Arsenal forward Robin van Persie struck twice to earn his side bragging rights in north London and put a question mark over whether rivals Tottenham can sustain a top-four challenge in the Premier League. Spurs have not won a league game against Arsenal since 1999, and they fell away after Van Persie opened the scoring at the Emirates Stadium and Cesc Fabregas added the second after winning possession straight from the kick-off.
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Hull City’s transfers over the last two years are to become the subject of an internal investigation at the KC Stadium

From Daily Mail:

Adam Pearson returns as chairman of the troubled club on Monday and his first objective will be to analyse all the deals that were authorised by Paul Duffen , whose term as chairman and chief executive ended on Wednesday amid serious concerns
over Hull’s financial crisis.

Pearson stepped down as chairman at Derby County on Wednesday night to go back to a club he rescued from administration in 2001 before then selling it for £12million in June 2007 to a consortium led by Duffen and financed by property tycoon Russell Bartlett.

When Pearson left Hull, who by then were in the Championship, there was around £1m in the bank and a relatively modest wage bill of £3.5m. Little more than two years later and Hull are saddled with debts of £27m and an astonishing wage bill of £40m — ranking them among the highest payers in the Barclays Premier League and leaving them facing financial meltdown if the season ends in relegation. (more…)

Middlesbrough striker Marlon King arrives at Westminster Magistrates Court in central London, on February 25, 2009. The 28-year-old is on loan to Middlesbrough from fellow Premier League club Wigan.

Wigan striker Marlon King has been jailed for 18 months after being found guilty of groping a young woman in a nightclub and then breaking her nose when she spurned his “disgusting” advances, with the Premier League club confirming they will now sack the player.

King, who was celebrating both his wife’s pregnancy and scoring a winning goal hours earlier, was repeatedly “cold-shouldered” by women revellers in London’s packed Soho Revue Bar last December. (more…)

It’s been an incredibly turbulent couple of months for Portsmouth and things won’t be getting easier anytime soon after The Premier League imposed transfer embargo sanctions because of money owed to other clubs.

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The Health Protection Agency has come out publicly urging Premiership footballers to stop spitting during matches in an attempt to “halt” the spread of H1N1 Swine Flu virus.

I get it, I really do.  But it’s pretty obvious that not a single member of the HPA has ever played the game at a high level, because it they have,  they’d know that it is virtually impossible to play without having phlegm build up in your mouth in warm or cold weather.
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Clint Dempsey capped a storming Fulham recovery from 2-0 down as Mark Hughes’ shell-shocked Manchester City were forced to settle for their third straight Premier League draw. Hughes’ men were cruising home when Martin Petrov fired home their second on the hour, seven minutes after Joleon Lescott had knocked home the opener. (more…)

Bolton survived a comeback from Everton before winning 3-2 to seal their first home win of the season in the Premier League. Gary Megson’s side triumphed at the Reebok Stadium as substitute Ivan Klasnic scored his first goal for the club with the decisive strike in the 87th minute.
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