Rooney's picturesque strike voted the best ever Premier League goal

HAMMERS TAKE FIRST LEG ADVANTAGE

Sam Allardyce’s West Ham have taken the initiative in their Playoff First Leg. A brace from Jack Collison gave the Hammers the vital away win over a Cardiff side who will look back on the game with regrets. City striker Kenny Miller was in an unusually wasteful mood, as he passed us a string of decent opportunities. There can be few complaints from anybody about the result, however, as the Hammers were thoroughly professional throughout. A similar display at Upton Park will mean Cardiff have to work a lot harder if they’re going to reach the final.

ROONEY’S GOAL DECLARED BEST IN PREMIERSHIP HISTORY

Wayne Rooney’s acrobatic volley against rivals Man City last season has been judged the best in 20 years of Premiership football. The award, which was voted for by football fans from across the globe, is of course ridiculous; Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp and Matt Le Tissier have all scored better goals. Still, it’s a nice trophy that might just put Wazza in scoring mood for the Euros…

STEVE KEAN TALKS DOWN BREAK-IN RUMOURS

A rumour that a disgruntled Blackburn fan broke in to their training ground to confront him has been dismissed by Steve Kean as untrue. The alleged intruder had to be stopped by a bodyguard. Kean dismissed the event as laughable, and said “The atmosphere has been nothing but good here,” over the boos coming from outside the stadium.

LIVERPOOL ANNOUNCE A £49.9MILLION ANNUAL LOSS

(Insert Andy Carroll, Charlie Adam, Jordan Henderson, Luis Enrique or Jay Spearing joke here).

Or read more here: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/03052012/58/premier-league-liverpool-announce-50m-loss.html

ON THE CONTINENT

After the final whistle in last night’s game between Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, Cristiano Ronaldo was caught on camera swearing at Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez. Rumour has it that the bust-up stemmed from Martinez’s objections to Real’s title-winning celebrations.

Dani Alves has said he wants to spend his entire career at Barcelona, despite interest from PSG and Anzhi Makhachkala.

IN OTHER NEWS

Swansea have allegedly had a bid for Gylfi Sigurdsson turned down. The Icelandic international is on loan from Hoffenheim, who turned down the bid, which was allegedly around £10m.

Young Player Of The Year Kyle Walker has signed a new deal at Spurs which will keep him at White Hart Lane until 2017.

Celtic Boss Neil Lennon has been given a six game touchline ban for running on to the field to confront the referee of his team’s loss at Hearts in April.