Van Persie soars, Suarez grovels

There is not going to be any last-minute misery for champions Manchester United this year, but it looks like there will be plenty for Liverpool's Luiz Suarez.

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Manchester United's Dutch striker Robin van Persie celebrates scoring his team's first goal against Aston Villa. AFP

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Van Persie soars, Suarez grovels

There is not going to be any last-minute misery for Manchester United this year.

Robin van Persie's first-half hat-trick against Aston Villa, with some brilliant assists from his teammates, got the job done a month early.

With 84 points, there is now no way arch-rivals Manchester City, beaten decisively at Tottenham on Sunday, can catch them.

Last evening's outcome was never in doubt from the moment, just one minute and 23 seconds into the game, when van Persie put United in front.

Rafael da Silva's delivery from the right appeared overhit, but Giggs rescued it by volleying a cushioned cross across goal for the Dutchman to tap in from barely a yard.

Just over ten minutes later, Wayne Rooney floated a 40-yard pass behind the Villa defence and van Persie met the ball first-time with a superb volley from outside the box that rocketed past goalkeeper Brad Guzan and into the net.

Then, in the 33rd minute, Shinji Kagawa freed Giggs, who unselfishly squared to van Persie, and the former Arsenal striker neatly side-stepped Guzan before lifting the ball into the roof of the net.

With United goalkeeper David de Gea in fine form, Aston Villa had no way back and the match ended 3-0, giving the Manchester club an unprecedented 20th English league title.

Meanwhile, Robin Van Persie’s closest rival for league top scorer, Liverpool's Luiz Suarez, has spent the past two days apologising to everyone in sight after a bizarre incident in Sunday's match when he inexplicably bit Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic on the arm.

"I apologise to my manager, playing colleagues and everyone at Liverpool Football Club for letting them down," Suarez was quoted as saying.

"I'm sad for what happened this afternoon," Suarez wrote on his Twitter account. "I apologise (to) Ivanovic and all football world for my inexcusable behaviour. I'm so sorry about it!!"

He then telephoned Ivanovic to apologise personally and yesterday he went to twitter for yet another apology.

“For my unacceptable behaviour yesterday the club has fined me today,” Suarez wrote on Twitter on Monday.

“I have asked the club to donate the money to the Hillsborough Family Support Group for the inconvenience I have created to the Liverpool fans and to Ivanovic.”

His remorse is unlikely to impress football authorities and a long ban is expected for the star striker. Some in the media have even labelled him "Cannibal" and he is rumoured to be on his way out at Liverpool.

striker – a football player whose job is to stay near the opponent’s goal and to score goals ศูนย์หน้าตัวเป้า
soar – to rise very quickly to a high level พุ่งพรวดขึ้น, มีความหวังสูง
grovel – to behave in a very humble way, especially towards somebody who is more important than you or who can give you something you want  ทำตัวอ่อนน้อมต่อ
misery – something that causes people to suffer or be unhappy ความทุกข์ยาก, ความยากแค้น, ความเดือดร้อน
hat trick – scoring 3 goals in a single match
brilliant – very skilful, impressive, or successful ยอดเยี่ยม
assist – to help in scoring a goal by passing or crossing a ball to the player who scores การช่วย
arch-rival – main opponent; most important competitor คู่แข่งคนสำคัญ
decisively – in a strong, conclusive way   อย่างแน่นอน, อย่างเด็ดขาด
outcome – a result ผล
delivery – a ball that is kicked or thrown to someone การส่ง
volley – kicking (or hitting) the ball before it touches the ground  ตีวอล์เลย์
cushion – to make the effect of a fall, hit or kick less severe ลดการกระแทก
cross – (in football) the action of kicking the ball from one side of the field to someone in the middle or on the other side เตะบอลขวางสนาม
tap – to hit somebody/something quickly and lightly แตะเบาๆ เคาะ
barely – only just; almost not เกือบจะไม่
float – to cause to move slowly in the air or on water  ลอย
defence – the players who must prevent the other team from scoring; the position of these players on the sports field  ผู้ป้องกัน
superb – of the highest quality ยอดเยีี่ยม
rocket – to (cause to) move very fast พุ่งไปอย่างรวดเร็ว
unselfish – giving more time or importance to other people's needs, wishes, etc. than to your own ซึ่งไม่เห็นแก่ตัว
sidestep – to avoid someone/something, in this case, a defender by moving to the side หลีกเลี่ยง
form – how well somebody/something is performing; the fact that somebody/something is performing well  ระดับความสามารถ, ฝีมือ, ความเก่ง
unprecedented – never having happened before ที่ไม่เคยเกิดขึ้นมาก่อน
title – the position of a winner in a sports competition  ตำแหน่งแชมป์
meanwhile – at the same time ในเวลาเดียวกัน
apologise – to say you are sorry for doing something wrong or for causing a problem ขอโทษ
bizarre – very strange and unusual แปลกประหลาด,วิตถาร,ผิดปกติ
incident – something that happens, usually something bad เหตุการณ์
inexplicable – that cannot be understood or explained ซึ่งอธิบายไม่ได้
colleague – someone who works in the same organisation or department as you do เพื่อนร่วมงาน
let someone down – to fail to help or support somebody as they had hoped or expected
quote – to repeat the words that someone else has said or written ยกคำพูดมา
inexcusable – too bad to accept or forgive ซึ่งยกโทษให้ไม่ได้
behaviour – the way that someone acts or behaves พฤติกรรม, การกระทำตัว
fine – an amount of money that you have to pay because you have broken the law ค่าปรับ
donate – to give something such as money or goods to an organisation, especially to a temple, charity, school, political party, etc. บริจาค
Hillsborough – the place where an incident occurred during the FA Cup semi-final match between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest football clubs on 15 April 1989 at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England. The crush resulted in the deaths of 96 people and injuries to 766 others
inconvenience – an annoying problem or situation, especially one that forces you to make an extra effort to do something ความไม่สะดวกสบาย  ความลำบาก
remorse – the feeling of being extremely sorry for something wrong or bad that you have done การสำนึกผิด, ความเสียใจ
impress – to cause someone to admire or respect you because of something that you have done or said ทำให้ประทับใจ
authorities – people who have the power to make decisions or enforce the law เจ้าหน้าที่ผู้มีอำนาจ
ban – officially not allowed to do something การห้ามอย่างเป็นทางการ
media – radio, television, newspaper, the Internet, considered as a group สื่อ
label – to use a word or phrase to describe someone or something, especially one that is not completely fair or true ติดชื่อ
cannibal – a person who eats human flesh ผู้ที่กินเนื้อคนสดๆ
rumoured – to be reported as a rumour (information that may or may not be true) ปล่อยข่าวลือ,เล่าลือ,ซุบซิบ