Kenwyne Jones in the first 30 minutes and two second-half strikes by Jon Walters.

In the Premier League Arsenal missed the chance to close the gap on United to four points as Liverpool held them to a 1-1 draw at the Emirates. Following a second-half injury to Jamie Carragher, Robin van Persie put Arsenal ahead with a 98th-minute penalty but Dirk Kuyt equalised from the spot in the 102nd. Chelsea are only two points behind Arsenal after they won 3-1 at West Brom.

Blackpool replaced Wigan in the bottom three due to a 3-1 home defeat. West Ham are a point behind Blackpool following a 2-1 loss at home to Aston Villa. Blackburn are only two points above the drop zone after a 2-0 defeat at Everton and both Birmingham and Sunderland five clear thanks to the Blues’ 2-0 win.

Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix, the Englishman’s first victory of the season. Hamilton overtook world champion and championship leader Sebastien Vettel, who took the first two races of the year, with four laps to go. Mark Webber denied Jenson Button third place by overtaking him on the penultimate lap.

Leicester remain top of Rugby Union’s Premiership despite being held 41-41 at home to Gloucester, who equalised with a last-minute interception try from Eliota Fuimaono-Sapulo. Saracens are just two points behind the Tigers in second and nine clear of third-placed Gloucester with their seventh straight Premiership win – 33-12 at Exeter. Northampton occupy the last play-off spot courtesy of a 22-15 win at Newcastle, who climbed off bottom thanks to a losing bonus point. They were replaced by Leeds, who were thrashed 51-18 at Wasps. Elsewhere, London Irish and Bath strengthened their grasp on European Cup qualification with wins at Sale and at home to Harlequins respectively.

Huddersfield moved top of Rugby League’s Super League with a 38-6 win at Leeds while Castleford, who led last week, drew 26-26 at Harlequins. St Helens are second thanks to a 52-6 thrashing of Wakefield. Warrington are fourth courtesy of a 64-6 demolition of Crusaders and Wigan, who won 28-16 at Hull KR, are fifth. Catalan Dragons are next after a 28-10 win at home to Hull FC and Salford thumped Bradford 56-16.

In Cricket’s County Championship Warwickshire stunned Division One title favourites Somerset by an innings and 382 runs, defending champions Nottinghamshire beat Hampshire by nine wickets and Durham saw off Yorkshire by 146 runs. In Division Two Derbyshire and Northamptonshire enjoyed innings wins over Leicestershire and Kent respectively while Glamorgan beat Gloucestershire and Middlesex defeated Kent.

Finally, Emmanuel Mutai and Mary Keitany secured a Kenyan double in the London Marathon men’s and women’s races.

South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel profited from Rory McIlroy’s nightmare last round to win the 75th Masters.

Twenty-one-year-old McIlroy, from Northern Ireland, led by four shots going into the final round at Augusta but carded 80 to finish four under par.

Schwartzel, by contrast, saved his best until last in firing 66 – including birdies at the last four holes – to end on 14 under. His nearest challengers were Australian duo Jason Day and Adam Scott two shots back.

Manchester United remained on course for the Premier League title with a 2-0 victory at home to Fulham, although nearest challengers Arsenal and Chelsea also won. The Gunners were 3-1 victors at Blackpool and the Blues saw off bottom side Wigan 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.

Wigan’s defeat was cushioned by the other sides in the bottom three losing. West Ham were beaten 3-0 at Bolton and Wolves lost by the same score at home to Everton.

Elsewhere, Tottenham kept their top four hopes alive with a 3-2 win at home to Stoke, Aston Villa eased their relegation fears by beating Newcastle 1-0 at Villa Park and West Brom did likewise with a 3-2 victory at Sunderland. Blackburn and Birmingham drew 1-1 at Ewood Park.

Northampton are the only English side left in Rugby Union’s European Cup after Leicester were knocked out in this weekend’s quarter-finals. The Tigers lost 17-10 to Leinster in Dublin but the Saints, who will play Perpignan in the semi-finals, beat Ulster 23-13 at Milton Keynes. Leinster face Toulouse in the other semi.

Leeds enhanced their Premiership survival hopes with a dramatic 30-29 win at Newcastle, who replace them at the bottom of the table although the Falcons have a game in hand. Leeds’ victory was secured by fly-half Adrian Jarvis’ last-minute drop-goal. Sale look safe after a 36-31 win at home to Gloucester. Elsewhere, Bath beat Exeter 26-18.

Castleford went top of Rugby League’s Super League with 52-20 win at home to Salford. They lead on points difference from Huddersfield, who beat Warrington 29-10. Third-placed St Helens won 34-18 at Crusaders.

Elsewhere, Catalan Dragons shocked champions Wigan 47-28 and there were wins for Hull FC over Bradford, Hull KR over Leeds and Wakefield over Harlequins.

The County Championship Cricket season began with Division One Yorkshire the first team to secure a win – by nine wickets at newly-promoted Worcestershire.

Defending champion Sebastian Vettel extended his Formula One championship lead to 24 points with victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Jenson Button was second and Nick Heidfeld third.

Finally, 14-1 shot Ballabriggs – trained by Donald McCain and ridden by Jason Maguire – won the Grand National at Aintree.

Manchester United opened up a seven-point lead in the Premier League thanks to a stunning comeback at West Ham and Arsenal’s goalless draw at home to Blackburn.

United were 2-0 down at half-time through Mark Noble’s penalties but stormed back after the break thanks to Wayne Rooney’s hat-trick and Javier Hernandez adding a fourth.

Rooney’s display was marred by him swearing into a TV camera – the game was broadcast live – after his third goal but he later apologised via a statement.

Manchester City moved above Chelsea into third courtesy of a 5-0 demolition of Sunderland and the Blues being held 1-1 at Stoke.

Tottenham lost ground on the top four as bottom side Wigan kept them to a goalless draw. West Ham slipped back into the bottom three due to Birmingham’s 2-1 win at home to Bolton. Wolves, who lost 4-1 at Newcastle, are now 19th.

Blackpool are immediately above the drop zone following a 3-0 defeat at Fulham, a place below troubled Aston Villa who were held to a 2-2 draw at Everton. Elsewhere West Brom boss Roy Hodgson enjoyed a 2-1 victory over former side Liverpool.

India won the Cricket World Cup in Mumbai with an exciting six-wicket win over fellow co-hosts Sri Lanka.

Mahela Jayawardene’s unbeaten century set India 275 to win but they soon lost openers Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar to Lasith Malinga.

Gautam Gambhir began a recovery with 97 and Mahendra Singh Dhoni played a captain’s innings, hitting the winning six with 10 balls to spare to finish 91 not out and spark wild celebrations.

The English cricket season begins on Friday with a round of County Championship matches.

Leicester stayed top of Rugby Union’s Premiership with a 17-13 win at Harlequins and Saracens remained second after seeing off Bath 20-9. Gloucester are still third thanks to a 34-9 defeat of Newcastle and Northampton fourth with a 53-24 thumping of Sale. London Irish are fifth with a 25-12 victory over Wasps. Bottom side Leeds gained a crucial 27-22 win over Exeter.

In Rugby League’s Super League Catalan Dragons pulled off a shock by winning 22-20 at leaders Warrington. Huddersfield and Castleford are now level with the Giants thanks to wins over Wakefield and Hull FC respectively. St Helens are fourth after victory over Hull KR and defending champions Wigan fifth following a draw at sixth-placed Leeds. Elsewhere Bradford beat Harlequins and Crusaders saw off Salford.

England beat Wales 2-0 in Cardiff to go top of their European Championship qualifying group. A Frank Lampard penalty and Darren Bent’s goal inside 14 minutes was a double blow that Wales could not come back from and they are now pointless from four matches.

Republic of Ireland moved joint top of their group with a 2-1 win over Macedonia in Dublin thanks to goals from Aiden McGeady and Robbie Keane. Northern Ireland lost 2-1 to Serbia in Belgrade in a match notable because only away fans were allowed in the stadium as punishment for Serbian crowd trouble during a game against Italy last year.

The qualifiers continue this week with Northern Ireland hosting Slovenia on Tuesday. England and the Republic have home friendlies on Wednesday, against Ghana and Uruguay respectively. In friendly action at the weekend Brazil saw off Scotland 2-0 at the Emirates thanks to Naymar’s double.

England are out of the Cricket World Cup after a humiliating 10-wicket defeat to co-hosts Sri Lanka in their quarter-final. England laboured in setting Sri Lanka 230 to win and openers Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upal Tharanga hit hundreds as they reached the target with more than 10 overs to spare.

Sri Lanka face New Zealand, who shocked South Africa in their quarter-final, in Tuesday’s semi-final. Wednesday’s semi sees a clash between bitter rivals India and Pakistan. The final is on Saturday.

Defending world champion Sebastian Vettel led from start to finish to win the opening Grand Prix of the season in Melbourne. Lewis Hamilton finished second and Vitaly Petrov was third.

Rugby union’s premiership returned with leaders Leicester stating their dominance thanks to a 37-6 win at Bath. Second-placed Saracens beat Newcastle 24-9 but Gloucester, in third, were thrashed 53-15 at Harlequins. Northampton are fourth after they thumped Wasps 39-3 and London Irish fifth following a 39-17 defeat of Exeter. Sale sneaked past Leeds 15-12.

Warrington remain top of rugby league’s Super League after defeating defending champions Wigan 24-6. Castleford are second following a 10-try 56-16 demolition of Crusaders and Huddersfield are third having seen off Hull KR 38-16. Fourth-placed St Helens beat Bradford 38-16. There were also wins for Salford over Catalan Dragons, Hull FC against Harlequins, and Leeds versus Wakefield.

Finally, Oxford upset the odds by beating fancied Cambridge in the 157th Boat Race.

England won their first Six Nations title since 2003 despite missing out on the Grand Slam with a 28-9 loss to Ireland in Dublin.

England’s defeat handed Wales a mathematical chance of winning the championship but they lost 24-8 to France in Paris.

Scotland avoided the wooden spoon at the expense of Italy, who they beat 21-8 at Murrayfield.

Fabio Capello has controversially reinstated John Terry as England captain a little over a year after he stripped the Chelsea defender of the role following alleged revelations about his private life.

The news is a blow to Rio Ferdinand, who reverts to his previous role as vice-captain, and has again brought Capello’s management style into question.

Terry is set to lead England when they resume their European Championship qualifying campaign away to Wales on Saturday.

Ferdinand, who is currently injured, missed Manchester United’s win at home to Bolton which, combined with Arsenal’s draw at West Brom, extended United’s Premier League lead to five points.

Dimitar Berbatov’s late goal at Old Trafford gave the hosts a 1-0 win after defender Jonny Evans was sent off in the second half. Arsenal came from 2-0 down thanks to second-half strikes from Andre Asharvin and Robin van Persie.

Terry was in action as Chelsea leap-frogged Manchester City into third place thanks to a 2-0 win with goals from David Luiz and Ramires.

West Ham climbed out of the bottom three with a goalless draw at Tottenham, who only have a four-point cushion in fifth after Liverpool won 2-0 away to Sunderland.

The Hammers are out of the drop zone only on goal difference following Wolves’ 1-0 victory at Aston Villa. Bottom side Wigan boosted their survival hopes with a 2-1 triumph at home to fellow strugglers Birmingham.

Elsewhere, Stoke beat Newcastle 4-0, Everton saw off Fulham 2-1 and Blackburn drew 2-2 with Blackpool.

England will play co-hosts Sri Lanka in the quarter-finals of the Cricket World Cup after edging into the knockout stage.

Andrew Strauss’ side beat West Indies in their last group game but needed Bangladesh to lose to South Africa to be sure of a place in the last eight. India defeating West Indies means England meet Sri Lanka in Colombo on Saturday.

In the other quarters Pakistan play West Indies on Wednesday, Australia take on India on Thursday and New Zealand meet South Africa on Friday.

Warrington went top of Rugby League’s Super League with an 82-6 thrashing of Harlequins, scoring 14 tries in the process. Wigan are second after a 20-6 win at Huddersfield.

There were also wins for Catalan Dragons over Crusaders, Wakefield over Hull FC, Salford over Hull KR, St Helens over Leeds and Bradford over Castleford.

Back to Rugby Union and Gloucester comfortably saw off Newcastle 34-7 to win the Anglo-Welsh Cup.

England are one win from their first Six Nations title and Grand Slam since 2003 after a hard-fought 22-16 victory over Scotland in the Calcutta Cup at Twickenham.

Tom Croft’s second-half try looked to have made the game safe but Max Evans’ late solo effort ensured a nervy finish.

Only Wales can pip England now after their 19-13 victory over Ireland in Cardiff and France’s shock 22-21 defeat to Italy in Rome.

All three games of the final round are on Saturday when Scotland host Italy, England take on Ireland in Dublin and France face Wales in Paris.

Manchester City and Manchester United will meet in the FA Cup semi-finals with the winner playing Bolton or Stoke in the final. The semis will be played at Wembley on the weekend of April 16 and 17.

City beat Reading 1-0 thanks to Micah Richards’ header 16 minutes from time and United saw off Arsenal 2-0 with goals from Fabio da Silva and Wayne Rooney. Bolton were 3-2 victors at Birmingham thanks to Lee Chung-Yong’s winner and Stoke beat West Ham 2-1 with Danny Higgingbotham’s free kick decisive.

England need to win their last World Cup group game against West Indies on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals after suffering a surprise two-wicket defeat to co-hosts Bangladesh.
South Africa, who England beat in their previous game, saw off India with a thrilling three-wicket win. In the other group Australia and New Zealand reached the quarters with comfortable wins over Kenya and Canada respectively.

Back to rugby union and Gloucester will play Newcastle in the final of the Anglo-Welsh Cup on Sunday. Charlie Sharples’ four tries gave Gloucester a 45-17 win over Newport Gwent Dragons and Tane Tu’ipulotu’s last-minute try snatched a 21-20 win for the Falcons at Harlequins. In the only Premiership match of the weekend Northampton won 23-13 at Leeds.

In Super League there were wins for Huddersfield, Castleford, Warrington and Harlequins – who all have eight points at the top of the table – plus Leeds, Hull KR and Wigan.

Dirk Kuyt’s hat-trick denied Manchester United the opportunity to go six points clear at the top of the Premier League.

Kuyt’s goals all came from close range in a 3-1 Liverpool win at Anfield a day after second-placed Arsenal, who still have a game in hand over United, were held to a goaless draw by Sunderland at the Emirates.

Manchester City kept up the pressure on the top two thanks to a 1-0 win over bottom side Wigan at the City of Manchester Stadium and Tottenham saw their Champions League qualification prospects suffer as they were held to a 3-3 draw at Wolves.

Birmingham, who won the Carling Cup last weekend, slipped into the bottom three with a 3-1 defeat at home to West Brom, combined with West Ham’s 3-0 demolition of Stoke.

Elsewhere Bolton and Fulham enjoyed 3-2 home victories against Aston Villa and Blackburn respectively and Everton won 2-1 at Newcastle.

England got their Cricket World Cup campaign back on track with a thrilling six-run win over South Africa in low-scoring contest Chennai.

Andrew Strauss’ side could only muster 171 all out but chipped away at the Proteas and Stuart Broad’s four wickets proved decisive.

England had surprisingly lost their previous Group B match to Ireland, who suffered a five-wicket defeat to co-hosts India in Bangalore on Sunday.

Saturday’s Group A encounter between Sri Lanka and Australia in Colombo – a repeat of the 2007 final – was washed out.

Castleford went top of Super League on points difference with a 27-14 win at home to Hull KR. Huddersfield, who won at Harlequins, and Warrington, who beat Leeds, also have six points – as do Quins.

Elsewhere, defending champions Wigan won at Salford, Bradford beat Wakefield, St Helens defeated Catalan Dragons and Hull FC saw off Crusaders.

Saracens moved two points behind Premiership leaders Leicester with a 15-14 win over the Tigers at Welford Road and Gloucester consolidated third by seeing off fourth-placed Bath 34-22 at Kingsholm.

Elsewhere Northampton lost to Exeter, Wasps beat Sale, Newcastle saw off Harlequins and Leeds won only their second game of the season – versus London Irish.

This weekend sees the penultimate round of Six Nations games with Italy facing France in Rome and Ireland meeting Wales in Cardiff on Saturday. England will seek to take another step towards the Grand Slam when they host Scotland on Sunday.

England and India tied a pulsating Cricket World Cup contest in Bangalore on Sunday in just one highlight of a remarkable sporting weekend.

Tournament-favourites India posted a mammoth 338 all out thanks largely to Sachin Tendulkar’s sublime 120, but a one-day international-best 158 from England captain Andrew Strauss put his side on course for a remarkable win.

However, England nearly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and needed 14 from the last over to share the spoils with the competition co-hosts.

On Saturday Sri Lanka, one of the three hosts nations, suffered an 11-run defeat to Pakistan, who had been stripped of the right to stage games due to security fears.

England remain on course for their first Grand Slam and Six Nations title since 2003 – the year they won the Rugby World Cup – after beating France 17-9 at Twickenham on Saturday.

Earlier that day Wales kept their Championship hopes alive with a 24-16 win over Italy in Rome. Ireland did the same on Sunday, seeing off Scotland 21-18 at Murrayfield.

In the Premiership, there were wins for the top four – Leicester, Saracens, Gloucester and Bath – plus London Irish and Newcastle.

In Rugby League’s Super League, leaders Harlequins, Warrington, Bradford, Huddersfield, Salford and Catalan Dragons were victorious.

Birmingham pulled of the shock of the weekend, beating Arsenal 2-1 in the League Cup Final.

On-loan striker Obafemi Martins pounced on a defensive error to score the winner with a minute of normal time remaining. Nikola Zigic’s header had given City an early lead, which Robin van Persie’s volley cancelled out before the break.

Manchester United extended their advantage over Arsenal at the top of the Premier League to six points with a 4-0 thrashing of Wigan and Manchester City consolidated third place by drawing 1-1 with Fulham.

Wolves climbed off the foot of the table and out of the bottom three with a 4-0 demolition of Blackpool and West Ham boosted their survival chances by defeating Liverpool 3-1.

In the other games Aston Villa eased past Blackburn 4-1, Everton saw off Sunderland 2-0 and Newcastle drew 1-1 with Bolton.

Finally, England’s Luke Donald beat world golf number one Martin Kaymer to win the WGC match play in Arizona. Donald won 3&2 to jump six places to number three in the world rankings.