Villa overturned by Arsenal’s perfect storm

Arsenal 3 Aston Villa 2

van Persie 54 pen, 61 pen, Walcott 56; Dunne 33, Bent 45+1

Arsenal walked off the pitch to opprobrium at half-time and adulation at full-time after a stirring second half comeback put them through to the last 16 of the FA Cup. As abject as they were in going 2-0 down in the first 45 minutes, they showed tremendous spirit in scoring three times in the space of seven minutes to reverse their fortunes against a shell-shocked Aston Villa.

The week in numbers: w/e 25/9/11

Makau erased Gebreselassie's time from the record books

2:03:38 – Kenya’s Patrick Makau set a new world record time of 2:03:38 at the Berlin Marathon, taking 21 seconds off the previous record held by Haile Gebreselassie.

1 – Sebastian Vettel requires just one point from the last five Formula 1 races of the season to clinch his back-to-back world titles after he dominated the Singapore Grand Prix to record his ninth win of the season.

0 – Number of times a car other than a Red Bull has been on pole position during the 14 races of this F1 season. Vettel has 11 poles, Mark Webber three.

2 – Owen Hargreaves made only his second competitive start in three years, and scored as Manchester City knocked holders Birmingham out of the Carling Cup 2-1.

3 – Arsenal Ladies completed the domestic treble with a 4-1 League Cup final win over Birmingham. It was their 37th trophy in 24 years.

Cavendish sprinted to victory to take the rainbow jersey (image courtesy of Graham Watson)

2 – Mark Cavendish won the men’s road race at the UCI Road World Championships to become only the second British rider ever to win the event. Tom Simpson was the other, in 1965 – he went on to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year that year.

3 – Three of the four senior (elite) races at the Road World Championships were won by riders from the HTC-Highroad team (Cavendish, Tony Martin, Judith Arndt). In addition, all three riders on the men’s road race podium rode for the team in 2010: Cavendish and Matt Goss remain with HTC, while bronze medalist André Greipel moved to Omega Pharma-Lotto this year. The team is disbanding at the end of the season.

7 – The West Indies lost seven wickets for just 21 runs as they collapsed to 125 all out in their first Twenty20 match against England at the Oval. England romped to victory by ten wickets.

4 – Run outs in England‘s innings in the second Twenty20 match as they slumped to 88 all out – their lowest ever score in this form of the game – and allowed the West Indies to level the series 1-1.

4 – The European ladies’ golf team defeated the USA 15-13 to regain the Solheim Cup after three consecutive defeats. It was only the fourth time Europe have won the competition, which the USA leads 8-4.

80 – Age of Donald’ Ginger’ McCain, trainer of three-time Grand National winner Red Rum, who died last week.

The Premier League in numbers

100 – Robin van Persie scored his 99th and 100th goals for Arsenal in the 3-0 win over Bolton.

Walcott links up particularly well with van Persie (image courtesy of arsenal.com)

7 – Theo Walcott provided the assist for van Persie’s second goal. All seven of Walcott’s assists in 2011 have been for goals scored by van Persie.

43 – West Bromwich Albion‘s 0-0 draw with Fulham snapped a streak of 43 games since their previous goalless draw in a Premier League game.

63 – Chelsea‘s 4-1 win over Swansea extended their unbeaten streak against newly promoted sides to 63 games, dating back to 2001. They have won 56 of those 63 games.

27 – Manchester United opened the scoring in their 1-1 draw at Stoke with a 27th-minute goal by Nani. This was the third time in a row against Stoke that they have opened the scoring in the same minute.

6 – In scoring Stoke’s equaliser, Peter Crouch became only the sixth player to score for six different clubs in the Premier League. (The other five are Andy Cole, Les Ferdinand, Marcus Bent, Nicky Barmby and Craig Bellamy.)

9 – Queens Park Rangers‘ last-minute equaliser in the 1-1 draw against Aston Villa came courtesy of Richard Dunne‘s ninth Premier League own goal. He has two more than any other player.

The Rugby World Cup in numbers

9 – South Africa‘s 87-0 win over Namibia marked the ninth-biggest winning margin in a World Cup game and the third-highest score to nil.

14 – Namibia have now lost all 14 of their Rugby World Cup matches. No other side has lost as many without winning a single game.

Ashton's was one of two England hat-tricks against Romania (image courtesy of rugbyworldcup.com)

5 – Mark Cueto and Chris Ashton both scored hat-tricks in England’s 67-3 win over Romania – the fifth time more than one player has scored a hat-trick in the same World Cup match.

14 – Australia scored 11 tries in their 67-5 win over the USA, the 14th time they have crossed for ten or more tries in a match.

25 – New Zealand‘s 37-17 victory against France extended their unbeaten run at Auckland’s Eden Park to 25 matches. The last team to beat them there was France, in 1994.

2 – Argentina‘s 13-12 victory over Scotland was only the second game at this World Cup with fewer than ten points in the first half. The other was Argentina vs England.

The NFL in numbers

11 – 11 of Sunday’s 15 games were decided by seven points or fewer.

3 – Baltimore rookie Torrey Smith took his first three career receptions for touchdowns of 74, 41 and 18 yards, all in the first quarter of the Ravens’ 37-7 rout of the St Louis Rams. He finished with five catches for 152 yards.

18 – The Buffalo Bills became the first team in NFL history to win consecutive games in which they trailed by at least 18 points in each game, as they overcame a 21-0 deficit to beat the New England Patriots 34-31 on a field goal as time expired.

15 – Buffalo‘s victory ended a 15-game losing streak to the Patriots, dating back to 2003.

Brees has now thrown a TD pass in each of his last 30 games (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

4 – New Orelans’ Drew Brees became only the fourth player in NFL history to throw a touchdown pass in 30 consecutive games, joining Johnny Unitas (47), Brett Favre (36) and Dan Marino (30). The Saints outlasted the Houston Texans 40-33 in an offensive shootout.

20 – The Detroit Lions were outscored 20-0 in the first half by the Minnesota Vikings, but rallied to win 26-23 when Jason Hanson hit a 32-yard field goal in overtime.

1 – Detroit wide receiver Calvin Johnson became the first player ever to have at least two TD catches in each of his team’s first three games of the season. He had seven receptions for 108 yards, scoring from 32 and five yards.

553 – The Ravens accumulated 553 yards on offense, 406 of which came in the first half. Both marks were new franchise records.

3 – In a wild finish, the lead changed hands three times in the last 5½ minutes of the game as Pittsburgh beat Indianapolis 23-20.

(Some statistics courtesy of Opta Sports, The Times, StatManJon, Infostrada, nfl.com and rugbyworldcup.com.)

The week in numbers: w/e 24/10/10

3 – Beth Tweddle won her third gold medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, triumphing in the uneven bars. She is the only British gymnast ever to claim gold at the Worlds.

LaShawn Merritt - 21-month ban (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

21 – Length of ban (in months) given to LaShawn Merritt, the world and Olympic 400 metres champion, after three positive tests for testosterone prohormones. Merritt co-operated with the US Anti-Doping Agency, who subsequently shortened his suspension by three months. Conveniently, Merritt will now be eligible to compete in the 2012 Olympics.

14 – Goals scored by Arsenal in their three Champions League group matches to date, the most ever at this stage. They had already beaten Braga 6-0 and Partizan Belgrade 3-1 before defeating Shakhtar Donetsk 5-1 on Tuesday.

6 – Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh became the first player to score in six consecutive Champions League matches (three for Bordeaux, three for Arsenal).

8 – Number of summit finishes (out of 21 stages) the peloton will have to tackle during the 2011 Giro d’Italia, the route for which was revealed on Saturday. Ouch.

Samuel Eto'o - six Champions League goals (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

6 – Inter Milan‘s Samuel Eto’o has scored with all six shots on target in the Champions League this season.

1,200,000 – In dollars, the size of the fine the Kazakh cyclist Alexandre Vinokourov has avoided after his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport was upheld. Vinokourov had signed a contract which stated he would forfeit a year’s salary if caught doping. He was thrown out of the 2007 Tour de France for blood doping and subsequently served a two-year ban.

16 – Goals scored by Real Madrid in their last three league games after their 6-1 win over Racing Santander. Cristiano Ronaldo scored four times in Saturday evening’s rout.

10 – PSV Eindhoven inflicted a record 10-0 defeat on former European and UEFA Cup winners Feyenoord. Brazilian Jonathan Reis scored a hat-trick.

70 – Former footballer Edison “Edson” Arantes do Nascimento celebrated his 70th birthday on Saturday. We know him better as Pelé.

Fernando Alonso now leads the F1 drivers' championship (image courtesy of Wikipedia)

5 – Ferrari‘s Fernando Alonso claimed his fifth grand prix win of the season – it was his third in the last four races – at the inaugural event in South Korea yesterday.

25 – With two races remaining of the Formula 1 season, just 25 points separate new championship leader Alonso from fourth-placed Sebastian Vettel. There are 25 points available for a race win.

26 – Age of American male swimmer Fran Crippen, a World Championship bronze medallist, who died on Saturday after losing consciousness in a 10km race held in the United Arab Emirates. The water temperature was officially 30 degrees, although many of the swimmers reported it was hotter. Three other competitors were hospitalised as race organisers did nothing to heed warnings and concerns from several swimmers.

The Premier League week in numbers

1 – West Ham only managed one shot on target in their 2-1 defeat at home to Newcastle, the third time this has happened to them this season.

Johan Elmander - away specialist

5 – Johan Elmander‘s goal for Bolton in their 1-1 draw at Wigan was his fifth in the league this season. All five have come away from home.

8 – After defeating Wolves 2-0, Chelsea have now kept eight consecutive Premier League clean sheets at home.

12 – For Wolves, it was the 12th straight game in which they have failed to keep a clean sheet. They are the only Premier League team yet to register a clean sheet this season.

51 – Birmingham‘s 2-0 win over Blackpool snapped a sequence of 51 games in which they had failed to win by more than a single goal.

Richard Dunne - generous

8 – A Richard Dunne own goal was enough to give Sunderland victory over Aston Villa. Dunne has now scored eight own goals in the Premier League, more than any other player.

16 – Arsenal’s 3-0 at Manchester City was their first clean sheet in 16 games (in all competitions) away from the Emirates Stadium.

4 – Arsenal’s league opponents to date have had four players sent off, and conceded four penalties – more than any other team in both categories.

The NFL week in numbers

328 – Rushing yards accumulated by the Oakland Raiders in their 59-14 rout of the Denver Broncos. It was the third-best rushing day in franchise history, and the most since they set their record of 356 rushing yards against Seattle in 1987.

12 – Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan has won his last 12 starts at home, and is 16-1 in his career at home as a starter (Atlanta 39 Cincinnati 32).

184 – Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward had his 184th consecutive game with a reception, passing Art Monk for the fourth-longest streak all-time (Pittsburgh 23 Miami 22).

1 – The Carolina Panthers‘ 23-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers means there is only one winless team remaining in the NFL – the Buffalo Bills, who lost in overtime, 37-34, to the Baltimore Ravens.

2 – Cleveland Browns linebacker David Bowens returned two interceptions for touchdowns, becoming only the third linebacker since 1950 to achieve this feat (Cleveland 30 New Orleans 17).

68 – Cleveland punter Reggie Hodges’ 68-yard run on a fake punt was the longest run by a punter since the 1970 NFL/AFL merger.

(Some statistics courtesy of Opta Sports, @castrolfootball and NFL.com.)

Related Articles

• IOC confirms banned LaShawn Merritt will miss 2012 Olympic Games (guardian.co.uk)
• Johan Elmander’s revival sharpens Bolton’s cutting edge against Wigan (guardian.co.uk)
• Elmander delighted to keep his away hot streak going (independent.co.uk)