MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester United slumped to a 2-1 loss at relegation-threatened Stoke in the Premier League on Saturday to puncture the optimism generated by Juan Matas arrival and leave the reigning champions with a huge task to finish in the Champions League positions. [url=http://www.dolphi

MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester United slumped to a 2-1 loss at relegation-threatened Stoke in the Premier League on Saturday to puncture the optimism generated by Juan Matas arrival and leave the reigning champions with a huge task to finish in the Champions League positions. Matt Moore Jersey . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. It was Stokes maiden win over United in the Premier League, and first since 1984. "I dont know what we have to do to win," said United manager David Moyes. Everton bounced back from its derby thrashing by Liverpool in midweek by coming from behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1 and climb to fifth above Tottenham, which drew 1-1 at Hull. Cardiff climbed off the bottom by scoring two goals in 73 seconds at the start of the second half to defeat Norwich 2-1. That left Fulham, which was overwhelmed 3-0 at home to Southampton, two points adrift in last place. West Ham completes the bottom three even though it beat Swansea 2-0 thanks to a brace by Kevin Nolan. That win was marred by a red card to striker Andy Carroll for elbowing an opponent. The other match saw Sunderland earn a second straight 3-0 win at Newcastle in the northeast derby, sparking anger and frustration by home fans disillusioned by the sale of star player Yohan Cabaye to Paris Saint-Germain this week. Such is the tightness of the bottom half of the table, Sunderland -- like Stoke -- is now nearer mid-table than the relegation zone. With Mata joining from Chelsea for a club-record fee last week and both Wayne Rooney and Van Persie back fit, things looked like turning around for United and its under-pressure manager David Moyes. Most thought the comfortable 2-0 win over Cardiff on Tuesday would be the first in a run of victories to lift the champions up to the top four, but they came unstuck at the hands of a gutsy Stoke side managed by a former United favourite, Mark Hughes. "I thought we were, to a man, fantastic," said Hughes, who played 467 games for United. "We got a great reward for a huge amount of effort." Stoke enjoyed some fortune with the first goal, with Adams long-range free kick in the 38th taking a wicked deflection off Michael Carrick and flying into the far corner past stranded goalkeeper David de Gea. Mata set up Van Persie to make it 1-1 in the 47th but Adam grabbed what proved to be the winner from 25 yards five minutes later. "It is a massive result against a great team," Adam said. Belgium forward Kevin Mirallas popped up with Evertons winning goal from a free kick in the 85th minute, after Steven Naismith had cancelled out Leandro Bacunas opener for Villa. Everton is provisionally a point behind neighbour Liverpool, which beat its Merseyside rival 4-0 on Tuesday. Tottenham moved four points clear of United after Paulinhos 61st-minute goal earned a draw against Hull, which took the lead through Shane Longs first goal for the club since his recent move from West Brom. T.J. McDonald Jersey .com) - Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight was carted off the field in the fourth quarter of 16th-ranked Sooners 48-14 loss to No. Dan Marino Jersey . His absence against the Celtics comes a day after he scored 43 points in the Heats 100-96 win at Cleveland. http://www.dolphinsteamauthenticshop.com/ .com) - Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, Detroit Red Wings forward Tomas Tatar and New York Islanders right wing Kyle Okposo were named the NHLs players of the week on Monday.ARLINGTON, Texas -- The AL West-leading Oakland As arrived in Texas hoping to win the series. They did a whole lot more than that. After their starting pitcher was scratched only an hour before the game, and their top slugger also was taken out of the lineup, the Athletics kept winning. Tommy Milone threw five solid innings and Oakland hit three home runs in a 5-1 win Sunday to complete a three-game sweep of the chasing and slumping Texas Rangers. "I dont know that we could have asked much more than that," manager Bob Melvin said. "Once you win two games, you want to get greedy and we had some things pop up before the game." Even without right-hander Jarrod Parker and Yoenis Cespedes, Oakland took a commanding 6 1/2-game division lead with two weeks left after the final regular-season series between the AL Wests top two teams. The As have won five in a row and 13 of 16 overall. "We came in and won the games," said Josh Donaldson, who hit one of the homers. "Great baseball all the way around for our team." Chris Young and Josh Reddick also homered for Oakland, which finished a 5-1 trip and opens its final homestand of the regular season Monday against the Los Angeles Angels. Texas lost its sixth in a row, all at home and never leading in any of them, and is 2-11 in September after beginning the month with a two-game lead. Coupled with a sweep by Pittsburgh, this was the Rangers first winless homestand of at least six games since moving to Texas in 1972. "Just as quickly as it started, it can turn around. Its got to," general manager Jon Daniels said. "Were in a pretty congested wild-card race right now." The Rangers and Tampa Bay are tied for the two AL wild-card spots in a rapidly tightening race. Cleveland, Baltimore, the Yankees and Kansas City are all within 3 1/2 games of Texas and the Rays. Texas starts a four-game series at Tropicana Field on Monday. "Im not frustrated with the way we played," manager Ron Washington, putting emphasis on how he felt about the Oakland series. "In the first game, we had chances. The second day, we had chances in a 1-0 ball game. ... It wasnt like they came in and dominated and we didnt have chances." Milone (11-9) struck out five and allowed only one run after Parker was scratched because of illness. &quoot;Hes pitched once in 14 days and has to go up against the lineup, in this ballpark, and gives us five innings and one run. Byron Maxwell Jersey. That was pretty spectacular," Melvin said. The left-hander, recalled Sept. 3 from Class A Stockton for his third stint with the As this season, made his first career relief appearance Wednesday night. Cespedes was batting fourth as the DH in the original As lineup, but didnt play because of right shoulder soreness. Melvin said the slugger would have an MRI on Monday. Coco Crisp and Chris Young had consecutive singles off rookie left-hander Martin Perez (9-5) to start the game. Crisp scored on a nifty double play, when second baseman Ian Kinsler went up the middle and without touching the ball with his hand scooped it with his glove to shortstop Elvis Andrus, who made a barehanded grab and relay throw. Donaldson extended his hitting streak to 11 games with his 23rd homer for a 2-0 lead. Young hit a two-out solo homer in the third, Reddick hit a two-run homer in the ninth. Perez allowed three runs and seven hits over 6 1-3 innings. A.J. Pierzynski had an RBI single in the first, but had an infield popout to end the seventh with two runners on base. That was the third time in four innings the Rangers stranded two runners, including Kinsler taking a called third strike to end the fourth. Milone was 0-4 with a 5.67 ERA his previous five career starts against the Rangers, losing twice earlier this season when allowing 17 hits and 12 runs over nine innings. But he didnt know he was pitching against them again until about an hour before taking the mound. "I think it kind of helped, I didnt really think about it too much," Milone said. "By time I officially heard, it was just get ready and go." NOTES: Melvin said there was a chance Parker could start Monday. Parker is 9-0 in his last 19 starts since a loss at Texas on May 22, the longest winning streak by an Oakland pitcher since Dan Haren won 10 in a row in 2008. The last Athletics pitcher with a longer unbeaten streak was Lefty Groves 21 starts in a row without a loss in 1931. ... The Rangers have gone six games without a home run, their longest drought since six in 1995. 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