Terrible night for Manchester United and City as both clubs crashed out of the Champions League tonight.

The bigger shock was Man United losing 2-1 to Basel on a night that saw United captain Nemanja Vidic carried off with a bad knee injury.

United only needed a draw to progress but went behind after only nine minutes when Marco Streller fired home after Xherdan Shaqiri's cross was kicked out by David De Gea.

As a player, you have respect for Barcelona but you never have fear. You have to plan for a good game against them and to try to cause them problems. So no, we do not have any fear of Manchester City, especially because we're playing at home in this match but we do have the ultimate respect for them because they're the league leaders.

Premier League round-up: Man City are Christmas chart toppers

Aguero and Johnson fire Mancni's men to win, five star Man United smash Fulham and Albrighton nets 20,000th goal

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Manchester City continue their winning run after last weekend's victory over Arsenal by gaining another important victory, this time against Stoke City at Etihad Stadium.

The result brought the Eastlands closer in getting the half season champion as they would need one more victory to seal that temporary morale boosting achievement.

Pictures: Football's best mullets including Coates, Fabregas, Aguero, Torres and more

Click on the arrows to see some of the worst haircuts of all time

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Top 10 South Americans in the Premier League Suarez, Aguero, Santos, Anderson and more

Click on the arrows to see our pick of the best South Americans in the Premier League

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Tevez who? For the obscenely paid lineup of Man City, it really doesn't matter, as they chalk up yet another win, this time over hapless Norwich. Aguero, Nasri, Toure, Balotelli and Johnson all tally one, with a token goal by Norwich's Morison to prevent the shutout. They are looking tough ahead of the Carling Cup matchup against cross town United.

By Alan Duffy

Manchester City 5-1 Norwich City Premier League 3rd December 2011

The league-leaders kept their 100% home record this season with a goalfest at the Etihad Stadium against Norwich. However, it took City over half-an-hour to break the deadlock, courtesy of a superb piece of skill by Sergio Aguero.

Terrible night for Manchester United and City as both clubs crashed out of the Champions League tonight.

The bigger shock was Man United losing 2-1 to Basel on a night that saw United captain Nemanja Vidic carried off with a bad knee injury.

United only needed a draw to progress but went behind after only nine minutes when Marco Streller fired home after Xherdan Shaqiri's cross was kicked out by David De Gea.

Berbatron's Note: Long-time Blues fan Ratna Prashanth tells us what to expect from the big money battle between the two Blues of the premier league.

Stamford bridge is going to be the venue for a great showdown tomorrow. Its Chelsea vs Man City, otherwise titled the battle of the 2 BLUE spenders.

There is no question that tonight is now our biggest game of the season so far. 10 points behind City and we need the three points ahead of the busy Christmas period. If we were to lose tonight then 13 points is a massive ask.
Chelsea come into this one on the back of two big performances.

By Alan Duffy

Chelsea Manchester City Premier League 12th December 2011

Billed by a number of footballing 'wits' as El Cashico and the Oil Firm Derby, this clash of the billionaires' playthings was always going to be a dramatic affair.

Chelsea have pretty much assured football fans that they have finally picked up their form again, after hitting a slight drop in several matches ago, by successfully ending Manchester City's unbeaten record at Stamford Bridge.

Substitute veteran, Franck Lampard, acted as the protagonist for the Blues after scoring the winning goal, which arrived from the penalty spot in the second half, providing all imprtant three points that would obviously get Andre Villas-Boas team's back in the title challenge.

Andre Villas-Boas hailed his side's patience in coming from behind to defeat previously unbeaten Premier League leaders Manchester City 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.

A terribly shaky defensive start from the Blues allowed City's controversial striker Mario Balotelli to round Petr Cech and open the scoring for the visitors right after the first minute of play.

Not too bad a game at the Bridge today. Good fare I say.

Bench? Please.

Yeah, that was fucking awesome. Anyone else in need of a new set of vocal chords after that final 30 or so minutes? I sound like Emma Stone right now, and that's not sweet. Not at all.

Mario strikes again If you thought Mario Balotelli's form was warmer than fellow striker Sergio Aguero during Manchester City's loss to Chelsea last night, now you know why. The cheeky Italian pinched his team-mates gloves before kick-off while the Argentine star made some final adjustments to his boots.

Manchester City We are often told that our greatest tests are in response to adversity. Is now the time for Mancini to show his true worth? In truth, City should probably have won at Stamford Bridge on Monday. David Silva was brought down for a penalty, and Sergio Aguero had a chance which on other [.

Man City 1 (Silva 53) Arsenal 0
(Premiership)

Rarely do you feel so positive after a defeat. Improved form, a greater sense of team spirit and unity, and perhaps a slight readjustment of fan expectation has mended a lot of the bridges between the club and the supporters since our last trip to Manchester, and despite tasting defeat in the league again there yesterday, none of that will have been sullied thanks to a terrific performance that deserved more than it got.

Please forgive the lateness of the match report at I was out all day and didn't finish watching the game until 1 a.m. Mountain Time.
It was a cold and brisk evening in the United Arab Emirates Manchester where Arsenal would line up with JG's expected squad as mentioned in his preview.

So it is Manchester City who proudly sits at the top of the Premier League table going into Christmas this year.

Of course, manager Roberto Mancini is refusing to get carried away by all that, but it is true that it is his side who now hold the advantage going into the tough second part of the season.

Manchester United vs Wigan 5-0 Highlights Video Goals Berbatov hat trick 2011 Valencia Park is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Manchester United vs Wigan 5-0 Highlights Video Goals Berbatov hat trick 2011 Valencia Park is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Manchester United vs Wigan 2011 ( Man Utd vs Wigan 2011 video below) Final score and result:- Manchester United vs Wigan 5-0 ( Berbatov*3, Park Ji Sung, Valencia) 26 December, [.

Merry tidings and whatnot. I trust you're all in good spirits? If not then I suggest you vamoose down to your local retailer and get your hands on some as quickly as is humanly possible. If anything it'll make reading this hogwash a darn sight easier.

To Carrow Road we head, then. A late evening kick-off with Norwich and the cold turkey leftovers of a hectic Christmas schedule in the old Premier League.

By Alan Duffy

'Tis been a fine season so far, with a new and rather rich kid on the block in the opulent form of Manchester City shaking things up at the top, a whole host of freakish results (see United's 8-2 win over Arsenal, City's 6-1 win over United etc), a Tottenham finally looking ready to make a serious title challenge and some impressive performances from the promoted sides.