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Michael van Gerwen was forced to settle for a draw as Robert Thornton boosted his own survival hopes on night eight of the Premier League. The world No 1 could not close out a win over Thornton, who snatched the final leg to earn a point, which was enough to move the Scot out of the bottom two after his earlier win over Michael Smith at the Echo Arena in Liverpool.Phil Taylor remains just behind leader Van Gerwen after he was held to a draw by Peter Wright, while Gary Anderson sits in third following his win over Dave Chisnall, his sixth straight victory of the competition. Robert Thornton collected three points to move out of the bottom two Chisnall joined bottom-placed Smith in the two-man drop zone and they will fight against elimination, along with Thornton, in next weeks Judgement Night in Cardiff.Earlier in the night, Thornton held his nerve in a tense clash with fellow struggler Smith, hitting double 20 to secure his first win of the campaign.But few expected The Thorn to unsettle Van Gerwen, who confidently collected the first leg with a 14-darter.A fantastic 140 checkout from Thornton gained the attention of Mighty Mike and the pair continued to swap legs, with Van Gerwen taking out 130 to move 4-3 up. Michael van Gerwen took out 130 just moments after Robert Thornton had the opportunity himself Victory appeared in the Dutchmans grasp when he nailed a 96 checkout to move one away, but Thornton stood firm, hitting tops for a precious point.Taylor was thwarted in his bid for top spot as he exchanged classy checkouts with the dogged Wright.A sizzling 130 on the bull from Snakebite was followed by a fantastic 141 from Taylor, who appeared to have the edge when he broke for a 6-4 lead. Peter Wright and Phil Taylor shared the spoils in Liverpool but one man was more grateful for the point than the other Wright refused to lie down, responding with an ice-cool 111 checkout, and pinned double 18 for the draw. But Anderson would not be denied and the defending champion cruised to a 7-4 win over Chisnall.The in-form player in the competition fired out a 144 finish and calmly took out double 10 to extend his winning run. Gary Anderson made it six wins in a row in the Premier League after beating Dave Chisnall Adrian Lewis was another winner as he held on for an entertaining 7-5 victory over Raymond van Barneveld.Earlier results meant that Barney was no longer in danger of an early exit, but his top four hopes were dented as Lewis landed his arrow in double eight to take the decider. Night eight results:Michael Smith 5-7 Robert ThorntonGary Anderson 7-4 Dave ChisnallAdrian Lewis 7-5 Raymond van BarneveldPhil Taylor 6-6 Peter WrightMichael van Gerwen 6-6 Robert Thornton Also See: Mardle: Robert on the rise Fixtures/Results On Sky TV Prem Table . It was the first game back in Columbus for Rangers star Rick Nash, the Blue Jackets franchise leader in goals, assists and games. He was given a standing ovation during a video tribute in the first period, but was booed loud and long after a second-period, two-handed shove up high on Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. . With Van Osch out with a flu bug that has been rampaging through the tournament, Knezevic stepped in to lead B.C. (4-3) to a pair of victories on Tuesday before 1,131 at the Maurice Richard Arena. . And rest hardly led to rust for the two-time defending NBA champions. .J. -- Having Ondrej Pavelec earn his 100th NHL win and seeing Mark Scheifele and Evander Kane break goal droughts were nice highlights for the Winnipeg Jets.Brighton host Aston Villa live on Sky Sports 1 on Friday night looking to continue their run of 10 games unbeaten. French midfielder Anthony Knockaert missed the 2-0 win over Bristol City prior to the international break following the death of his father, but will be back for the visit of Villa, who are unbeaten in five. Brighton vs A Villa November 18, 2016, 7:00pm Live on Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass Forward Richie Towell and winger Kazenga LuaLua are on the mend after knee problems and played for the under-23s in the Checkatrade Trophy win over Leyton Orient last week. Midfielder Beram Kayal is still on the sidelines with an ankle injury.Jordan Amavi and Leandro Bacuna are available for Aston Villa after overcoming knocks. Gary Garddner of Aston Villa celebrates after scoring against Birmingham Midfielder Mile Jedinak will be assessed by the club after returning from international duty with Australia in Thailand.ddddddddddddMicah Richards remains a doubt with a calf problem and Ritchie de Laet is out for the season with a knee injury.Jordan Ayew returns from suspension and is likely to be handed an instant recall by boss Steve Bruce but Ross McCormack is banned.Match statsThe visitors have won three of their last four league games - prior to this run they had won one of their previous 25 league games either side of the summer break. Anthony Knockaert will be back for Brighton on Friday Brighton could achieve their highest-ever points total after their first 17 games in the top two divisions with a winBrighton possess the best defence in the Sky Bet EFL, conceding just nine goals in their 16 Championship games. They also have four more clean sheets than any other side in the top four divisions with 11 in their 16 games.No side has won more points per game in 2016 in the top four divisions than Brighton (2.08pts).Upgrade to Sky Sports now to watch Man Utd v Arsenal this Saturday and get the first six months half price! ' ' 'man was trying to rouse the crowd to do the wave when he got up on a railing, lost his balance and fell. A crowd of 46,121 attended the game, which organizers hoped would spur interest in bringing major league baseball back to Montreal. Hall of Fame catcher and Expos great Gary Carter, who died of brain cancer in 2012, was honoured before the game. More than 50,000 were expected to attend a second game Mets-Jays contest on Saturday afternoon. Players and coaches from the 1994 Montreal Expos, which were the best team in baseball when the season was cut short due to a labour dispute, will be saluted in a ceremony prior to the opening pitch. . Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Fiorentina levelled on aggregate in the 14th minute when Joaquin Sanchez Rodriguez headed back a long ball from David Pizarro and Pasqual smashed home an angled volley. . Siddikur, who led on all four days and took a four-stroke lead going into the final day, bogeyed four out of six holes starting at the sixth and continued a forgettable last round in which he returned a three-over 75 to finish with a 14-under 274. . - The New England Patriots needed help on defence so they added three experienced players at midseason. . The post-season, Pierce said repeatedly, is no time to panic. And the Heat, apparently, are nothing to fear. . To get things started, heres a little photo tour to get you acquainted with all the main characters.MINSK, Belarus -- France clinched a spot in the quarterfinals of the ice hockey world championship with a 6-2 victory over Denmark on Monday, while Finland kept alive its hopes of advancing by beating Kazakhstan 4-3. In the late matches, host Belarus reached the quarterfinals for the third time by edging Latvia 3-1 and Gustav Nyquist led defending champion Sweden with two goals in a 5-1 win over Italy. Stephane Da Costa scored twice as France netted four unanswered third-period goals in a span of less than six minutes. The game had been tied 2-2 after the second period. France, which stunned Canada in its first game of the tournament, reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 1995. "This is huge for French hockey," France coach Dave Henderson said. "Its been a long time since it last happen. Im totally happy with the team." Julien Desrosiers, Antoine Roussel, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Antonin Manavian also scored for France. Jesper Jensen and Kim Staal scored for Denmark. The result means the Czech Republic also advanced to the quarterfinals from Group A together with defending champion Sweden and Canada. The first four teams advance from both groups. France has also beaten Slovvakia and Norway in Belarus.dddddddddddd It will meet the Czech Republic on Tuesday in a match to decide who finishes third in the group. The loser will face Group Bs winner -- high-scoring Russia -- in the quarterfinals. Sweden leads Group A but Canada can reclaim the top spot with a victory over Norway in its last group game on Tuesday. Geoff Platt and Mikhail Grabovski scored 33 seconds apart in the first period for Belarus and Sergei Kostitsyn put the puck into the empty net with one second left in front of a roaring crowd. Captain Olli Jokinen scored to put Finland 3-2 ahead when his shot hit defenceman Alexei Litvinenko in the face before deflecting into the net, and also set up the winning goal for Jarkko Immonen as Finland stayed in contention. Belarus has 12 points in Group B, with Finland one point behind. Latvia has nine but can still advance if it beats Switzerland on Tuesday. The United States already qualified for the playoffs from the group along with Russia. "Well probably be watching the games later and hoping that we can continue in the tournament, Juuso Hietanen said. "We have to do all the preparation as if we are going to play on Wednesday in the next stage." ' ' '
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