Man City's title race nearly ends after late defeat to Arsenal

 　　LONDON, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Man City's title hope was nearly shattered on Sunday when Mikel Arteta's late goal propelled Arsenal¹ to 1-0 victory over them and indirectly² helped the Premier³ League leader Manchester United move eight points clear at the top with six games left.

　　Boosted by a fanatic⁴ 60,000-attendance crowd at the Emirates Stadium, the "Gunners" dominated the game when captain Robin⁵ Van Persie had two clear headers in each half only seeing one of them blocked by teammate Thomas Vermaelen and the other rejected by the post.

　　Arteta inked the 1-0 victory three minutes from time when the Spanish holding midfielder struck the ball near the area to the dead corner, beating the England No. 1 keeper Joe Hart and also the suppressed visitor.

　　The defeat left City eight points adrift of the rival United, who had seen off the relegation-threatened Queens Park Rangers⁶ with 2-0 home victory half an hour earlier than the London clash.

　　Man United opened the scoring with a controversial penalty after 15 minutes when QPR's Shaun Derry was sent off with a direct red card for fouling⁷ Ashley Young.

　　But the replays showed the host's winger was offside before he was illegally challenged by Derry. Wayne Rooney wasted no chance to fire home.

　　After the breakthrough, the red devils were clearly the better side. They dominated the game with 24 shots in total, bettering the visitor's nine times.

　　The veteran Paul Scholes made sure of the three points for the host of Old Trafford when he delivered a 25-yard strike to boost his side to their eighth straight league win.

　　After this round clashes, Man United stood firmly in the title race, approaching a record 20th top-flight trophy⁸ of England football leagues.

　　While Man City, who occupied the top in most part of this season, has lost initiative in their race for the first top-flight league title since 1968.

1 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。

2 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

3 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

4 fanatic   

n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的

参考例句：

• Alexander is a football fanatic.亚历山大是个足球迷。
• I am not a religious fanatic but I am a Christian.我不是宗教狂热分子，但我是基督徒。

5 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

6 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

7 fouling   

n.（水管、枪筒等中的）污垢v.使污秽( foul的现在分词 )；弄脏；击球出界；（通常用废物）弄脏

参考例句：

• He was sent off for fouling the other team's goalkeeper. 他因对对方守门员犯规而被罚出场。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A basketball player is allowed five personal fouls before fouling out. 篮球运动员侵人犯规五次即被罚下场。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 trophy   

n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品

参考例句：

• The cup is a cherished trophy of the company.那只奖杯是该公司很珍惜的奖品。
• He hung the lion's head as a trophy.他把那狮子头挂起来作为狩猎纪念品。