London, Dec. 31: England and Liverpool soccer star Steven Gerrard has reportedly received texts of support from top players, including David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, days after being charged with assault and affray.

The Sun reports that the four players, all senior figures in the England team, told Gerrard to "keep your chin up" after hearing he must appear before a magistrate''s court next month in connection with a bar brawl.

London - Aston Villa ended 2008 in fourth place in the English Premier League after they snatched a 1-0 win at Hull City on Tuesday night.

An own goal from Kamil Zayatte in the waning minutes gave a below-par Villa all three points, putting them above Arsenal into fourth place and even in points with third-placed Manchester United.

Hull had conceded nine goals in their previous two games and received an on-pitch dressing-down from their manager, Phil Brown, at half-time against Manchester City, a match they lost 5-1.

London - Champions Manchester United closed the gap on leaders Liverpool at the top of the English Premier League after they beat Middlesbrough 1-0 on Monday night.

Dimitar Berbatov broke the deadlock after 67 minutes to seal victory and lift third-placed United to within seven points of the top, with two games still in hand over the leaders.

United have now won three of their past four league games by the same 1-0 scoreline. United play second-placed Chelsea in their next league match.

Cristiano Ronaldo missed a couple of good chances to open the scoring in the first half while Nemanja Vidic headed wide and Wayne Rooney forced a good save out of Ross Turnbull.

London, Dec 29 : Brit footballer David Pratt has landed himself the world's fastest-ever red card.

London, Dec 29: England midfielder David Beckham, who is on a loan switch to AC Milan, is so fit that he can play at the top level until 2015.

The Italian giants are eager to make the deal permanent, and club medic Jean-Pierre Meerseeman believes that Beckham, who turned 34 in May, can play on until 2015.

That is the amazing verdict of the doctor who gave the England star his medical approval at AC Milan, The Sun reported.

London  - Liverpool hammered Newcastle 5-1 on Sunday to retain their lead at the top of the Premier League.

The decision of their manager Rafa Benitez - back in the stands after treatment for kidney stones - to leave out forward Robbie Keane despite his two goals against Bolton on Friday caused surprise, but Liverpool produced their most convincing performance of the season.

In that they were aided by a miserable performance from Newcastle, who suffered a first home defeat under Joe Kinnear.

Only the brilliance of Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given kept the score down, but Steven Gerrard, twice, Sami Hyypia, Ryan Babel and Xabi Alonso all - eventually - managed to beat him.