ASTON VILLA 0-4 CHELSEA - LAURIE WHITWELL AT VILLA PARK: Chelsea stormed to an emphatic victory thanks to a debut strike for Alexandre Pato and a smart double from Pedro to send Aston Villa further into relegation trouble. Blues youngster Ruben Loftus-Cheek opened the scoring from close range before Pato marked his first Chelsea appearance with a penalty late into first-half stoppage time. The home crowd turned on the Villa players as jeers rung round the ground as matters got worse with Pedro scoring a quickfire brace to secure an emphatic victory. Alan Hutton was sent off for a second booking in the closing stages as Aston Villa were left reflecting on another torrid afternoon.

It was the moment that Chelsea fans had waited 64 days to witness but when Alexandre Pato finally made his Premier League debut it was the fairytale start he would have dreamed of. Loic Remy limped off after 23 minutes with injury and Pato was ushered from his seat in the dugout by manager Guus Hiddink.  He looked startled and about as surprised as everyone in the away end at Villa Park who must have wondered at some point over the last few weeks whether his loan signing from Corinthians actually ever happened.

Adrien Broner challenged Floyd Mayweather to a return to the ring on Friday night after defeating Ashley Theophane in a ninth-round technical knockout. The 26-year-old's victory left the WBA super lightweight title vacant after he weighed in 0.4 lbs over the 140 lb limit on Thursday and was stripped of his belt.   Theophane could have won the title with a victory, but the 35-year-old veteran never looked a serious threat to his opponent before referee Luis Pabon stopped the fight 1:10 into the round.

Hot-head Besart Berisha (inset) will miss the opening games of Melbourne Victory's play-off campaign after being stupidly sent off against Wellington Phoenix while being treated by club doctors. The star striker was flat on his back receiving attention for a head injury when he lashed out at defender Andrew Durante, with referee Ben Williams immediately showing the red card (main picture).

Liverpool players Lucas Leiva and Simon Mignolet were the victims of an hilarious April Fools' Day prank by team-mate Jon Flanagan and his friend Scouse barber and actor John May. The pair believed they were being collected by a cab to be taken to the club as part of a promotional stunt for Vauxhall - unaware they were being filmed for the joke by LFC TV. While Flanagan struggled to stifle his laughter in the back seat, the driver takes the players, who are concerned about missing a team meeting, on a convoluted route to Anfield amid a succession of strange questions and even impromptu singing performances.

DOMINIC KING AND CRAIG HOPE: It remains the stand-out game of the Barclays Premier League era. On Wednesday April 3, 1996, Kevin Keegan took title-chasing Newcastle United - a team dubbed 'The Entertainers' - to Anfield, where a similarly exciting Liverpool side, under the charge of Roy Evans, were waiting. With the season reaching its defining point, both teams knew nothing other than victory would do and their pursuit of three vital points was breathless. The football Liverpool and Newcastle played in front of a 40,702 crowd was spectacular and it ended in dramatic fashion, with Stan Collymore - the most expensive footballer in British history at the time at £8.5m - settling the thriller.

PETE JENSON: It was not too long ago that a combined XI of Real Madrid and Barcelona players would be split down the middle, with at least five from each club. It is a measure of how Luis Enrique has taken Barca to another level that Sportsmail's composite team for Saturday's Clasico struggles to make room for any Real players. Here is our final XI, with just three of Zinedine Zidane's stars making the cut.

RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: Max Gradel is shaking his head, unsure whether to laugh or feel angry. He settles for both as he recalls suggestions made in the Ivory Coast a few months back that his career-threatening knee injury was caused by witchcraft and family rifts. 'It is nonsense,' he says. At first there is a smile but then the irritation kicks in.

Sportsmail revealed on Wednesday that the midfielder would be fit for the European Championship after recovering from a broken leg, news confirmed by Wenger on Friday. Wilshere had a metal plate inserted into his leg in September and has now returned to full training. He has been pencilled in to play in an Under 21 match against Newcastle on Friday.

QPR endured a disappointing night as they lost 3-2 at home to Middlesbrough, but it was particularly forgettable for winger Junior Hoilett who managed to fall into a camera pit during the game. The Canada international, who came on as a second-half substitute at Loftus Road, was stretching to hook the ball back from the by-line and ended up sliding off the pitch into a deep camera pit.

Nico Rosberg completed a practice double in Bahrain on Friday as he bids to stamp his authority on the new Formula One season. Rosberg, winner of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix a fortnight ago, finished the day-and-night sessions at the Sakhir Circuit comfortably ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton. The Silver Arrows appear to hold an ominous advantage over the rest of the field with McLaren's Jenson Button - the next-best placed driver - 1.2 seconds slower than Rosberg's best lap of one minute and 31.001 seconds. Indeed Rosberg's fastest time was comfortably faster than Hamilton's pole lap here last year.

LAURIE WHITWELL: The scene is this: Leicester City are top of the league in April and on course for an historic title win. They have thrilled and surprised England with quick, direct football. Their striker is plundering goals, their playmaker pulling off tricks, their goalkeeper keeping clean sheets. The year, though, is not 2016. It is 1963, the last occasion Leicester were genuine contenders to finish as champions. They are ahead having taken the initiative over the coldest winter in more than 200 years, playing through the Big Freeze when postponements became rife.