Manuel Almunia save keeps Arsenal at top

Juande Ramos has joined the list of the not so magnificent seven Spurs managers who have failed to lower Arsenal's colours during the reign of Arsene Wenger.

But his first attempt brought a lot more frowns from Wenger than usual on these occasions and Ramos will be quietly confident of turning over their old rivals when they return for next month's Carling Cup semi-final, especially as Arsenal will not field anything like as strong a team as they did here.

Under Ramos, Spurs have started to flow and while everyone goes on about Arsenal's youngsters, they have found a little Irish gem themselves in Jamie O'Hara, 19, who has already played for England Under-18s but is now having his grandfathers checked out by the Football Association of Ireland. The FAI are not known as Find Another Irishman for nothing.

O'Hara made his debut as a substitute at Portsmouth last week and played as though he had been in the side for years. After another sub's role against Manchester City in midweek, he was given his first start here, a sign of how much faith Ramos has in him, and he promptly upstaged senior midfield men like Steed Malbranque and Kevin-Prince Boateng. Mind you, a lad who has spent most of this season on loan at Millwall was never going to be frightened of a north London derby.

The bad news for Spurs when the Carling Cup comes around is that they are certain to face young Dane Nicklas Bendtner, who trotted off the substitutes' bench as Arsenal prepared to take a corner and promptly headed in the ball delivered by Cesc Fabregas for the winner. As Ramos said: "To concede a goal from a corner when you have got all your outfield players in the penalty area is unusual. Those sort of mistakes should not happen."

Bendtner now has four goals after making just six starts, which is not too shabby, and this, his first in the Premier League, made him an instant hero in the eyes of Arsenal fans.

Yet three minutes earlier Arsenal had been on the verge of their first defeat to Spurs in 20 games and only their second loss at the Emirates. After Kolo Toure brought down Dimitar Berbatov referee Rob Styles pointed to the spot, and with Robbie Keane normally lethal from 12 yards it looked as though, at the very least, Arsenal would need to make one of their late recoveries. Yet goalkeeper Manuel Almunia guessed right and made a fine stop, all his defenders rushing to congratulate him at the end.

Arsenal were a long way from their imperious best, even Fabregas struggling to get his passes to his intended colleagues. And without Robin van Persie, who has picked up another minor injury, Arsenal continually relied on long balls to lone striker Emmanuel Adebayor. Even more galling for the Emirates faithful was that, for a spell near the end of the first half, it was Spurs playing the pretty football.

Just when Arsenal seemed to be running out of ideas, however, a delightful piece of football at the start of the second half gave them the lead. Fabregas exchanged a one-two with Tomas Rosicky before playing in Adebayor with a back-heel, the finish across Paul Robinson showing how much he learned from Thierry Henry. He must love these rivals, having scored six in five games against them.

Tottenham's Aaron Lennon and Arsenal's Gael Clichy were involved in a fascinating match within the match, Lennon winning round one with a cross that a watchful Bacary Sagna just managed to head out at the far post. But Clichy won most of the following rounds until Lennon stepped inside to deliver a left-foot cross in the 70th minute, Keane shooting against the crossbar when he really should have scored.

Wes Brown ready to leave Old Trafford …

Manchester United defender Wes Brown has indicated that he is prepared to leave the club next summer, with Newcastle United his most likely destination.

Brown has stalled on a new contract offer from the club and has indicated to friends that it is now unlikely that he will sign, instead waiting out the remainder of his contract and becoming a free agent at the end of the season.

The current deal on the table from United is thought to be in the region of £40,000 a week, considerably less than most of the first team players, but that figure will not be improved upon.

Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce has long coveted the versitile defender and sees Brown as a partial answer to Newcastle's current defensive frailties.

With Alan Smith and Nicky Butt already at the club, Allardyce is confident Brown can be convinced it is the right move for him.

Brown has been with United for 11 years though his career has been punctuated by a number of serious injuries and a battle when fit to dislodge established names, in particular club captain Gary Neville.

Brown is currently enjoying a prolonged spell in the first team curtosey of a long-term injury to Neville. However, the news that Sir Alex Ferguson is looking for a right-back, possibly as soon as the next transfer window, has dismayed Brown.

Ferguson is believed to have already made inquiries about Bayern Munich's German international Philip Lahm and Willy Sagnol.

The current deal on the table from United is thought to be in the region of £40,000 a week, considerably less than most of the first team players, but that figure will not be improved upon.

Karthikeyan wins the Zhuhai A1 GP …

With Narain Karthikeyan sizzling on the Zhuhai International Circuit, Team India zipped to its first A1 GP victory by winning the Feature Race on Sunday.

Having lost his status as Williambrs' test driver after the Formula One team jettisoned him earlier this week, Karthikeyan took the circuit by storm and raced to the chequered flag, quelling late charge from New Zealand and South Africa.

The Indian clocked 1:08'30.759 to finish 0.502 seconds ahead of Kiwi Jonny Reid.

India thus became the 14th nation to record a win in A1GP.

Starting third in the grid, Karthikeyan stepped on the gas on lap 16 when Portugal slipped back, allowing India to trail Switzerland. And by lap 22, the gap between the Swiss and Indian car had been whittled down to 4.6 seconds.

In lap 26, Neel Jani of Team Switzerland developed a problem with the right rear tyre and had to bring the car into the pits, which allowed Karthikeyan to grab the lead.

There was hardly any moment to relax, however, with Pakistan toppling India from the lead before Karthikeyan showing again who was the boss.

Kiwi Jonny Reid then closed down on the Indian with less than half a second separating them but Karthikeyan used all his experience of racing in the top flight and survived the late assault to drive his team to glory.

Capello is a winner says Ruud Gullit …

Ruud Gullit insists Fabio Capello is a winner but warned fans he does not play "for the beauty of the game".

Capello is reported to be flying into London on Wednesday for talks with the Football Association with a view to succeeding Steve McClaren as national team boss.

Dutchman Gullit, who played under Capello at AC Milan in the 1990s, is confident the 61-year-old Italian will be a success as England boss but does not expect it to be easy on the eye.

"He doesn't play for the beauty of the game but to win," the Dutchman said.

"You don't see him laughing much - he's moody. But he knows what he wants. You have to go his way or you will get in trouble. He screams at you.

"You need to be well drilled to play for him - very disciplined - and you certainly don't fool around with him, that's for sure."

Gullit insists the initial focus for Capello would be making sure England are watertight defensively.

"Italians are all about looking good, defending your reputation. When you've got that you become very hard to beat. If you become that clinical, you don't even have to play well to win - that's how come they have won so many championships."

AC Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf, who played under Capello at Real Madrid when they won the Spanish league title in 1997, concurs with Gullit that the Italian is a no-nonsense boss.

"He's a tough guy, very straight. He's very dedicated. Of course it has been quite a while since I worked with him in Madrid, but I think he has much more experience now than 10 years ago," Seedorf said.

"He was then already one of the best coaches I've ever had."

World Cup winner Dino Zoff has also warned England's stars they will need to perform.

The goalkeeping great told The Sun: "If any England player fails to show enough guts with Capello as manager he will just find another player straightaway.

"Capello will carry on getting the very best out of players as he has always done with all types.

"Capello has shown enough flair to win wherever he has been and he inspires quicker than any other manager. He would be a great acquisition for England."

Former Italy coach Arrigo Sacchi feels his fellow countryman can turn England into world beaters.

He said: "I think Capello is really ideal for this job. If England are capable of winning something I truly believe Capello is the man who will bring it out of them.

"If there are primma donnas to deal with, there is no one better in the world at dealing with them."

Ray Wilkins, who worked with Capello at Milan, believes there is a human touch beneath the steely exterior.

"He's an aggressive person; he always told it as he saw it," Wilkins told the Daily Mail.

"In training he got what he wanted. He wanted you to work, that's what you're there for anyway, but he has a great sense of humour."

Kangaroos stun Kiwis in the Twenty20 …

An Andrew Symonds special and some blistering pace from Brett Lee and Shaun Tait have helped Australia win its KFC Twenty20 clash against New Zealand by 54 runs at the WACA.

Michael Clarke won the toss and elected to bat in his opening match as Australian captain despite losing Brad Hodge before the match, and it was an explosive 85 not out from Symonds that set up the total of 6-186.

The Black Caps had no answer to the speed of Lee and Tait on a quick and bouncy WACA pitch, both picking up a wicket with their opening balls and two for the innings.

Mitchell Johnson also picked up two, while Ashley Noffke took 3-18 on debut.

New Zealand started at 1-0, advanced to 5-31, then 6-49 and finished all out for 132, with only Jacob Oram again showing any fight, left unbeaten on 66.

Lou Vincent might have made a century on his Test debut at the WACA, but there was to be none of those heroics when he fended Brett Lee's first ball straight up into the air to give the Black Caps a disastrous start.

Brendon McCullum (13) also skied a ball off Lee to Gilchrist, before Tait's first ball was gloved by Jamie How to Gilchrist, who palmed it down at first before turning and diving to catch it. How was out for four after struggling for 18 balls.

Tait's third ball was far too quick for Ross Taylor (0), who edged it onto his thigh pad and then onto his stumps.

Mitchell Johnson then got into the act, picking up Matthew Sinclair (0) and Scott Styris (18).

Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills, Mark Gillespie and Jeetan Patel offered little resistance as Oram simply run out of partners.

He ended up 66 not out off 31 balls in an innings that included five fours and six sixes. Five of those sixes came in Andrew Symonds' two overs.

Hodge went down with a back injury an hour before play and was replaced in the side by Western Australia's Luke Pomersbach, despite him still being suspended by the Warriors.

Andrew Symonds hit his highest Twenty20 score to be 85 not out off 46 balls, with his innings including seven fours and three sixes. Australia scored 96 off the last eight overs to reach 186.

Gilchrist didn't get a start as he was out for one due to an acrobatic catch at point by Jeetan Patel off Gillespie, but Clarke (33), Michael Hussey (22), Adam Voges (26) and Pomersbach (15) all made solid contributions

Pomersbach was coming to the ground to watch the match with his girlfriend, but, as he was parking his car, was called by the Australian team manager and informed he was about to debut for Australia.

Pomersbach hit a quick fire 15 before Taylor took his third catch off the innings off the bowling of Gillespie, which brought Ashley Noffke in also on debut. He was run out without facing, and then Brett Lee didn't score off the final ball, leaving Symonds not out on 85.

Kumble retained captain for the Australian tour

The selectors on Wednesday retained Anil Kumble as India's Test captain for the tour of Australia and pencilled in the pace trio of Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma and VRV Singh for the third cricket Test against Pakistan starting on Saturday.

With a number of key players grappling with injuries, the selectors announced a list of 24 probables for the Australia tour, which would be pruned to a 16-member squad on December 12 after getting report on the players' fitness.

Among the pacers, Zaheer Khan has sustained a heel injury, S Sreesanth is nursing a shoulder injury and RP Singh is yet to recover from a side strain.

Former Test player Chetan Chauhan has been appointed as Administrative Manager for the Test Series in Australia.

MV Sridhar, vice-president of Hyderabad Cricket Association, has been appointed as Assistant Manager who will also look after media for the Test series.

Squad for Pakistan Test: Anil Kumble (captain), Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Vangipurappu Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Vikram Singh, Murali Kartik.

Probables for Australia: Anil Kumble (captain), Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Vangipurappu Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Vikram Singh, Murali Kartik, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel, Ranadeb Bose, Pankaj Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ajit Agarkar, Parthiv Patel, Akash Chopra.

Ferguson expects tough defence of Premier League crown

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson believes this year's Premier League title race is going to be 'a real battle'.

United's 2-0 victory over Fulham on Monday night saw Ferguson's side reclaim second place in the league.

The win places Ferguson's side three points behind leaders Arsenal, but the Gunners also have a game in hand over United.

And Ferguson insists he does not expect a repeat of the last campaign where his side left Arsenal and Liverpool, who both remain unbeaten in the league this season, trailing in their wake as they pipped Chelsea to the title.

"I said at the start of the season that after finishing so far behind last year Arsenal and Liverpool wouldn't want that again," said Ferguson.

"We expected improvement from them both. Arsenal are doing very well, Liverpool are winning a few games and Chelsea's form since they lost to us has been very good.

"I think you are going to get that now. It is going to be a real battle for the league."

Joe Cole steers Chelsea to victory over West Ham …

Joe Cole returned to haunt his former side West Ham as he fired Chelsea to victory at Stamford Bridge.

Cole, who left the Hammers for Chelsea in 2003, latched onto a Salomon Kalou header to skilfully round goalkeeper Robert Green on 75 minutes to score the only goal of the game.

In a scrappy first half it was West Ham who had the best opportunity when Nolberto Solano snuck in to lob Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, but the Peruvian's effort drifted just over.

The home crowd were evidently frustrated by their side's lacklustre showing and after the interval Chelsea came out in an attacking mood and West Ham were grateful for intelligent goalkeeping from Green to deny Didier Drogba.

Chelsea, though, then had the lead their second-half performance deserved when Cole, who was debatably offside, fired into the roof of the net and West Ham had no answer.

The first half was notable only for its free-kick count and referee Howard Webb booked four players, Matthew Etherington and Luis Boa Morte for the visitors and Chelsea duo John Obi Mikel and Salomon Kalou.

Fourth official Steve Tanner was also involved in an investigation when Drogba left the fray midway through the half to complain about an incident that had occurred near the West Ham fans in one corner of the pitch.

It seemed the Ivory Coast striker had been less than happy with a bright light being shined in his eyes from the stands, with a laser pen the most likely 'weapon'.

Free-kicks and flare-ups greatly out-numbered the moments of creative play before referee Webb brought an end to a bad-tempered first half.

Frank Lampard and Alex both fired early free-kicks into the wall and Kalou had been wasteful with a drive from outside the box.

Drogba had come close with a curling effort which just cleared Green's left-hand post and it was a while before the visitors responded.

Solano almost caught out the home side just after the half-hour mark with a clever lob which ended on the roof of the net with Cudicini back-tracking.

By then Etherington had been booked for tugging back Juliano Belletti and Mikel was then shown a yellow card for scything down West Ham's other ex-Chelsea man, Scott Parker. Indeed, the Nigerian was lucky it was not a red.

Kalou's foul on Boa Morte earned him a booking before John Terry's header from a Lampard corner forced Green into the half's only real save.

There was still time before the break for Boa Morte to be booked for a late tackle on Mikel.

There was a chance for Chelsea immediately after the restart but the recalled Steve Sidwell saw his shot deflected behind off Matthew Upson. The former Reading man tried again and met a Lampard corner with a thumping header but it was far too high.

Lampard and Joe Cole were also off target with subsequent efforts but at least the game had at last taken off as a spectacle.

Belletti's error then let in Boa Morte. In came the shot but Terry was able to take the sting off it to help Cudicini save.

At the other end Green had to palm away Joe Cole's cross and the goalkeeper was first to the loose ball as Drogba prepared to shoot.

West Ham were looking dangerous as well though and Parker sent a curled effort at Cudicini before Chelsea swapped Sidwell for Shaun Wright-Phillips in the 66th minute.

The Hammers made a change after Terry had fired across goal and narrowly wide, with Freddie Ljungberg replacing Solano for the last 15 minutes.

Joe Cole's winner was just seconds away however with Drogba and then Kalou winning headers and the England man rounding Green in style and firing high into the empty net.

The Hammers sent on striker Dean Ashton in search of an equaliser but Chelsea were not to be denied.