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Archive for September, 2010

Sam Allardyce has never been one to shy away from pointing out his own worth. When Fabio Capello announced he was to step down from the England job, Allardyce suggested himself as an appropriate successor.

Yesterday the man who has managed Blackpool, Notts County, Bolton, Newcastle and Blackburn with a robustness that brings Arsène Wenger out in a cold sweat declared he would be the perfect candidate to be in charge of Real Madrid.

This afternoon Allardyce will send his Blackburn side out to face Fulham, but yesterday he said that he would be “better suited” to sitting in the Real dugout for their La Liga trip to Real Sociedad. And if Real were – if you can imagine the circumstances – to rid themselves of Jose Mourinho with his three European trophies and league titles in England and Italy, and replace him with Allardyce (one League of Ireland title and a League Cup runners-up medal) then they would see the European Cup back at the Bernabeu every season he was resident in the Spanish capital. Read the rest of this entry »

David Silva scored his first goal for Manchester City to help them to victory over Red Bull Salzburg in their opening Europa League group match.

The Spanish World Cup winner sidefooted in the opener from eight yards following striker Jo’s lay-off.

City doubled their lead after the break when Jo followed up Gerhard Tremmel’s save from Carlos Tevez’s 20-yarder.

Salzburg created few clear-cut chances, with their best falling to Ibrahim Sekagya, whose shot struck the bar.

But although City keeper Joe Hart was left to enjoy the Salzburg skyline for much of the match, the Austrian side, who won all their group games last season, looked far more threatening than City’s previous opponents Timosoara. Read the rest of this entry »

Joe Cole scored his first goal for Liverpool to help them beat Steaua Bucharest in their Europa League tie.

The Reds playmaker steered in a shot only 27 seconds in after pouncing on a poor backpass by Octavian Abrudan.

Steaua equalised when Cristian Tanase chipped over on-rushing keeper Pepe Reina but a David Ngog penalty restored the Reds’ lead.

A stunning Lucas Leiva 22-yard strike and a late angled Ngog effort completed the home side’s victory.

While the Europa League is not a priority for Liverpool, their manager Roy Hodgson will be using the games in the competition to judge some of the players on the fringes of his squad.
However, for Cole, the club’s European games have allowed him to keep up his match fitness while serving a domestic ban for his dismissal in the club’s league opener against Arsenal. Read the rest of this entry »

It would be nice to announce that Arsenal were irresistibly stunning on Wednesday night and that no team could have withstood their onslaught, but this would be a lie. Arsenal were just … Arsenal.

They passed beautifully, thought inventively, attacked imaginatively, as they do almost every week. Sometimes in the Premier League they do all this and still lose; on other occasions they are made to scrap until the last minute. Against the lamentable Braga of Portugal, however, it proved more than enough.

Arsenal went through them like the proverbial warm knife through dairy products. Butter might have put up more resistance actually, certainly had it been left a long time in the fridge. Milk would have turned quicker than many of Braga’s defenders.
So how easy was it? Well, in the 54th minute, Cesc Fabregas won the ball in the heart of the Portuguese defence and laid it out to Andrey Arshavin on the right. Read the rest of this entry »

Gonzalo Higuain recognized the importance of scoring in a competition as significant as the Champions League following Real Madrid’s 2-0 victory against Ajax.

“I am very happy. We created a lot of scoring chances. It is important to score, and even more so in the Champions League. They gave us a lot of room to work with and they didn’t pressure, both of which benefited us.”

“Today we fulfilled the requirements of debuting. We won and and looked good doing it. We wanted to start off like this.”

“It isn’t normal to score only two goals when you have so many chances. We played a great game. Forwards like to score and it is what I work hard to do.”

“It is important to us that the crowd applauded. It means we’re on the right track.”

“Our only goal in Anoeta is to win.” Read the rest of this entry »

Bayern initially struggled to make headway against an obdurate Roma side in their opening Champions League Group E fixture on Wednesday night, but Munich stuck gamely to the task and were rewarded for their patience and persistence with two goals in the last ten minutes and a fully merited win.

The 69,000 capacity crowd at the Allianz Arena saw very little goalmouth action in the first period, with last year’s finalists just a shade short of inspiration against the disciplined and deep-lying visitors.

Munich upped the tempo after the interval and the chances began to come, but Roma keeper Julio Sergio made some important saves and FCB left a host of chances unconverted. It fell to Thomas Müller to end the frustration with a delightful strike ten minutes from time, sub Miroslav Klose adding a poacher’s second just four minutes later to seal a deserved opening day win. Read the rest of this entry »

Javier Zanetti’s comments after the 2-2 Champions League draw against Twente: “It was a difficult game. We’re disappointed because we took the lead, but they equalised immediately and then we were unlucky. Unfortunately the victory didn’t come but we’re confident because we are improving. Milito? He has to stay calm. He’s very important for us and he will continue to be. There’s no drama. His goals will come. He’s a unique striker and we are waiting for him.”

Rafael Benitez told Sky Sport Italia about the progress Inter are making after Tuesday night’s 2-2 Champions League draw against Twente.

“I think the team is improving,” he said. “It was a difficult match in the first half but we saw some improvements in the second half and we did well. Twente are a tough team, they created problems for us at times but the boys managed to do well. They have three or four very tall players and it wasn’t easy, and they also have intensity. We suffered a bit. Read the rest of this entry »

FC Barcelona have started their Champions League campaign with a more than convincing 5-1 win over Panathinaikos. Messi (2), who also missed a penalty, Villa, Pedro and Alves were on target.

On Tuesday night, Barcelona showed that they have regained everything that was missing at the weekend. Guardiola’s side played its characteristic passing game, using the wings effectively, displaying grit and determination, and also coping admirably with the adversity of going a goal behind. Ignoring that initial setback, Barça went on to steamroll their way past Panathinaikos on the basis of simply exquisite football. Messi was also back to his subliminal best, and could have completed a hat trick had he converted a second half penalty. Villa scored his first European goal for his new club, and Pedro and Alves rounded off a wonderful evening at the Camp Nou.

FC Barcelona go top of the group on goal difference ahead of Copenhagen, who also have three points after scoring a late winner against Barça’s next opponent, Rubin Kazan. Read the rest of this entry »

Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia faces a battle to play again this season after suffering a horrific ankle injury during his team’s Champions League stalemate with Rangers  at Old Trafford on Tuesday night.

The Ecuador international was rushed to hospital wearing an oxygen mask after catching his studs in the turf and suffering a dislocated and fractured left ankle.
Sir Alex Ferguson paid the price for making 10 changes as Rangers held out for a goalless draw. But players could barely look as Valencia writhed in agony around the hour mark.

Ferguson said: ‘It looks like a dislocation and fracture. That’s a bad one. It will keep him out for a long time. He seemed to catch his toe in the turf and we knew straight away it was a bad one from the way the Rangers player started to wave.’ Read the rest of this entry »