Chelsea gave a helping hand to a former hero on Wednesday by rounding off the Champions League group stage with a 3-1 victory over Sporting which sent the Portuguese side packing and opened the door for Schalke 04 to reach the last 16. . The English side finished comfortably clear at the top of Group G after a Cesc Fabregas penalty and a rasping strike from Andre Schuerrle set them on their way and John Obi Mikel rounded off the scoring after Jonathan Silva had given Sporting hope. . The result proved a boon to Chelsea’s former Champions League-winning coach…
Author: David F.
Already qualified Bayern Munich beat CSKA Moscow 3-0 with another dominant performanceWednesday to complete their fifth win in six Champions League Group E games and leave the Russians bottom of the table and out of Europe. . A new-look Bayern side featured teenagers Gianluca Gaudino and Pierre Hojbjerg alongside Bastian Schweinsteiger, making his first start of the season after a lengthy injury absence. . With Xabi Alonso and Arjen Robben on the bench, Bayern, who had secured top spot in Group E with two games to spare, never hit top form. . Thomas Mueller scored his 24th in the comeptition…
Manuel Pellegrini celebrated Manchester City’s remarkable brinkmanship in securing a Champions League knock-out spot on Wednesday by hailing the champions’ Roman warriors rather than the absent leading players. . The unruffled Chilean, who must have feared a quick exit before his side made a remarkable comeback against Bayern Munich last month, almost made it sound as if City’s 2-0 win at Roma had been merely routine. . Instead, it might actually have secured his job with City’s Middle East paymasters unlikely to have easily accepted another early capitulation in the flagship event. . Yet after all the talk of absent…
Swansea City announced on Monday that they have appealed against goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski’s dismissal during their 3-1 loss at West Ham United in the Premier League on Sunday. . The former Arsenal goalkeeper was sent off in the 68th minute at Upton Park, with the score at 2-1, for racing out of his area and impeding Diafra Sakho as the West Ham substitute bore down on goal. . But Swansea coach Garry Monk complained afterwards that Sakho had used his arm to nudge the ball past Fabianski and argued that the West Ham forward had not been denied a clear…
Manchester United forward Radamel Falcao is “100 percent ready to give everything” according to wife Lorelei Taron who hit back at manager Louis van Gaal’s suggestion that the Colombian is only fit enough to play 20 minutes. . Van Gaal said Falcao must play in the second team before he would be considered to start a game and “was not interested” if the 28-year-old was unhappy with his current role. . “He is not fit enough to start a game yet. He needs to play 45, 60 or even 90 minutes in the second team but I haven’t been able…
Robin van Persie scored twice as Manchester United won 2-1 at Southampton to continue their recent resurgence and climb to third in the Premier League on Monday. . The Dutchman scored in each half as United, who were distinctly second best for much of the game, secured their fifth successive Premier League victory. . Graziano Pelle ended a personal goal drought dating back to October by equalising but Southampton have now lost three successive Premier League games and are without a league victory since a 1-0 victory against struggling Leicester City on November 8. . Manchester United have 28 points,…
Almeria have sacked coach Francisco Rodriguez after Monday’s 5-2 drubbing at Eibar left them winless in La Liga in eight matches and mired in 17th place in the standings. . Team physio Sergio Pardo will take charge of training while the club look for a replacement, Almeria said on their website (www.udalmeriasad.com) on Tuesday. . Rodriguez’s replacement would be appointed in time to take charge of Friday’s La Liga game at home to leaders Real Madrid, they added. . Juan Ignacio Martinez, known in Spain as JIM and a former coach of clubs including Real Valladolid and Levante, was mentioned…
Tottenham Hotspur striker Emmanuel Adebayor has returned home to Togo for personal reasons, the Premier League club said on Friday. . The 30-year-old former Arsenal and Manchester City player has been given permission to take time off, Spurs said on their website (www.tottenhamhotspur.com) . “This is a private matter and so we will not be providing any further comment,” the club added. . Adebayor has made 12 appearances for Tottenham this season and has not played since the November international break when Togo failed to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. . Spurs visit Turkish side Besiktas in…
Nigerian international, John Obi Mikel, got among the goals for English Barclays Premier League club, Chelsea, in what represents his first goal in the Uefa Champions League. . Since joining the London club, Mikel had only scored four goals in the league and Cup competitions in England but the midfielder netted in the 56th minute in Chelsea’s 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night. . Interestingly, Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho, opted to start Mikel as well as Serbian midfielder, Nemanja Matic, who has been the reason the Nigerian has seen limited action with the Blues. .…
Manchester City concluded one of the great Champions League Houdini acts on Wednesday as they qualified for the knockout stages with goals from Samir Nasri and Pablo Zabaleta sinking Roma 2-0 to eliminate the Italians at the Stadio Olimpico. The Frenchman’s 60th-minute thunderbolt, before he laid on a second for the Argentine in the 86th minute, ensured the English champions did not suffer another frustrating early exit in Group E. . City’s great escape into the last 16 seemed unthinkable when they trailed in their penultimate game at home to Bayern Munich with just five minutes remaining before Sergio Aguero…
Adem Ljajic scored deep into injury-time to rescue a point for second-placed AS Roma who had to come from two goals behind and with a man down to earn a 2-2 draw at home to Sassuolo in Serie A on Saturday. . Ljajic had begun the comeback with a 78th minute penalty for a Roma side reduced to 10 men six minutes after the break when midfielder Daniele De Rossi was sent off for a second booking. . Rudi Garcia’s team stayed three points behind leaders and titleholders Juventus, who drew 0-0 at Fiorentina on Friday, after dropping their first…
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has stated that no deal has been agreed with out-of-contract Super Eagles head coach Stephen Keshi. . There have been reports suggesting that the football federation has offered Keshi an improved contract reportedly worth N84 million per annum. . The reports also stated that Keshi will be handed a new contract for a year starting from January 2015 and will run till December of the same year. . But NFF president Amaju Pinnick has tactfully played down the reports of a new improved contract offered to Keshi. . In a report monitored on radio in…
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has declared that the international friendly match between the Super Eagles and their Brazilian counterparts, the Selecao, will go on as scheduled in Uyo on March 29, 2015. . NFF president Amaju Pinnick, whose election into office is being challenged, stated that the international friendly with Brazil has not been cancelled following reports that the South Americans will face France on March 26, 2015 – just three days before the planned tune-up with Nigeria at the Akwa Ibom Stadium in Uyo. . He disclosed that the football federation is planning to ensure that “we utilise…
Last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund climbed off the foot of the table by beating Hoffenheim 1-0 on Friday, their second victory in 11 Bundesliga games. . Ilkay Guendogan scored with a diving header from a fine cross by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the 17th minute, allowing the players and fans to breathe a collective sigh of relief after an awful start to the season. . Dortmund, champions in 2011 and 2012, rise four places to 14th and are on 14 points following their fourth league win of the season. . There was more good news for the club as fit-again central…
Coach Pep Guardiola made no apology for Bayern Munich’s lack of goals in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen. . This was an off-key performance from Bayern, who managed just two first-half shots, as they began a busy period of five matches in 14 days, including Wednesday’s final Champions League group game at home to CSKA Moscow. . “People expect two, three or four goals from us, but I knew it would be difficult against Bayer Leverkusen,” said Guardiola as Franck Ribery’s 51st-minute winning goal kept Bayern seven points clear. . “Except for the first ten minutes, we didn’t give…
Galatasaray have dimsissed former Italy World Cup coach Cesare Prandelli after a string of poor results culminating in their exit from European competition, the Dogan news agency reported on Thursday. . Anderlecht beat Galatasaray 2-0 in their penultimate Champions League Group D game on Wednesday, guaranteeing that the Turkish club would finish fourth and miss out on a place in the Europa League. . Prandelli’s dismissal, widely reported by Turkish media, could not immediately be confirmed. . He resigned as Italy manager after they failed to get past the group stage at this year’s World Cup in Brazil. . Galatasaray…
Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta faces a spell on the sidelines after suffering a calf injury during Tuesday’s 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund which took the London club into the Champions League last 16. . Fellow midfielders Jack Wilshere and Mezut Ozil, defender Mathieu Debuchy and forward Theo Walcott are also injured, leaving manager Arsene Wenger with problems as he tries to revive his team’s faltering Premier League campaign. . “It’s difficult to take on the chin at the moment. You go into many games and need everyone available,” Wenger told reporters after Arsenal’s impressive display that secured a place in…
Paris St-Germain centre back Thiago Silva says the French club has what it takes to win their Champions League Group F after Tuesday’s decider at Barcelona. . PSG top the group with 13 points, one ahead of Barca, whom they beat 3-2 at home in their first encounter. . The French champions need only one point to secure top spot, which Silva is confident they will get. . “It’s a special game and I think we can win at Barcelona or at least get a draw,” the Brazilian international told L’Equipe. . PSG are unbeaten in 22 competitive games this…
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho insisted his side were still the team to beat despite the Premier League leaders seeing their unbeaten start to the season ended by Newcastle United. . Saturday’s dramatic 2-1 setback against 10-man Newcastle, their first loss since April, saw Chelsea fall one game short of setting a club-record mark of 24 matches without defeat. . More damagingly, it allowed defending champions Manchester City to close to within three points of Mourinho’s side by winning 1-0 at home to Everton. . But the Chelsea manager said he was relaxed after Papiss Cisse’s brace condemned his team to…
Louis van Gaal’s resurgent Manchester United will have their eyes on third place in the Premier League table when they tackle Ronald Koeman’s sputtering Southampton at St Mary’s on Monday. . After winning only three of their first seven league games, a run of four consecutive victories has taken United to within touching distance of early-season surprise package Southampton. . Koeman’s side shot up the table by winning eight of their nine games between late August and early November, but a draw at Aston Villa and losses to Manchester City and Arsenal extinguished their momentum. . Victory for United will…